Reconstruction in America could not be fully achieved, and there are many factors during that time which are pointed to have contributed to its failure. One of such factors which have brought about the debate on the same topic is racism. The period of reconstruction was marked with waves of racism; this has led to many people claiming that it contributed mainly to the failure of reconstruction. Others oppose this opinion.
Those who claim that racism was a significant factor behind reconstruction failure claim that a divided country could not achieve reconstruction. On the other side, those claiming otherwise states that other factors such as the difference that existed then between the civil rights and the social equality played a significant role. They also argue that the reconstruction did fail, but it was not entirely due to racism, but it was a consequence of the national commitment to a free labor ideology.
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Although other factors contributed to the failure of reconstruction, racism played a significant role in inhibiting its progress. Racism is an act of segregating certain people due to their culture, color and other traits which make them different from the majority. Three factors act as evidence to prove that racism indeed hindered the progress of reconstruction. First, civil rights were enforced in the country while social rights were undermined ( Yellin, 2013). This brought about injustices and inequity in resource distribution and thus hindered equal contribution to reconstruction. Next, there was no room for the black and white politics cohesion, and this contributed widely to many disagreements, injustices, and inequity. This played a role in hindering the progress of reconstruction. Lastly, there was a high rate of death of the innocent individual and this created uncertainty, rebellion and much more that acted as an obstacle to progress.
Reference
Yellin, E. S. (2013). Racism in the Nation's Service: Government Workers and the Color Line in Woodrow Wilson's America . UNC Press Books.
