History Of Social Justice Issues Facing African Americans

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History of Africa-American Social Justice Issues
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December 15, 2017
Introduction
It was not surprising that the history of the United States is fraught with a lot of political tension, especially when it comes to socio-political issues concerning matters of race. Ever since the beginnings of the country, countless instances of violence and oppression has happened in between the Whites and the Blacks. It even took us nearly two centuries before significant milestones could be made in achieving liberty and a true sense of equality amongst each and every citizen of the Free world. Nevertheless, despite being these achievements, the American nation is still populated with a number of issues regarding ethnicity, including discriminatory access to wealth, education, and other kinds of services. However, these issues are more subtle and easily resolved today as compared before where trying to achieve equality required radical mindsets, ideologies, and progressive actions. In line with this, the author of this article dedicated this paper to the analysis of the history of social justice issues which African-Americans faced in the past. However, due to the constraints of time and resources, the discussion would only be limited to the events that transpired during the period of the “Black Reconstruction”. As discussed by Du Bois in his seminal book entitled, Black Reconstruction in America, this period spanned for two decades starting in the 1860s and up to the 1880s where it met its unlikely failure (Du Bois). In the succeeding sections, the events of the said period would be discussed in relation to themes like partisan politics and economic events, in order to provide a holistic account of the events that transpired during the period of reconstruction. After providing the necessary historical context, the succeeding section would then relate these issues to the Social Injustices that the Blacks have faced during and after the period of Reconstruction. And lastly, the last section would then be dedicated to the analysis of Du Bois on methods forwarded by White Supremacists, which tainted the promise of the project of liberation. Accordingly, the author of this article believes that despite the failure of the Black Reconstruction and the terrorist acts that ensued, it could nonetheless be considered as one of the most successful events in history as it espoused ideas that ushered a new wave of thinking, specifically those concerning possibilities of true equality and liberty.
The History of Black Reconstruction
For nearly a century, the United States has fostered the system of Chattel Slavery before opposing ideologies about its humanity have emerged and decided to go against it. Back during those times, most slaves were oppressed, discriminated, and even executed if they were not able to obey their master's wishes. However, as some part of the American nation have been awakened to the cruelties that the slaves are experiencing, while the other has steadfastly remained, a war broke out between the two opposing sides. On one hand, it was Union North who believes that freedom and liberty should be given equally, and on the other, it was the Confederate South which believes otherwise, thus leading to the events of the four-year American Civil War in between the two sides. Nonetheless, due to the Union’s victory over the South, the period ensuing after the war was not only characterized with rebuilding infrastructures and the economy, but also the very structures of society. Specifically, this difficulty would be re-integration of the formerly rebellious South population and the former Black slaves into the society, which they prompted a number of difficulties in the process. However, it was in the year 1877, when most of the former Confederate States have already pledged their loyalty to the United States Government, while also acknowledging the ideals of liberty and equality forwarded by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. Collectively known as the Reconstruction Amendments, these amendments were passed under the Lincoln administration, who was also the main proponent of the period of Reconstruction (Du Bois). In retrospect of the previous years before the war, these amendments were perhaps the most important milestones in US history (and perhaps the whole world), because for the very first time the Blacks were given the right to be treated as equals under the eyes of the law. However, despite these progressive actions, it was only until the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, when the tides have turned against it.
As stated earlier, Lincoln was a steadfast proponent of the reconciliation between the nations and the abolition of slavery in the whole United States. However, after his assassination, he was then succeeded by Andrew Johnson, who did not share the same ideals, and thus vetoed against the 14th amendment of the constitution, which is also known as the Civil Rights Act (Disch, Baum, and Chambers)., According to him, the main reason as to why the Civil rights act should not be passed is because he believes that this would undermine the rights of the White people. However, despite his opposition, his decisio...