Jim Crow impacted the social, political, economic, and even mental development of Africans in the United States after slavery abolition. However, the development of free African Americans was a result of the fight put up by blacks to curtail the expansion of Jim Crow laws in the Confederate States. The negative social and mental development was mainly exemplified by the black codes that segregated Africans based on their skin color ( Fremon, 2014). Black people were controlled in terms of where they lived, how they traveled, and the jobs they could take. Most importantly, their children were seized for forced labor; hence, their chances of getting an education were significantly diminished. The social development was also negatively affected by developments such as Ku Klux Klan, a violent up-raising that endangered blacks' lives in America. With Black Americans in the south being Slaves regardless of the declaration by constitutional amendments that they were free Americans who had some rights equal to their white counterparts, there were movements against racial segregation (Fremon, 2014). This ensured progress in constitutional amendments against black's oppression, hence, the eventual but slow development of free African Americans. The most important lesson learned from Ida B. Wells and Booker T. Washington's stories is resilience and rising regardless of the obstacles that derail one from being the best they can. From reading their stories, I gain optimism about situations that seem hard to change or even threaten personal development and thriving. As exemplified by Ida Wells and Booker Washington, endurance and organization can be used to eliminate systemic oppression in society today( de Jong, 2013). People should stand for what is right and what results in equal development regardless of the implication. Injustices in today's society exist because most oppressed people don't have the spirit to fight for what they deserve. By most people standing up to the truth, laws and policies favorable to all are likely to be implemented in different institutions and spaces. This would result in positive change in society.
References
de Jong, G. (2013). WE AIN'T WHAT WE OUGHT TO BE: The Black Freedom Struggle from Emancipation to Obama.
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Fremon, D. K. (2014). The Jim Crow laws and racism in United States history . Enslow Publishing, LLC.
