Black And Other Races example essay topic

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution form what is known as the Bill of Rights. In essence it is a summary of the basic rights held by all U.S. citizens. However, Negro citizens during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950-70's felt this document and its mandate that guaranteed the civil rights and civil liberties of all people; were interpreted differently for people of color. The freedoms outlined in the Constitution were not enforced the same by the government of the United States for the black race as it did for the white race". You all treat us so bad", just like we are animals".

Those are the words voiced by Mrs. Rosa Parks, a Negro seamstress. Whose refusal to move to the back of the bus and give her seat to a white man, touched off the enormously successful bus boycott of Montgomery, Alabama in the winter of 1956. But on a greater magnitude it fueled the Civil Rights movement of the Negro American. This incident almost single-handedly galvanized Negroes to insist on equal rights according to the laws of the United States government and to end segregation of all public places. To build on the Montgomery victory, black leaders and ministers convened in Atlanta, GA in 1957 to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC main function would be to coordinate the efforts of the many church-based civil rights groups.

The mission of the SCLC was to gain all civil liberties by law and not by violence. With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as its president, the SCLC would become the country's most powerful civil rights organization. With work to do in all areas to bring about social change for the Negro-notably the segregated schools of the South the SCLC made this their first shot across the bough -- figuratively speaking. In 1954 the Supreme Court issued its decision on the case Brown vs. Board of Education.

The Court ruled that separate-but-equal segregated schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment and that school desegregation must take place "with all deliberate speed". This order by the highest court of the United States were not embraced by the White Race or by the burceacy of most state governments. The state bureaucracies swung into full force to intimidate anyone associated with the Civil Rights movement. Black protesters as well as sympathizers to the Civil Rights movement were jailed even for peaceably protesting. For instance, during the Albany, Georgia protest, blitz arrests-more than any one locale before. In other marches, K-9 units were used to terrorize prospective marchers and police used power water hose to disperse marchers.

The force of the water was so powerful that it rolled people down the streets. Massive murders and lynching were not investigated, but considered a necessary item to deter the Negroes and their Movement. Groups such as the Black Panthers were villa nized by our government. Unlike the SLNC the Panthers wanted nothing to do with finding a nonviolent solution. Unlike the SLNC they felt you fight violence with violence. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, headed by J. Edgar Hoover made it a priority to disband the Panthers.

Yet the Johnson administration allowed the harassment of the Panthers; but, the Klux Klux were allowed to flourish, march in protest-proclaiming White Supremacy and all the while committing hate crimes against Negroes. The injustice of the blatant defiance of the Constitution by the government and by Whites did not begin and end with the segregation of the educational system. It incorporated almost every facet of our society. From Blacks not being served in restaurants, using the same public toilets, and water fountains as Whites to even the military.

Blacks were not allowed the basic freedoms that most people under the age of 45-years old, barely comprehend those pass denials to the black race today. The story of Black Americans is mainly that of a long struggle to win equality in a society dominated by whites. Even after slavery was abolished, blacks that lived in the South were not free in the full sense of the word. They worked for low wages, sharecropped and were generally prevented by Whites or economic needs of the family from getting an education. A few pioneering black educators, such as Booker T. Washington, established schools and colleges, but educated blacks were treated with more hostility than those who "kept their place". Fear of violence from the Ku Klux Klan prevented southern blacks from exercising their right to vote.

Even in the North, prejudice kept most blacks in low-paying jobs and poor neighborhoods. Despite the prejudice, blacks have distinguished themselves in government, business, the arts, and the professions. Blacks have also excelled in nearly all sports. JAZZ-possibly the most important musical development of the 20th century-has its roots in Black American culture. Thanks to the CIVIL RIGHTS movement, more blacks now get a good education and good jobs than formerly, although there is still a long way to go. Some arguably believe the Civil Rights movement is over... but is it?

In many areas of our country, there is still neighborhood segregation. Realtors and homeowners that conspire to sell only to white in order to keep black and other races out. The right to marry whom you want outside your race is still today a matter of discussion by parties other then the engaged couple. Although Blacks have made strives in the job industries. Yet even in Year 2004 we are still achieving first (Black appointee) in some professions. In the meantime, black leaders and other black citizens of influence, are urging the black race to continue to develop and maintain a sense of pride in their culture.

The phrase and song title made famous by the soul singer, Mr. James Brown, "Black and I'm Proud" and the sister phrase "Black is beautiful" is a reminder to blacks (and whites) that they have much to be proud of.