Relations between Blacks and Whites - Essay Example

? Relations between Blacks and Whites History and Political Science Introduction In the nineteenth century, the blacks and white people had an unpleasant relationship in the United States that was defined by non-prohibited racial discrimination. America moved from a period of civil war and entered to a period of civil rights movements. Myrdal claims that, at that period the greatest dilemma existed out of the co-existence between the white liberals and the blacks who lived a miserable life. There was a clear belief in America that all human beings are equal with fundamental rights. However, this was not practiced as blacks being the minority were seen as inferior group and were denied the civil rights and participation in politics. Myrdal’s have made a long milestone to cover a complete situation of the relationship between blacks and the white Americans. He claims that white people were responsible in ways for the misfortunes of the blacks. Civil war to civil right movement In the 19th century, almost all the blacks resided in the rural areas where they worked as slaves in white men’s farms. In this century, the co- existence of blacks and whites was defined by racial discrimination (Brands et al 25). Racial discrimination was supported by the laws. The slavery system was first abolished at the end of civil conflicts, which led to 13th review of America’s constitution. After civil rights movements, various measures were taken in an attempt to grant the black people in America complete set of rights as American citizen. This attempt was characterized by the establishment of the four Acts regarding human rights around 1870s. These civil Acts provided several rights including right to hold property, sue and be sued, and the freedom to act as witnesses in a law court for the Africans (Southern, 45). The civil right Acts of 1875 purposed to grant the African Americans the remaining rights. This Act was instrumental toward gaining full freedom and worked to eliminate any form of discrimination; those who were found to be guilty were penalized. This Act was later dismissed by the Supreme Court, terming it as erroneous. The judge argued that civil rights did not include failure of discrimination in public places. The court ruling favored the whites who continued to mistreat blacks in rural south (Drake & Crayton 67). Blacks attended separate schools, used different railways and buses, and were not supposed to share any public resources with the white. At this time, United States was a white man’s country with blacks having no rights. In a case, Plessy v. Ferguson, the court legalized the use of separate public resources, with a condition that they are equal. Between 1900 and 1920, the issue of racial separation increased at a very alarming rate in public transport, schools and even in churches (Drake & Crayton 69). Black people living in the reserves in rural south decided to migrate to the urban areas, around the industries. Migration of the blacks was mainly driven by the unfavorable living conditions, in the in the south and unreliable climatic conditions. Another reason for the migration was the increased demand for black labor in industries as a result of reduced immigration of Europeans after the World War I. At this period, the blacks in the south were governed by laws introduced by Crow until world war two ended (Brands et al 54-8). Those blacks settling in the north were segregated and put in residential areas. The area had poor climate with limited economic activities and social aspects. As the number of African Americans continued to increase in the north, more and more whites moved out in order to avoid any interaction with blacks. Some of the whites were assimilated into blacks’ lifestyle, and as the population grew rapidly, blacks continued to expand in white’s neighborhood. Whites were not pleased with the growth of blacks and tried to resist their invasion. They combined with landlords not to let any black person to rent a house in their neighborhood and sale of properties to the blacks. The law was also bent to impose and support these restrictions towards the black people. In some places like Chicago, these restrictive agreements were highly pronounced. According to Brands et al (63), this forced Blacks to live in a congested place in slum like areas, where the cost of life rose due high population. Though more policies were formulated in the 1930s, these laws made the issue of racial segregation even much difficult as it encouraged the blacks only to purchase land in the black neighborhood. The housing department in the federal government gave mortgage loans only to the blacks who were not interested in building around the white people. According to Myadral (44), United States housing authority was under pressure from the white Americans to initiate housing plans in different places depending on the race of people. After the World War II, industries in the north were faced with much shortage of workers which forced the blacks to move in large from the south. This was coupled with housing problems around the industries; this was around the year 1940s. At this period of blacks’ migration, very many ghettos were formed around the cities. In fact, these slums were officially associated with the lifestyle of black people. According to the statistics, black people lived in areas where almost 90 percent of the residents were black people. Segregation came tagged with social, economic and psychological negative effects; most blacks living in America at those decades were suffered from severe economic deprivation (Massey & Denton 89). This isolation and psychological torture of blacks by the whites led to increased riots among the blacks especially at the end of 1950s. The places most affected by these riots were Alabama and Birmingham which protested violently in 1963. According statistics, riots in Los Angles in the year 1965 resulted to damage to worth millions of dollars where about 35 people lost their lives and so many others were severely injured. Chicago was not left behind and in the summer of 1966, very organized riots were experienced in the region. The Chicago riot paved way for more than 60 black ghettos to portray their frustration in the cities. After the assassinations of the black leader, Martin Luther King Jr, more than 100 black cities rioted in a massive way in 1968 (United States National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders 2). The economic situations of the blacks improved in the 1930s as more blacks realized their civil rights and also due to the influence brought by Myrdal and increased knowledge of blacks welfare by the whites. Truman who was the president of America in the year 1948 put to a stop any discrimination and isolation of blacks in the US army (Duncan & Duncan 78). This was followed by many other ruling by the Supreme Court barring any kind of segregation of the black people in attending public schools and colleges. In reference to Massey & Denton (93), Martin Luther king was among the most instrumental figures who fought against segregation in public transport. He led protests between 1955 and 1956 in Montgomery and Alabama. The court nullified the policies which encouraged segregation of blacks in public buses. These changes in laws were often met by violence and dissatisfaction on the side of white people, especially those living in the North. Increased civil rights eventually reduced the issue of segregation and brought about improved living condition for the blacks. This was followed by many black people joining the technical and professional careers in the US by the beginning of 1970s. There was a double increase of black people in colleges and universities and many black people were able to own their own houses between 1970- 80. More than double of the black people rose to middle level families as they were earning a basic salary. More black people joined politics and the number of those in public positions increased in 1970s (Kiel & Zabel 17). Though a Housing Act was formulated the situation of racial segregation is still evident for the last three decades. Fair Housing Act called for a stop in discrimination in housing, which gave the black people equal chance to own a house. This shows most of the black living in the ghetto moved to the urban areas where living conditions were favorable. Many black people saw no need to prohibit the black for their neighborhood, but racial evidently racial discrimination cannot completely scrubbed from their minds (Cutler et al 107). As a result of abolition of discriminatory laws, the blacks can move freely in America and even live in the white neighborhood which was not the case in 1940s. Currently, many white people live in the black neighborhood where at times the rents are particularly high. This indicates that, blacks have prospered economically over the years and can now afford to live a lifestyle of their own without any restrictions. According to Kiel and Zabel (21), there are extremely many opportunities of prosperity among the black residents currently than it was the case some years back. Putting very high prices in the white neighborhood was one way of restricting the black people from owning or living in the white suburban areas. According some people the removal of discriminatory laws brought a bigger problem of increased ghettos in the urban places in the United States as more and more blacks flocked in the area. According to sociologist the issue of segregation from the 1990s, is still evident. Current situations Researchers have shown that the blacks’ economic situation may not be getting any better than that of whites in average. Employments by 1990s were rampant among the black people compared to that of the white; it was even extreme among the young blacks. In 1995, statistics revealed that, more blacks lived in absolute poverty compared to their white counterparts, also many black still are not covered with the health insurance or any medical benefits (Fordham & Ogbu 18). However, the issue of medical cover has improved currently as more and more policies are being adopted to ensure all American gets quality health care. Infant mortality among black people is truly high, though the overall health has been improving in the United States. Most black people still live in poverty, with more than 25 percent of black children born of single parents. Current generation of black children is, however, in a better position than their fore fathers as the discrimination they face is less revealing, compared to what their father had to undergo for over a century. The only problem is that these children are brought up in an economically deprived neighborhood which is defined by high poverty levels, single parenting, high school drop outs, high crime rates, dependency rate, and extreme unemployment. In the United State those people living in the ghettos, majority being black, still face all types of deprivation from health to inadequate food and water supply. Conclusion The United States of America is still viewed as one of the most mature currently when it comes to the issue of democracy. This and the good economic stability in the US may be taken to mean prosperity among all the American citizens. From the history of the US in the time of civil wars to civil rights, what we see is a country yet to solve the issue of political, social and economic imbalance among the whites and blacks. The problem of economic segregation among the black is rooted from the time of colonization, hence the current market economy may not solve the situation. The United States will need to take a step further to ensure that all its citizen have equal access to the basic needs and are not subject of economic deprivation and chronic poverty. Works Cited Brands, H.W and T.H Breen et al, American Stories: A History of the United States. Combined volume. 2nd edition. Pearson Cutler, D., E. Glaeser and J. Vigdor. "The Rise and Decline of the American Ghettos." Journal of Political Economy 1999 2(1): 105-116 Southern, D. W. Gunnar Myrdal and Black-White Relations. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1987.  U.S. National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. The Kerner Report. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988.  Drake, S. C. and H. R. Cayton. Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1945.  Duncan, O. D. and B. Duncan. The Negro Population of Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957.  Fordham, S. J. U. Ogbu. Black Students' School Success: Coping with the 'Burden of Acting White'. Urban Review 18, 1986.  Kiel, K. A. and J. E. Zabel. "Housing Price Differentials in U.S. Cities: Household and Neighborhood Racial Effects." Journal of Housing Economics 1996 5(1): 15-26 Massey, D. S. and N. A. Denton. American Apartheid. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993.  Myrdal, G. An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1944.  Read More