Race Relations in America Essay Example

voting to white male citizens over the age of 21. The constitution also stated that there would be “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state…” However, there was an exception to the rule “Nor shall any indenture of any Negro or mulatto hereafter made, and executed out of the bounds of this state be of any validity within the state.” meaning that if you were in bondage the constitution rule did not apply. (50-53) Once Indiana became a state in 1816, migration into the state came with waves of African Americans, some with their southern masters and some free Blacks. They looked for places where they could find land and places that were close to Quakers.

In 1820, in State v. Laselle, the Indiana Supreme Court freed a slave named Polly concluding that the framers of the constitution intended to prohibit slavery and indentured servitude from the state. (105) “Black denigration elevated the lowest white to a level above the most talented black, allowing slaves to never be free and thereby not be a competitor for land and labor per Article 13 of the Indiana Constitution. The State of Indiana laying rite in the middle of the country has and remains split on politics, values, and concepts of the new norm and solidarity did not set well in the Reconstruction Era. Congressman Voorhees expressed the fear of many, “Shall the white man maintain his supremacy.” (164-165) As history is written, many Hoosiers were sympathetic with the South during the late 1850's to the start of the Civil War.

Many had been strong supporters of President Andrew Jackson during the days of Native Americans (Indian) removal efforts. Politics was

a ploy but by 1860, many voters in Indiana supported Abraham Lincoln, who identified the state as his boyhood home. Lincoln won the national election; Indiana was a staunch supporter of Lincoln.White privilege is and been historically the biggest issue of race relations. White Privilege per Frances Kendall “is an institutional rather than personal set of benefits granted to those of us who by race, resemble the people who dominate the power positions in our institutions one of the primary privileges is that whites has greater access to power and resources than people of color. (Kendall 2006) Example: being a certain skin color allows certain affordability.

The Indiana Civil Rights Law of 1885 with examples in our readings gave African Descendants public capabilities but never actually manifested, appeals courts awarded rulings of “right to refuse service”, sunset towns, lynching, newspapers, and Klu Klux Klan charters all legal recourses and segregation. (191-192) However, the 20th century did have its perks in shifting the State of Indiana to become more neutral to race examples being NAACP first congressional meeting, the party of Lincoln (Republican) becoming more liberal, and education standards. In 1949, Indiana passed the Indiana School Desegregation Act of 1949, five years ahead of the US Supreme Court’s decision to require desegregation in Brown v. Board of Education. (271) Legal ramifications with the help of the NAACP cities such as Gary, South Bend and Kokomo (Northern Section of the State) lead missions of change. Notwithstanding white flight per “Ta-Nahisi Coates stating by policy move out of urban areas and create suburbs such as Merrillville, Hobart, and Portage.

In 1961 and 1963, Indiana passed civil rights bills, 1969; Unigov was

created to move government functions from the city to the county. Race relations still exist in Indiana the public policy objective was Civil Rights/Equal Rights. Civil Rights should have been to grant all men the ability to be considered to have civil rights and liberties. The Era of Reconstruction per our class lectures expanded the knowledge of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

Yes, the African Descendants was granted the clause of being free per the 13th amendment but this was on paper only no enforcements or legal protections. Civil Rights as we know them to be are policies designed to protect all people against anything or anyone that is or of power (arbitrary) who practices and exhibits discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals on any level. Equal Rights are to afford a way for equal opportunities to be given to all. The 14th Amendment was to provide this to all men which adopted to The Constitution in 1868. This was a response to former slaves freedom which just on paper but not effective. Hence, the 15th Amendment (1870) granted African American men the right to vote but with many states creating objective and oppressive forms of limitations.

History of the VRA of 1965 goes far back to the social stratifications of being Black in America. Class, race, ethnicity, and gender have plagued a select group of people with scarce resources and minimal social rewards. Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a federal piece of legislation enacted on August 6, 1965 by President Lyndon Baines Johnson the 36th President of the United States of America. This piece of Legislation taking the Civil Rights Act of 1866

into a new direction of serving all humankind, racial minorities now shad a definitive say in the politics of this country! Indiana is a proponent of circumventing the VRA of 1965.

An example of 21st century race relations recently occurred with Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson introducing legislation into law back in 2005. The Supreme Court upheld it in 2008 as been constitutional. Indiana being a major Republican State believes in my opinion to be in the Good Old Southern Boys Society. This legislation was established for the so-called purpose of preserving election integrity. State photo identification is a hard thing to come by for those that are elderly, handicapped, and otherwise homeless. Indiana requires a person to prove where they live with bills, affidavits, and mail during specific timeframes.

This creates disenfranchisement to a select community. The elderly have limited access to old southern birth records, limited transportation to get to DMV, and former felons cannot claim an address because of public housing or section eight rules. Lawson is quoted as saying this form of regulation works. She say that “turnout for presidential elections has increased since the law’s implementation it jumped from 58 percent in 2004 to 62 percent in 2008, a year when President Barack Obama became the first Democrat to carry Indiana since 1964.

Turnout fell back to 58 percent in 2012. And she contends there is “no compelling evidence” to prove voters are being blocked from the ballot box because of stricter identification requirements, although she says it’s “impossible to measure” whether the law has prevented a case of in-person voter fraud.” This leads me to say if there is no proof

to say this form of restriction does or does not work then why it is a necessary law? According to the Brennan Report Indiana in 2013 passed an additional law allowing party-nominated officers to demand additional proof other than a State Photo Id. This law is biased because of the forms of Identifications that are required and Indiana State requires many details to get a State ID and Driver’s License especially if your ID is lost or stolen. The paper form they now issue versus former way of printing directly at License Branches now everything has to come via mail from down state making ID process a 14- 21 day additional time frame.

The paper copy is not acceptable but is issued via a state governmental branch; this is just a slow walk tactic for circumventing the law. Currently the State of Indiana is in litigation with the ACLU pertaining to this case: “Common Cause Indiana challenging an Indiana law that permits local election authorities to immediately purge the registrations of Indiana voters – without written confirmation from the voter, notice, or any waiting period – based on a match in the Interstate Voter Registration.” Race relations came with brutality, misjudgments, and vial conduct. History cannot be erased for African Americans however, civil rights has become a major benefit for all. African Americans now have opportunities that had been denied. Choices in schools, jobs, neighborhoods, and society have become opened with the option of choice. Even though society has become disconnected in the 21st Century and history seems to be repeating itself.

Perhaps everyone should do a man in the mirror test and realize skin color is

not the only factor to create a Utopian environment but equality. Following the path into civil rights and public interest, this journey is never ending. The heritage of the past remains a special burden for twenty-first-century lawmakers, courts, and citizens.” (319)