Introduction
After the end of the Civil War in 1865, the Reconstruction Era began and lasted for approximately a dozen years ending in 1877. It was the readjustment period given to the slaves to adapt to their new freedom. Superficially, the Reconstruction Era is regarded as a failure due to lack of political support from the North, the racially prejudiced President Andrew Johnson, and the racial attitudes of both the North and Southerners ( Loewen & Sebesta, 2010, p. 230). 1 To date, the black population has suffered systemic racial oppression. America will never confront racial challenges until it realizes the origin of the problem. The essay will delve into the emergence of racism after the civil war and the reconstruction period, analyze how the black people educated and organized themselves during the Nadir of Racial Relations, and finally explore the effectiveness of the strategies utilized by the black men and women to fight racism and uplift black people between 1880 and1925.
Comprehensive Analysis
How Racism Emerged after the Civil War and Reconstruction
The reconstruction period came after the civil war. It was a period that saw the emergence of a new form of racism other than the actual slavery, also referred to as the Jim Crow era. Since the white supremacists had the tools of power, they used the law and customs to tyrannize, disregard and limit the rights of the blacks in America (Hine et al ., 2011, p. 33). 2 For instance, the enactment of the Black Codes in the Southern States in 1865 and 1866 in order to impede the economic growth of the emancipated African American slaves was driven by racism ( Zuczek, 2006, p. 333). 3
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The period also witnessed whites turning to violence against blacks in their determination to doom the revolutionary changes during the reconstruction period. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was one of the rogue organizations made up of white supremacists designed to terrorize the local Republican blacks and white leaders who were against the white authority. Others include the Red Shirts, which operated as a racist paramilitary group; once responsible for the Hamburg Massacre that claimed the lives of black people ( Zuczek, 2006, p. 333). 4
The U.S corporations also played a role in catalyzing racism, especially through advertisements. They used pictures of black slave servants on their products and thus brought the American society into constant contact with racist images. An example is the Aunt Jemima’s pancakes and syrup that began in 1889 and later became the brand of the product. It would create a highly racialized culture, especially in the south. In addition, the emergence of Sundown Towns all over the country from the 1890s to 1930s forbade blacks to live in them. No black was to be seen in such towns after sunset and even some towns expelled the ones living on the city’s edges ( Loewen, 2005, p. 221). 5
How Black People Educated and Organized themselves during the Period of “Nadir of Racial Relations”
According to Paul (2013, p. 76), the Nadir of Race Relations is a period that became the most difficult for blacks. The whites in the South were determined to rid the nation of the black populace. There was an increase in the rate of violence, riots, and the already delicate rights of the blacks shrank further. Racism was at its peak, and the brutal lynchings became a norm. During this period, black people formed organizations such as the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL), designed to compel Congress to enact laws against lynching. 6 In addition, Paul (2013, p. 78) asserts that masses of black communities looked upon its model leaders such as Booker T. Washington and Fredrick Douglass to study and accumulate wealth as the only way to elevate oneself. Elevation was the only pathway to fighting the Nadir. People like W.E.B. DuBois would later advocate for civil rights of the black people as well as the establishment of educational institutions. 7
Strategies of key Leaders (women and men) in Black America attempt to stop the Racism and uplift Black People between 1880-1925
Abolitionism was one of the strategies employed by several leaders in their determination to stop racism. The approach was designed to end slavery in the U.S. on moral and economic grounds. Some of the great abolitionists include Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Fredrick Douglass, who believed that blacks had rights like everybody else ( Foner, 2016, p. 435). 8
Riots and rebellions were also strategies designed to uplift the African Americans’ way of living and rights. It was a violent form of resistance against segregation and was targeted at whites as a way of negotiating for better incomes, rights to own property, better jobs, and rights to quality education (Norton et al ., 2011, p. 316). 9 Civil rights activism was also an effective strategy designed to fight for the rights of African Americans. These included issues of disenfranchisement, racial segregation, economic inequality, and rights to quality academic education with the intention of creating a better working relationship between the races. Examples include W.E.B DuBois (Paul, 2013, p. 78 ). 10 Literature such as poetry, plays, and essays was instrumental in influencing the civil rights movement. It instilled a sense of identity and pride, exacerbated acts of resistance, provided wisdom, as well as strength to the activists and the black population at large (Paul, 2013, p. 79 ). 11
Effectiveness in their Political Strategies and what they could have done to be more effective in battling the Racism of their day
The approaches were effective during that particular time because the climate of the era was extremely hostile to the African American people. The black population was continuously being lynched and segregated on economic, jobs, and educational grounds. Even after extensive lobbying in Congress, nothing was changing, and even presidents such as Woodrow Wilson gravitated racism while the likes of Abraham Lincoln were assassinated for advocating for equal rights for all citizens, including blacks (Paul, 2013, p. 79 ) . 12 Had the African American leaders engaged the white front-runners using a mild non-defensive approach while highlighting their resistance on the way they were being treated; the strategies would have been more effective in the long-term. This entails providing a positive alternative to the common belief that blacks are inferior and emphasizing the similarities between a black and a white individual. Although the process would have been long and tedious, it would have brought positive outcomes.
Conclusion
The study sought to analyze racism in the United States after the end of the Civil War. It established that the emancipated slaves were indeed far from equal civil rights, right to proper education, suffrage, a similar type of jobs, and the right to economic empowerment. White supremacists and conservatists were against such changes; so, they lynched, killed, and mutilated African Americans especially men in their determination to end the black population. Leaders in the form of absolutists, civil rights activists, and poets rose to fights against the vice. Although they brought to an end some of the atrocities, racisms is still a serious issue in the U.S. However, if they could have sat the opponents of black freedom in a calm way, the outcomes would have been less painful.
References
Foner, E. (2016). Give me liberty! : An American history . New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Hine, D., Hine, W. & Harrold, S. (2011). The African-American Odyssey . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Loewen, J. & Sebesta, E. (2010). The Confederate and neo-Confederate reader: the "great truth" about the "lost cause . Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Loewen, J. (2005). Sundown towns: A hidden dimension of American racism . New York: New Press Distributed in the United States by Norton.
Norton, M. B., Sheriff, C., Blight, D. W., & Chudacoff, H. (2011). A People and a Nation: A History of the United States, Volume II: Since 1865 . Cengage Learning.
Paul, A. J. (2013). Strange fruit: An examination and comparison of themes in the anti-lynching dramas of black and white women authors of the early twentieth century, 1916-1936. Retrieved from https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2101&context=etd
Zuczek, R. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction era . Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
1 Loewen, J. & Sebesta, E. (2010). The Confederate and neo-Confederate reader: the "great truth" about the "lost cause (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi), 230
2 Hine, D., Hine, W. & Harrold, S. (2011). The African-American Odyssey (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall), 33.
3 Zuczek, R. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction era (Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press), 333
4 Ibid, p. 333
5 Loewen, J. (2005). Sundown towns: a hidden dimension of American racism (New York: New Press Distributed in the United States by Norton), 221
6 Paul, A. J. (2013). Strange fruit: an examination and comparison of themes in the anti-lynching dramas of black and white women authors of the early twentieth century, 1916-1936 , 76
7 Ibid,78
8 Foner, E. (2016). Give me liberty! : An American history (New York: W.W. Norton & Company), 435
9 Norton et al. (2011). A People and a Nation: A History of the United States, Volume II: Since 1865 (Cengage Learning), 316
10 Paul, A. J. (2013). Strange fruit: an examination and comparison of themes in the anti-lynching dramas of black and white women authors of the early twentieth century, 1916-1936 , 78
11 Ibid, 79
12 Ibid, 79
