African American

The African Background, Race and Slavery  Africans are very good at cultivating.

This made them invaluable.  The number of African slaves increased after slave trading legalized  “which one comes first? Slavery or Racism?”  Eric William : “slavery was not born of racism, rather, racism was the consequence of slavery.”

The African Background, Race and Slavery  Slaves worked under two systems Cultivating landlord’s plantation

SLAVES Cultivating their provisions ground to earn more money

The African Background, Race and Slavery  Some black purchased their freedom

when they got reach after cultivating their provision grounds  Some of them established black business even though they faced financial difficulties

Revolutionary war  Black was excluded in Revolutionary war

after November 1775 when British offered freedom for Black people if they joined them  George Washington: allowed the enlistment of free blacks. owners were paid for their slaves.  Revolutionary War marked the era of First emancipation (slavery abolition in the north)  Slavery was not abolished in the 1787 by Federal Constitution

INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY  It began during the Revolution  It gave mutual aid, fraternal

organization, school, churches, and cultural improvement societies  The most significant black institution was the independent black church  It promoted the rights of black Americans and provided services for the poor

Antebellum Slaves and Free Black  1860: population of African American =

4,5 million, free African American only 10%  Antebellum slaves shared tradition of selfhelp economic activities.  Many free black established self help organization to help those who were still under slavery donated by rich black  Antebellum Black Business : barbering, tailoring, catering

Civil war and Reconstruction  Civil war (1861): a war to free

slaves ended on April 9,1865  1866-1876 :Black college and universities were established  The end of civil war didn’t create an immediate freedom of black’s political rights

Civil war and Reconstruction  In 1865 south limited black economic

activities by stereotyping black as lazy and lacked initiation  13th Amandment(1865): abolished slavery  Civil rights Act (1866): citizen of every color except Indian were given the same legal rights as white men.  14th Amandment(1868) secure black political rights was passed to ensure that the 13th Amendment was not violated

Civil war and Reconstruction  Reconstruction act (1867): providing political

participation for blacks  15th Amendment: no one could be deprived of the right to vote because of race, color or previous condition of servitude  The number of blacks in Legislative and executive were increasing  South conservation admission declined the political participation of black:  Worsened by the white terrorist (Ku Klux Klan)  1879: Black fled from the South  1883: Civil rights acts (1875) was declared unconstitutional by Federal government

Civil war and Reconstruction  Jim Crow warned African American: “

agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly” vs.  Booker T. Washington:

 Black had to accommodate the rise of

Jim Crow.

The age of Booker T. Washington  1898: W.E.B. Du Bois = Negro Business

league

 Pursue equality for black in an open movement

 1900: Washington:  National League Business League (NNBL)  To pursue equality under hidden movement

 Du Bois and Washington promoted

cooperative efforts for the survival of Black economic life.

The age of Booker T. Washington  Black inventors contributed

significantly to the nations industrial growth  Example:  L Latimer: installed the municipal electric light systems for New York, Philadelphia, and London  John E. McWorter = invented helicopter  Black also made significant advances in

science

The Great Migration  Great migration occurred between

1910 and 1920 from the South to the North  Factors:

 Intensification of racism in the South  Differences of wages in the North and

South  Better health care in the North  Declination from European immigration due to wartime

the Rise of Urban Black Ghetto  Urban Black Ghetto ? a part of a town occupied with minority group i.e. blacks

 This area triggered the increasing of

racism in the north.

Zoning laws Redlining Restrictive covenants The refusal of financial institutions, banks, and saving loan companies to approve the mortgage loans for blacks

   

the Rise of Urban Black Ghetto continues…  Blacks found it difficult to defend

their country during WWI and WWII  it triggered riots : Red Summer and

Tulsa riot

 The new Ku Klux Klan emerged  Detested blacks, Catholic, immigrant,

Semitic

 Harlem Renaissance  It reflected black’s pride for their race

and culture

Harlem Renaissance  New Negro  They stated their disillusionment with racist America  Jazz Age  A new music genre invented by blacks in

1920s

 Black Literature  Expressing black’s rage not merely about blacks despair

The Great Depression  Several factors that made blacks’

economy face downfall during 1920s:

 White people replaced blacks in heavy

industries  Traditional industries employing blacks such as mining, textile, shipping, and shoe faced depressions.  Agriculture was also in a depressed state (80 percents of black population still lived in South worked as farmworker)

New Deal (F.D. Roosevelt)  The New Deal showed racism:  The number of blacks unemployment were still 

  

high compared to whites by 1940 The number of blacks gaining success were also incredibly low, only 2 percents who were considered professional Blacks still got prejudice for being scabs and strikebreakers. Social Security Acts did not protect blacks Funds were hardly gotten by blacks living in the South but it was so easy for the whites

The War And The Civil Rights  Segregation occurred almost in

every aspect of life including in military  A question emerged.

“Is U.S. a communist or democratic nation?”

 To answer this question, U.S.

government then concerned more on securing black’s rights

The War And The Civil Rights  Black had been doing all by

themselves to get their rights long before U.S. government concerned more. It was through black institution such as NAACP.  Finally, Civil Right Acts was passed by Congress on 1957 to secure black’s rights  Even so, racism still occurred in the society

From Civil Rights To Black Power  Civil Rights did not bring an immediate  

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equality to black people Civil Rights did not give the right to vote to Black Civil Rights movement emerged to pursue the rights that had not been yet gotten by black, led by black organizations The biggest movement was led by Martin Luther King Jr. in August 28, 1963. It was a very famous event when he orated his “I Have A Dream” speech It was then responded with Voting Right Acts (1957)

Black Revolution  The movement was divided into

Black nationalist and Black separatist  Black Nationalist  CORE under Floyd McKissick. It

disagreed with violence action to defense, concerned with the resurrection of black economic

Black Revolution continues…  Black Separatist  The Black Panther Party  The Nation of Islam  When Malcolm X led this organization, he promoted an establishment of an independent black state within the border of U.S  He promoted racial-separatism, black-self determination, economic self-help. He required his members to adhere to a strict moral and health code and respect women  Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU)  Established by Malcolm X with the new idealism after doing pilgrimage to Mecca

The Post-Civil Rights Era  Economy  The federal government focused on

promoting Black economic development  However, the black economic remained desperate as it was  Equality could not be achieved (in terms of earning)

The Post-Civil Rights Era  Political  The civil rights movement increased

black political participation  Reverse migration (North → South)  “white flight” : a fear of declining property values and lowering educational standard since school was no longer segregated

The Post-Civil Rights Era  Employment  Equal employment opportunity policies

increased black employment in many areas  blacks were blamed for taking jobs from whites and their seats in professional and graduate schools  In fact, the civil rights movement benefited white women more than blacks

The Post-Civil Rights Era  Education  there had been significant progression in

black education  In 1940, only a few of black completed high school and college compared to white  the reduction of financial aid became a factor that made black do not continue their studies

The Post-Civil Rights Era  Others  The emergence of black middle class.  Class rather than race determined black’s life

chances. For example: O.J. Simpson was verdict not guilty after killing his white wife and her white male friend. O.J. Simpson was a millionare (high class people) hired a “dream team” to defend him in courts.  The emergence of black literary figure  The emergence of Hollywood black superstar:  Actor/Actress : Danzel Washington, Whoopi

Goldberg, Halle Berry etc  Television : Oprah Winfrey Show, The Cosby Show, etc

AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE AGE OF MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY 

DETERMINING AMERICAN IN THE AMERICAN HISTORY  

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BLACK EXPERIENCE AS A FACTOR IN AMERICAN LIFE 

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Which one that should be erased? Should black’s black history be erased?

Black history is too great to be erased

RACE AND RACISM IN 20TH CENTURY

Nowadays, not only whites who detest new immigrants but also blacks.  Blacks become afraid of new immigrants 

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A MOVE TOWARD A NEW SOCIETAL CONSTRUCTION OF RACE IN AMERICA

Conclusion  African American people have

undergone many phases of struggle until they can get what they have got in present day life  The struggles will always be a part of American history  However, racism still exists in American society not only to black but also to other minorities