When Harlem Was in Vogue by Lewis - Essay Example

Wilson ensured that it was lawful to discriminate against the African-Americans race when he introduced the law of segregation. This law stated that Blacks were supposed to live in the south and should not integrate with the whites. There was discrimination even for federal jobs thus blacks could not join the military (Lewis, 1997).

To ensure that all the whites supported him in his fight against the blacks, films and newspapers circulated propaganda about the blacks’ ignorance and the cruelty of the black men for instance black men are portrayed as rapists for raping their bosses white women in the south where they were slaves. This led to the formation of the Ku Klux Klan that hanged and burnt black men in public (Lewis, 1997). The increment of stereotyping blacks was rampant and the blacks tried their best to fight for equal rights.

During World War 1, America joined the war to help the allies thus blacks joined the army. The black troop fought with honor to prove that they were better than the white soldiers were. In France, the white Americans continued discriminating and stereotyping the black troops and they gave warning to the French soldiers that the black troops were ignorant and lusted for white women and if they welcomed them they would rape their women (Lewis, 1997). The French soldiers discounted these accusations and the soldiers won the war in their favor.

After the war, black troops were honoured with medals but that was not enough as they only agreed to fight for America to ensure they earn equal rights. The black troops organized other blacks and formed organizations then moved to the north and in New York; they formed more organizations to ensure segregation ended (Lewis, 1997). Since some of the blacks in the organization were intelligent, they joined other philosophers on the verge of identifying their true roots from Africa. Knowing their culture and their ancestors were key in the struggle for equality although they claimed that race was not important in the provision of equal rights but they had to stand as an African-American race to ensure discrimination of their race ended.

The next step according to this chapter was to end the stereotyping that had destroyed their image. They joined the entertainment industry. They introduced jazz music thus raising the music level of America. The organization joined political settings; this meant that their rights had to be addressed for the blacks to vote for a particular candidate. The continuous involvement in music and arts among other positive entertainment activities led to whites accepting the black race. This change of heart by some whites to support the blacks in their struggle for equality illustrated that the blacks had erased the negative image the government and other whites had created for stereotyping them (Lewis, 1997).