There have been traces of racism throughout America since the country was founded. Blacks, along with other races, were constantly fighting to be treated equally. Even though the slaves were freed in 1863, they still faced many racial and prejudice issues. However, in the early 1900s, it seemed as if African Americans were flourishing in the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The thought of African Americans prospering disgusted most whites to the point they wanted to do something about it. These thoughts and actions caused a horrific event known as Tulsa Race Riots that not only affected everyone in the time period, but will continue to affect us and live in our memory. Blacks in the Tulsa area lived a life much greater than what most of their color …show more content…
People who heard about the Rowland incident gathered outside the courthouse. Some of the people wanted Rowland lynched, while others wanted him to be freed. This caused many arguments, which soon led to violence. An investigator by the name of MacQueen confronted a black man outside the courthouse. The man's name was Johnny Cole, and he appeared to have a gun on him. When he refused to give up his gun MacQueen and Cole started to wrestle over it. During the fight the gun discharged, killing Cole in front of the hundreds of people there (Krehbiel 5). The crowd instantly filled with chaos and people quickly broke into fights. No one was exactly sure what happened, but everyone knew they wanted to fight. Black and white mobs quickly formed across the city, as the word spread that Cole was murdered. Nearby neighborhoods of different races went to war with each other. Officers tried to form an armed perimeter, but soon failed due to the lack of troops. Tulsa officials had to call in for back up from the national guard. Hours later, when they finally showed up, they took action, taking all unarmed blacks into protective custody. If a black man tried to resist, he would be arrested immediately. The guards arrested groups as big as fifty black men, who refused to be brought into custody for no acceptable reason. The only way for a black to be released was for a white to vouch for the them, and then released African Americans …show more content…
Even though only thirty-seven were pronounced dead, hundreds and maybe even thousands were injured. Experts who have studied these Tulsa crimes now believe the number of people who died scale up to around 300. With the amount of fires that were around the city, there is no way to determine the exact number killed on this horrendous day. According to the Red Cross, over 1,000 homes were burned and destroyed, and at least 200 homes were looted for anything with value. Within this short time span, over 1.5 million dollars worth of property damage formed. This is not only a lot of money in today's time period, but was even more back in the 20s. A decently sized house in 1921 averaged only about 1,000 dollars to make. Even though the riots were now over, hundreds and thousands of blacks were left homeless. About 5,000 African Americans lived in fairground camps where they had to work to receive food and shelter (Krehbiel 8). These men and women woke up that morning with a well established job and home, but now they lived in a homeless shelter and had to fight for a job to get food for their family. All of this was happening because of a domino effect caused by the difference in skin color. You would think that after such horrible events the whites would settle, but this was not the case. White businessmen tried to make the already segregated black neighborhoods move farther away from the
...and the public grew informed of the brutal acts. The African-Americans began to move West and by doing so, greatly reduced the white men's income and avenged their deceased friends.
Despite the fact the 1800s was two centuries ago, racism is still persistent in the 21st century. Even with the election of the first black president, Obama is biracial, yet he is still recognized as black. Many black Americans thought racism would cease to exist with Obama in office. The color of skin and race still lives on, after all the United States is multicultural. As in the 1800s, racism had astronomically effects on society; nonetheless American citizens have more laws and agencies to safeguard against racism. Remember, slavery is a part of America’s history and it can’t be erased like an error. Harriet Jacobs wrote, “There are wrongs which even the grave does not bury.” Despite the abolishment of slavery, racism has simply adapted to the changes within society.
Even though slavery was abolished, many colored people had very low-paying jobs. In fact, “Like the Youngers, 64% of black women and 34% of black men in the city worked as domestic servants” (Gordon 123). This exclaims how the white class has superior over colored people because of there disagreements with past events. Since there was a vast amount of African-Americans in this area it caused increasing acts of violence because of the huge unemployment rate, Along with the mixture of races if certain parts which many white’s did not agree
The rise of the NAACP, was in effect long before the first members came together as a unit, the spirit of freedom was already being heard through the cries of those lynched, forced to endure public disgrace and ignorance through like of education, the American Negro. Before the first letter was typed, the spirit of writers such as August Meier, and John Hope Franklin were being purged through the blood of their fallen comrades. Yet being in the ground, their voices cry out what does it take for a black man to receive justice as free men. In the spirit of the rise of the NAACP, there were many challenges and obstacles they had to confront, lynching, the Jim Crow laws and educating newly freed slaves of their worth in this hostile society. It is my hope that the voices of Moorfield Storey, Mary White Ovington ans W.E.B. Du Bois will show the validity of the NAACP as a platform to the success of people of color, yesterday, today and whenever needed.
At the heart of the problem was segregation. Segregation is the act of separating a certain person or faction from the main group. In America’s case segregation was practiced on minorities such as African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. The full force of segregation was brought down on African-Americans. Segregation was based on shear hatred of blacks by white Americans. The majority of them derived their hatred for African-Americans from their parents. This hatred was applied to all aspects of black people’s lives, they couldn’t do the most mundane activity without some sort of segregation. Everything from water fountains to public schools were under the influence of segregation.
The Memphis Race Riot of 1866 was one of the most horrific and terrifying events that Memphis, Tennessee has ever seen in the city’s history. You may be wondering what could have caused something so tragic and terrible to happen to such a small town, but there is only one answer; hatred. Hatred is one of the many things that fueled the fire to start the biggest race riot to ever take place in Memphis, Tennessee. Hatred is the one thing that all of those people had to feel to be so cruel to another human being without a care in the world. But that hatred had to start from somewhere and that somewhere was on a street on May 1, 1866.
Waskow, Arthur I. “The 1919 race riots [microform]: a study in the connections between conflict and violence/Arthur I Waskow.” Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1963.
The most prominent demonstration of racism in America had to be the slave codes that were in place in all states where slavery was practiced. In “From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans,” John Hope Franklin went into detail on slave codes on pages 137-138, “…these laws varied from state to state, but most of them expressed the same viewpoint: that slaves are not people but property and that laws should…protect whites.” One law stated that those enslaved could not bear arms or strike a white person, even in self-defense, but when a white person killed a slave it wasn’t even considered murder. Africans had no standing in court, they couldn’t testify or be a party to a lawsuit and their marriages were not legally binding. Raping an African American woman by her master wasn’t considered a crime either. The slave codes were designed to oppress, persecute, and humiliate blacks by the hands of the whites. With the slave codes and the eventual Jim Crow laws and any oppressive laws and segregation practiced in America, the idea of blacks being inferior was stamped into the minds of any person living in the country. African Americans were treated as subpar, they weren’t considered human beings and to this day the same belief is held unto, although not nearly as outright or not as blatant as in the past centuries. Slavery in itself is a large example of how racism is and may always be embedded into American society; blacks had to fight to even be considered citizens, be able to vote, and be given basic human rights. Though many would deny the existence of racism, the sad truth is that racism may be an ever-present concept in American society.
...on of African Americans is historic with racism as the primary source. Racism is not confined in the Southern states as it was once viewed. We are all born free but far from being equal as society fights to manage their differences fifty five years after the March on Washington in 1963 for jobs and freedom. Consequently, racial inequality toward African American is here to stay.
After the American Civil War ended in 1865 more jobs and education became available for black. The blacks had finally created a middle class in America. Those blacks were expecting to be treated and have the same life as white Americans. In 1896 equal rights for all races came to a halt when the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court ruled racial segregations acceptable. Separate, but ‘equal’ was their motto. African-Americans in the south were met with harsh conditions for whites as labor needed was reduced. Because of this, more blacks started moving to the north because it was considered less vicious. The north allowed all adult men voting rights and provided better education for African-Americans. More jobs became available thanks to World War 1 and the industrial revolution. This became known as the Great Migration and brought more than seven million African-Americans to the North. What was housing like in Harlem? Housing in Harlem was originally intended for white workers to commute to the city, but developers built houses faster than enough transportation causing middle-class white people to leave. White landlords sold their properties to black estate agents like Philip A Payton and Henry C Parker. Development of midtown cause many blacks to move to Harlem; by 1920 the amount of blacks had doubled. When subways and roadways came to Harlem, most of the country’s best black artist, ...
Although racism seemed to be lower in Harlem and the Northern states, for many Blacks racism was at an all time high. The Ku Klux Klan reached membership of astronomical proportions. They marched in Washington DC and handed out membership cards bashing minorities. Less educated Blacks, or those who couldn’t make it to Harlem, were often deemed ignorant. There was a barrier built between those Blacks with an education, and those without.
Racism against African American began in the American society during the seventeenth century, when the practice of slavery started to flourish in the South. Racism is “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.” (Dictionary.com) Over the centuries, efforts have been made to equalize the lives of African Americans to their White counterparts. Though acclaimed that the days of racism against African Americans are over, it is infused in all parts of American life and therefore still affecting the victimized. The stratification of racial classes of olden days has left a mark in today’s society. African American racism though said not to be present today has influenced discrepancies in economic classes, self-esteem, and perception of one another, and stereotypes that affected the victimized.
Racism in the United States made it very tough on multiple races. It was hard for people that weren’t white to live out there dreams or to make a living. Racism had an affect politically and in society. There were three races that dealt with racism. These races were African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. When people hear the world racism they immediately think African Americans and slavery. Although blacks probably had it a lot worse then most races there were still some other races that were not treated equally. Racism has always been around and it is still around today. It is something that will never go away. After the Civil War, racism in the south rose higher than it ever had before.
The Tulsa race riot changed the course of American history by actively expressing African American views on white supremacy. Before the events of the Tulsa race riot African Americans saw the white community taking justice into their own hands. Black citizens of Tulsa stood up against this sort of white mob. This escaladed into the Tulsa race riot. The Tulsa race riot and its effects weighed heavily upon the African Americans of this era.
Racism can be defined as "any set of beliefs, which classifies humanity into distinct collectives, defined in terms of natural and/or cultural attributes, and ranks these attributes in a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority" (Blum 5). It can be directly linked to the past and still, centuries later, serves as a painful reminder that race continues to be one of the "sharpest and deepest divisions in American life" (Loewen 138). What were the causes of racism? How did it develop historically? In order to answer those complex questions, I plan to examine the conditions of America's history from colonialism to present day society. It was these conditions of America's past that promoted the development of racist practices and ideas that continue to be embraced by many to this day.