Minorities in America have more

opportunities than in any other nation in the world. Our capitalist system is by definition color blind. If you have a great business idea or business model, you have the same opportunity to grow a successful business and earn a living as anyone else. Capitalism doesn't see your race, gender, age, or physical appearance.

Unfortunately, our country does have a history of racism and slavery. Here is another great paper called "The Many Faces of Racism" written by Charlie Cleaver on February 6th, 2005.

The Many Faces of Racism

In many ways, history simply proves to the masses that life is not fair, and after reading chapters two and three of the book “The Strange Career of Jim Crow” I too, came to this obvious conclusion. I think it’s safe to say that more than any other minority in the U.S thus far; the African American has had to overcome more obstacles. Since the foundation of the country they have been discriminated against and looked down upon. This book gives many examples of this, but the one in particular that the two chapters focus in on is the idea of disenfranchisement. It seems as though during and even after reconstruction the south took the lead in segregation and enacting these Jim Crow laws and although other areas took part in this form of racism, the former slave states looked for ways to avenge the “Old South” for the rise of the Negro. Simply put, had the north not put such a hard reconstruction phase upon the south, they might have not blamed the African Americans for all of the turmoil caused after the civil war.
Hope springs eternal for the African Americans as almost immediately after the civil war they had the opportunity to vote and even hold office. This no doubt took white southerners back as they held almost no respect for the blacks seeing as how not long ago they were working for the whites as slaves. This more than likely even created a bit of bitterness towards them. The period where blacks in the south had a plethora of rights ended not long after the compromise of 1877. This was the beginning of the end for African Americans who wanted to vote. It didn’t end yet however as Tom Watson, one of the leaders of the Southern Populist party, encouraged blacks to take advantage of the opportunity to vote and to be apart of the democratic process. He also hits up the race issue on page 63 of the book and is quoted as saying “You are made to hate each other because upon that hatred is rested the keystone on the arch of financial despotism which enslaves you both”. Watson apparently didn’t have enough influence to keep his party on the side of the African American forever however. Soon the Populist Party carried a different message to the blacks.
At the beginning of chapter three the “The Charleston News and Courier” talks about one of the first Jim Crow laws to sweep the western states which would be the segregation of whites and blacks on the “Jim Crow Car Movement” (pg 67). The author then talks about the other things that could be segregated, from the “Jim Crow Jury Box” to the “Jim Crow Bible” (pg 68). Then the author talks about the court case Williams v. Mississippi. The book discusses how this case then opened up the process of disfranchisement. The book also explains this as being the door that opens up the process of segregation and proscription (pg 71).
It seems interesting to me that only after the compromise of 1877 the south felt that it could get away with such things as beatings, lynchings, and even murder. If I had to explain how the disenfranchisement process took place as well as segregation, I would point to this even in history. With the south now having gained the right to govern itself in its own choices, it’s no wonder that they almost immediately took their hardships out on the African Americans. The south looked at the Negro as being the central cause of the south’s demise and after the war the north knew that there would be some bitter feelings towards the African American. This is when they decided to keep troops in all states but Tennessee. This simply prevented disfranchisement or any other type of discrimination, but when the compromise of 1877 took place and the troops were removed it was now up to the southerners to maintain civil rights for everyone. History shows us how well they enforced the act.
If I had to pinpoint a specific event when the disenfranchisement process started, I would say the court case of Williams v. Mississippi because it held parts of the civil rights acts as unconstitutional. This sent a direct message to the African Americans that there time as “almost equals” was coming to an end. They can’t hold any disillusions at this point given the fact that things just continue to go downhill for them politically and eventually altogether. They once had political weight, but as the book explains on page 74 that many professionals in different parts of society began looking at blacks “as inferiors and that the Anglo Saxton or Caucasian was the superior to them all”. With this kind of attitude it’s easy to see how the African Americans fell from at least slight favor so fast.
After recognizing when such as disfranchisement and segregation began to really take place, it’s important to understand why they did as well as when and how. Explaining why is a much more important task than the other two because you have to look into the minds of these simpleminded people. They were a generation of men and women who had always viewed blacks as property and nothing more. Then they saw these people and how well they were doing and more or less just got jealous. When the troops were gone that left no excuses for the south to allow the blacks to continue living with such privilege. So they removed privileges one by one using a multitude of excuses. Reading the book proves this to be true time and time again as I noticed that the further I got the worse it got for the blacks and the more ridiculous the excuses. In summing up the reasons why I think the south stripped the rights and privileges away from the African Americans, I will add a quote that I found interesting in the book on page 108 that not only sums up the Jim Crow Laws, but also the true intentions of the south all along. The book says that “The Jim Crow laws, unlike feudal laws, did not assign the subordinate group a fixed status in society. They were constantly pushing the negro further down”.
Now I will take the opportunity to explain what I think, if anything, could have stopped this atrocity.
After reading the chapters, I kept thinking about they way the north pushed so hard for integration directly after the civil war. This to me seems ridiculous since there is obviously going to be a large group of bitter southerners still sore about the war just looking for someone or something to enact there anger upon. I believe had the north simply not pushed to hard and so fast for change within the south’s already instilled mindset and simply not given so much so quickly everything could have been better. Rather, simply allow African Americans to gain more and more rights as time passes. I think had this been done there would be no need for disenfranchisement or segregation.
In a perfect society no one would discriminate or judge anyone else upon color or race or religion. Simply, we would all accept others as equals and everyone would get along with acceptance of our differences. This is a pleasant fiction. No one could really expect that the south would let all be forgotten and just let the blacks come in and do as they like. It’s a no brainier that the north would know the south would harbor bitter feelings towards the blacks. Allowing such things as voting and the rights and privileges of any other man is no doubted the right of every man regardless of race, but this was not the best course of action in the best interest of the African American. Slowing down this process would have simply been much more beneficial in the end. When enough time had passed and feelings subsided then all rights and privileges to these African Americans would have been allowed because no one would care. Obviously racism is always going to be a problem, but keeping the black man out of the spotlight for a few years would have done much to keep the true racist at bay.
In as much we have learned thus far about the progress from slaves to freemen, from war to reconstruction, and from north-south to the revised United States, the progress in our cultures racism problem has changed for the good and bad several times. In attempts to create one perfect society you must accept the fact that there will be differences between the people in this society. Segregations idea of “Separate but Equal” is another pleasant fiction. It could never have been equal as long as men and women kept such contempt for the African Americans in there heart, but taking the time to slow down this reconstruction process might have stayed off the need for segregation all together.