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Sameer Alvi
Professor Liza Powers
HIST 1302
May 15th, 2020
The Emancipation of Slavery
After the emancipation of slavery, slaves struggled heavily to earn their freedom. Many
of these struggles were cultural, political, and economic obstacles that slaves were forced to
overcome. Even in today’s world, African Americans are still discriminated to the point where
they are unable to have a voice in certain circumstances and they continue to fight for equal
rights in many areas like voting, police brutality, and education. This paper will highlight their
push to equality by describing how they had little political power in the government, how they
faced violence against the white community, and how they protested to earn more equal rights.
To begin, African Americans were enslaved daily before the 1860s until the 13th, 14th and
15th amendments ended this cycle of abuse, however, it did not stop the discrimination from
continuing. In the Literacy and Poll Tax article from 1899, colored people did not have the
ability to vote and become literate due to complicated literacy tests administrated by the whites.
White Southerners took control of the South through legislation and implemented a tax where
there will be a required fee to be paid in order to vote. With this loophole, African Americans did
not have the liberties that was rightfully given by the amendments that were passed. Moving onto
Tom Watson’s strategy, racial segregation was prominent, but his strategy was to merge the
African American southern farmers as Republicans and white southern farmers through political
parties, however, it failed. The way political power can shape African Americans emphasized the
need for change within the government according to Booker T. Washington in his Atlanta
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Exposition Address, he addresses his philosophy of whites suppressing African Americans which
influenced blacks to improve themselves, proving that they deserve the rights they already had.
Lastly, the Southern Manifesto stated that the education for whites and blacks was unjustly
distributed as most African Americans did not have the same opportunity as whites for education
like the literacy poll tax of the whites suppressing the blacks from voting. In conclusion, the poll
tax, Watson’s strategy, Exposition Speech, and the manifesto all highlight the injustice in
political power and rights that the federal and state government refuse to provide for African
Americans during the 1800s and 1900s.
Secondly, the violence against African Americans started to increase due to the
government’s inability to treat them as equally as human beings. Riots began to become
prominent as the colored people’s voices were rejected and they fought back due to the injustice
that they face daily. In the Detroit Race Riot, police officers, unjustly, shot anyone who was
committing an illegal act which upset the entire black community to enact revenge onto the
police. Not only in this riot, but in the Red-Hander Murder, whites slaughtered Negros based on
their skin color and if because of their economic status. This is similar to the Horrors of
Lynching in the South article, as during the early 1890s, the fear of African Americans led to the
empowerment of whites and with that fear, whites lynched any colored woman or man even if
they were children. My last example ends with The Watts Riot, as a plethora of riots by young
adults, adults, and even children caused massive damage to infrastructure as to people.
Policeman made this situation worse by intervening allowing the belief of police brutality to
come into play as some policeman were still racially speculative. Overall, the riots, the murders,
and the lynching all led to the violence of colored people and the philosophy that civil rights
should be reserved to those who are considered inferior by the majority.
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To finish off, colored people did not commit illegal acts most of the time, actually they
were protesting for their own rights. Within the Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther
King Jr., he created a letter in response to the violence that the police were enacting and the
discrimination which influenced many black empowerment movements to arise fighting for the
equal treatments towards colored people. Another example of protesting can be viewed in the
position paper by the SNCC, which focused on the inappropriate positions on women that
allowed male superiority to resemble that of white supremacy. Women were forced to work as
assistants or female jobs that inhibited them from receiving the same treatment as whites similar
to the injustice of blacks when it came to education, political gains, and even in social
environments. Moving onto the Murder of Malcolm X, he was a Muslim black man who went to
jail for 10 years, but quickly became a prominent leader who was respected and well listened to
due to his increase of knowledge and effort to read and write. His speeches influenced many
colored people and movements to continue pursuing freedom and they protested as a result of
this. In conclusion, the letter, the paper, and Malcolm X all influenced colored people to pursue
freedom for all races especially African Americans to combat inaccurate societal expectations as
well to fight for what they truly believe in.
Therefore, civil rights are difficult to attain for all colored people and ever since the
1800s and 1900s, people have rioted, protested, and politically changed the way the governments
implemented rules and regulations on races as well as for separate genders, however, it is not
enough to revolutionize the way other races react towards colored people.
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Works Cited
“Red-Handed Murder: Negroes Wantonly Killed at Thibodaux, La. (November 26,1887).”
American Perspectives: Readings in American History, Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 12–14.
“The Horrors of Lynching in the South (1892).” American Perspectives: Readings in American
History, Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 63-65.
“Atlanta Exposition Address (1895).” American Perspectives: Readings in American History,
Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 69-71 .
“Literacy Test and Poll Tax (1899).” American Perspectives: Readings in American History,
Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 76-77
“Tom Watsons’s Strategy (1892).” American Perspectives: Readings in American History,
Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 125-127
“The Detroit Race Riot (1943).” American Perspectives: Readings in American History, Volume
2, vol. 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 468-471.
“The Southern Manifesto (1956).” American Perspectives: Readings in American History,
Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 590-592.
“Letter From Birmingham Jail (1963).” American Perspectives: Readings in American History,
Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 606-611.
“The Murder of Malcolm X (1965).” American Perspectives: Readings in American History,
Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 662-664 .
“SNCC Position Paper: Women In The Civil Rights Movement (1964).” American Perspectives:
Readings in American History, Volume 2, Pearson, 2015, pp. 676-677 .
“The Watts Riot (1965)” American Perspectives: Readings in American History, Volume 2,
Pearson, 2015, pp. 690-692 .
“The Detriot Riot (1964)” American Perspectives: Readings in American History, Volume 2,
Pearson, 2015, pp. 693-694