Racial Discrimination in American History Essay

Racial discrimination contaminated the entire nation since its very inception. Racial tensions and problems remained a major dilemma of American history. Stanley M. Elkins’ illustrative work Slavery; A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life illustrated the psychological effect of harsh pattern of slavery. He says that in the South brought into being a typical Negro personality that was commonly known as Sambo. Sambo denotes to a personality prototype that was characterized by childlike behavior. This infantilism (as Mr. Elkins calls it) was a result of absolute negation of individual rights and ultimate powerlessness. He further compares it with Nazi concentration camp, where harsh treatment and absolute powerlessness over every action had reduced the Jews to infantilism. Although American history is littered with example of racial discrimination at the social and governmental level but following example manifests different facets of American racial problem. Louis Hughes (1897) depicted pernicious kind of racial discrimination in his autobiography â€Å"Thirty Years A Slave; From Bondage to Freedom† when wrote that slave whipping was a not only a punitive measure but it was also done a business. He wrote; Whipping was done at these markets, or trader’s yards, all the time. People who lived in the city of Richmond would send their slaves here for punishment. When any one wanted a slave whipped he would send a note to that effect with the servant to the trader. Any petty offense on the part of a slave was sufficient to subject the offender to this brutal treatment. Owners who affected culture and refinement preferred to send a servant to the yard for punishment to inflicting it themselves. (pp 8-9) Dred Scott case (Scott v. Sandford, 60 U. S. (19 How. ) 393 (1856). ) has its peculiar importance in the racial history of America. Scott sued in federal court to be affirmed free. A divided Supreme Court (7/2) ruled out his sue petition as declared that he had not right to sue in federal court because he was not a U. S. citizen. Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote the majority opinion. Taney based his ruling on the actualities that free blacks were not citizens because blacks were often debarred from militia service. Taney and his allied counterparts further based their decision on the assumption that original American social community included only those â€Å"who, at that time [of American independence], were recognized as the people or citizens of a State, whose rights and liberties had been outraged by the English Government; and who declared their independence, and assumed the powers of Government to defend their rights by force of arms. † (Dred vs. Scott. ) Whatever were the legal and constitutional intricacies involved in the decision, this ruling made mockery of the American values of freedom, equality and fraternity. This decision further produced a huge chasm between the white American and Blacks that still exists and haunts the American society more than ever in various sophisticated forms and shapes. Residential segregation is common today as it was in the early days of American society as Blacks reside in underdeveloped and underprivileged ghettos. The sole reason for that is that economically they are not well off to buy a house in some good residential area or at least rent it. Until the first half of the 20th century, many trade unions routinely debarred blacks from membership; segregated schools were common in many cities across America. Within the armed forces, for example, blacks served in segregated units or, in the case of the Navy, were virtually excluded. But optimism grew and struggle for an affirmation action continued. Another important moment came when Supreme Court awarded separate but equal status to Afro-American in Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896). Justice Henry Brown wrote the majority decision: â€Å"That [the Separate Car Act] does not conflict with the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery†¦ is too clear for argument†¦ A statute which implies merely a legal distinction between the white and colored races — a distinction which is founded in the color of the two races, and which must always exist so long as white men are distinguished from the other race by color — has no tendency to destroy the legal equality of the two races†¦ The object of the [Fourteenth A]mendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political equality, or a commingling of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either. † Justice John Harlan manifested great prudence in his dissent note. He wrote; â€Å"Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law†¦ In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott case†¦ This did not end the Black plight as Racialism was not only institutional but psychological and it crept into the very intellectual and psychological level of American whites. Sociological patterns i. e. values and traditions, were established in way to nurture hatred for the colored people. Palton (1954) is of the view that American racialism has two major manifestations; employment and housing. He provides a detailed and first hand accounts of this housing discrimination. He depicted how white community outcasts those whites who tried to sell the property to colored people. He elaborated that these white Realtors are not motivated by any altruism but financial gains are the only factors that compels them to sell their property to Black community. He writes; In 1934 the Federal Housing Administration regarded itself as a business organization, and regarded Negro occupancy as harmful from a business point of view. In 1937 it actually published a model race-restrictive covenant. In the words of Mr. Loren Miller, of Los Angeles, one of the most powerful Negro fighters against the covenant, â€Å"the FHA sowed race-restrictive covenants through the country far and wide. † The FHA dropped the model covenant in 1949, and declared it would no longer insure loans in new developments where there were covenants. . . . (Paton, 1954) Parton further asserted in 50s that â€Å"By now I assume that it is an incontrovertible fact that segregation is dying† but subtle forms of discrimination continued. Although state and federal laws hankered after an equal status for colored people but institutional and social practices presented a different scenario i. e. dichotomy of values in idea and real world. Roosevelt (1943) has raised certain fundamental questions about same problem i. e. the ideals for which civil war was fought and the practical attainment of those ideals. In that war we succeeded in establishing our unity. We would be one nation and not two and we said that all the people in our nation should enjoy equal rights and privileges, but in our hearts we never really believed what we said. (Roosevelt, 1943) Same views were depicted by Birmingham Sunday, a song by Richard Farina when four children were murdered in Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. It says; On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine, And the choirs kept singing of Freedom. (Carawan, 1990) The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a socio-political protest against the policy of racial segregation and discrimination campaign in the public transport service of Montgomery city, Alabama in 1955. It lasted for one whole year starting at December 5, 1955 and ending at Decenmer21, 1956. The sentiments of the Afro-American community were cooled down by a United States Supreme decision that declared segregation in public transport as unconstitutional. The Montgomery Bus Boycott cast deep imprints U. S. history and equipped the Black leadership with an impetus to carry on their civil rights struggle. It had implications that reached far beyond the desegregation of public buses. Luther King established himself as the leader of a national stature. The protest boosted the Civil Rights Movement and created a mass awareness about the struggle of Afro-American community and highlighted their pathos and miseries. It further provided confidence to the Black people that they can win their rights by constant struggle. In the words of King: â€Å"We have gained a new sense of dignity and destiny. We have discovered a new and powerful weapon—non-violent resistance. † Another manifestation of racial discrimination existed in the armed forces. Afro-American community remained a vital part of U. S. Armed forces and participated in every war the United States fought on domestic and/or foreign soil. But it is also a fact that Afro-American soldiers remained a part of segregated units and were tasked to do unskilled donkey work. In the perspective of World War II, President Truman issued an Executive Order 9981, which consented â€Å"equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. † This pronouncement was great but black servicemen continued to come across profound discrimination. Much like the wider American society, the U. S. armed forces observed plentiful racial incidents in the 1960s. The Camp Lejeune Incident is one of them. Camp Lejeune Marine Corps camp in Central North Carolina and housed about 42,000 military personnel. In late 1960s, 14% of troops stationed at the camp were Afro-American.. On the horrible night of July 20, 1969, racial tension aroused â€Å"when a black marine attempted to cut into a white dancing with a black woman marine†. (U. S. Government Printing Office, December 15, 1969). After one and half hour, a white army personnel entered the club and shouted that he had been attacked by a mob of Afro-American marines. This sparked the whole situation and within next half an hour 15 Black marines injured and one, Corporal Edward E. Blankston, was dead of massive head injuries. Another such incident is The U. S. S. Kitty Hawk Incident. All these incident provides a comprehensive and brief synopsis of racialism in American history but it remains a fact that although there are various individual achievements on the part on black Americans like Christina Rocca and Colin Powell hold important role of Secretary of State; Clarence Thomas held the highest judicial authority but discrimination in many forms is also a central part of the African American experience. Joe R Feagin in his book â€Å"Racist America; Roots, Current Realities And Future Preparations† describes clearly that â€Å"systematic racism is about everyday experience†¦Black American and other people of color often experience the world differently from White Americans†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is true in every aspect of African-American life. References Alan Paton, â€Å"The Negro In the North,† Collier’s, 29 October 1954, 70–72, 74–75, 77, 79–80. Amending Interstate Commerce Act (Segregation of Passengers), Hearings before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session, May 12–14, 1954. Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1954, 39–55. Burns, Stewart. Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott. The University of North Carolina Press. 1997 Carawan. Candie. Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement through its `songs. Bethlehem. 1990. pp. 122-123. Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, Inquiry into the Disturbances at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,. on July 20, 1969 (Washington, D. C. : U. S. Government Printing Office, December 15, 1969), p. 5056. Elkins, Stanley. Slavery; A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life. University of Chicago Press. 1959. Feagin, Joe R. Racist America : roots, current realities, and future reparations. New York : Routledge, 2000. Hughes, Louis. Thirty Years A Slave; From Bondage to Freedom. Milwaukee. South Side Printing Company. 1897. Justice Henry Billings Brown, â€Å"Majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson,† Desegregation and the Supreme Court , ed. Benjamin Munn Ziegler (Boston: D. C. Heath and Company, 1958) 50-51.