Physiological And Economic Discrimination Against African Americans example essay topic

In 1968, Anne Moody published her autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi. Her book is a startling depiction of what it was like to grow up a poor, southern African American. Through her revelations of the tremendous amounts of racial discrimination and prejudice that African Americans faced in the South, Moody was able to capture the attention of Americans around the country, from all social classes and backgrounds. Moody creates an unforgettable image of the inequalities and violence that characterized Southern, Black society and, through her own involvement, shows why the Civil Rights Movement was such a necessity. Indeed, the Civil Rights Movement was transforming, turning away from the nonviolence of Martin Luther King to a more militant stance embodied by Malcolm X. But how much has African American life changed since then? Despite the elimination of most forms of legal and overt racism that were customary when Anne Moody was growing up, the Civil Rights Movement failed to eradicate the prevalence of hidden, covert racism which exists in our society today.

Thus, the status of African American life has changed insignificantly since the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement, undoubtedly, initiated the abolishment of most forms of legal discrimination. Through their non-violent confrontations in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom Rides, sit-ins, and the March on Washington, participants in the Civil Rights Movement won both widespread media coverage and government intervention. The Movement's crowning legislative achievement was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which banned discrimination in places of public accommodation, enforced the Constitutional right to vote, established a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and prevented discrimination in federally assisted programs. Busses, lunch counters, drinking fountains, schools, occupations, and neighborhoods were all segregated by law and were custom. The Civil Rights Movement changed that.

Similarly, laws forbidding sex and marriage between people of different races were ended. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act warranted African American suffrage and for the first time in American history, Blacks were able to register to vote without legal contention. The Movement also brought about important non-legislative impact on the American people. It brought to the surface the amount of racism that existed in the country and initiated change from the heart of the people, not just politicians.

Prior to the Movement, most Americans were oblivious to the problem of racism and prejudice. By exposing racial injustice and inequalities to the mass populace, civil rights leaders achieved what could perhaps not have been accomplished a few decades earlier: recognition. Furthermore, the Civil Rights Movement brought about the opportunity for African American advances in employment and education and the creation of a new Black middle class. When examining the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement, one very important aspect of change is missing. The Movement failed to eliminate social, physiological, and economic discrimination against African Americans. Though legal discrimination was virtually abolished with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, overt, direct racism was replaced by a more covert racism which continues to affect the way members of different races think, act, and feel towards one another to this day.

Covert racism has always existed in American society, although it did not become so prominent until after the civil rights moment. It is simply a more subtle, hidden, and denied form of discrimination. Although it occurs more often than overt racism, covert discrimination is hard to detect and is usually ignored by politicians and important political and social leaders. Like overt racism, it can occur individually, institutionally, and culturally.

Individually, covert racism is exemplified in Malcolm X's autobiography. When describing his high-school experience, Malcolm writes, "it has historically been the case with white people, in their regard for black people, that even though we might be with them, we weren't considered of them. Even though they appeared to have opened the door, it was still closed. Thus they never did really see me". Even though Malcolm was one of the best students in the school and got along very well with his fellow students, the student and faculty bodies failed to view him as they viewed any other white student. Though they may have treated him equally, this does not mean that their attitudes showcased the same thinking of equality.

Malcolm's thoughts in his autobiography can be applied to our current society. Many Whites view Blacks as being different from themselves. Media stereotypes and the residuum of pre-civil rights overt racism have plagued society's thinking. Many still believe that African Americans lack the ability to achieve in school and to make a decent living all because of their belief that Blacks are inherently different than any other race.

Taking into account the failures and accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement, it seems as though African American life has, in fact, changed for the better when viewed from a legislative and political standpoint. Physical violence towards African Americans is tolerated no less than violence against other races. It almost impossible for two southern white men to murder an African American teenager like Emmett Till was in 1955 in Money, Mississippi. Employment and educational opportunities for African Americans have been increasing throughout the past several decades. But as evidenced through America's past, legislature does not necessarily set the precedent for social change.

The Brown vs. Board of Education decision called for the desegregation of public education. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 included the right of African Americans to vote. Neither one of these landmark enactments accomplished its specified provisions. To this day, most of American public education is highly segregated. Similarly, it wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that African Americans realistically gained suffrage. African Americans earn the lowest annual income among racial groups in the United States today.

Many Urban areas across the nation have become predominantly Black with poor housing and run-down, crumbling schools. Whites, on the other hand, have been fleeing to suburban areas of the country since the end of the Second World War where nice houses and newer schools are located throughout. The inaccurate media portrayal of violence among the African-American community as being widespread throughout every city in the country has led White business owners to close their stores, and White urban residents to move out of the cities. In American society, the word "ghetto" has come to symbolize predominantly poor, black neighborhoods rid with drugs and violence. Racial profiling has become common for most urban law enforcement, thus leading to more Blacks being imprisoned than any other race. These are just a few examples that display the social inequalities in regard to African Americans.

Just as Anne Moody witnessed during her childhood, African Americans are routinely viewed as inferior. Finally, when examining current social and economic injustices towards African Americans, it is possible to apply these prejudices to Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi in order to fashion a modern day version of her autobiography. As mentioned throughout this essay, the racism and discrimination which existed during Anne Moody's childhood was overt and direct where as in modern-day it is covert and subtle. Individually, racism during Anne Moody's book was undertaken in a violent manner such as the verbal ridicule, beating, and killing of African Americans. Today, individual racism would occur if Anne were to apply for a job at a White-owned, only to be told that there were no openings. In reality, the employer might believe that hiring Anne would drive away business, thus he simply tells her that no openings are available.

Institutionally, racism during Anne Moody's struggle would be exemplified by "Whites only" signs and segregated public institutions. Covertly and in modern-day fashion, institutionalized racism would be exemplified through such methods as social studies curriculums which focus only on European American history and not the history ethnic groups. Finally, Cultural racism during Anne's time could be shown by the abundance of sharecroppers in the South. Another way to put it is the indirect re-enslavement of most African Americans for physical, hard labor.

Today, cultural racism is abundant on ever major TV channel and through the inaccurate stereotypical portrayal of minorities in the mass-media. At any level, the racial and discriminative parallels of Anne Moody's autobiography and modern society are absolute. When analyzing the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement it is crucial to recognize not only political achievements, but social ones as well. The only way for African Americans to achieve equality is to do so at all levels: politically, socially, and economically.

To this day, only political gain has been achieved, leaving American Americans socially and economically unequal. The injustices and prejudice displayed in Anne Moody's writing are prevalent in our society today. Today, however, society does the best it can to keeps it's racism and prejudice hidden and to keep African Americans at the bottom of class structure. So far, America is doing a marvelous job.