Racism against African Americans Essay Example

move out to create space for the new inhabitants. Civil war arose in the state of Kansas as disagreement on how the US would treat the blacks. Whereas some white supported slavery, others were openly against the practice.

The state of Kansas was rebellious to the idea that the US was to take control over the territory. The opposition presented in Kansas State and other states show that the different states were opposed to the idea of the manifest destiny. They were willing to struggle and fight to protect their territories but lost to the US which seemed to have massive resources and a large number of trained armies to aid in the expansion processes. The manifest destiny stand on the basis that whites are superior to the people of other races (Dailey, 2000). As such the rights were likely to make right and moral choices when compared to the blacks.

The wrongs committed by the white Americans were viewed as lesser compared to the wrongs that the blacks propagated. They perceive the wrongs the commit against other individuals as justified by the race and advantages they have acquired over time. Ii is evident that for instance, the whites have controlled and colonized other individuals in the past. Individuals from other races appear to be deprived of resources which the whites have gained control over.

The whites have held other individuals as property. They, therefore, have gained the belief that they have the capacity and abilities do discriminate against other individuals. It is easier for the whites to decide their destiny and to decide upon the destiny of other races in the society. White Americans can, therefore, create

rules and policies that determine their progress and relationships with other races. Other races, on the other hand, have little but to work under the influence and regulations, the whites have designed. The white man’s burden signifies the willingness of the white man to civilize the rest of the world (Levack, 2013).

White men considered themselves as having the required knowledge to enlighten the world. They viewed other races as significantly inferior and therefore considered it their role to improve the thinking and to live off the other people. It is the white man that the rest of the world would come to receive civilization. It was a noble enterprise by the Americans to conquer and subdue the world. It had a burden not make different nations of the world accept its practices as true and acceptable. American’s were to send men out to venture and civilize the world regardless of the associated risks.

White men considered black people more energetic and desirable to the white women. As such they initiated stereotypical measures to subdue the black people. For instance, they argued that Negro men were not only lustful but were also engaged in raping their women (Davis & Rape, 1983). They considered it raped when a black person was found with a white woman and therefore punished them for living with the blacks. Such punishment was made to make the Negros appear inferior to the whites.

It was the burden of the white man to ensure that the Negro remained under control. The white man’s burden led to imperialism as the white man moved to foreign lands to colonize new nations (Kazin, Edwards & Rothman, 2011). The

white man took with him his traditions that are practiced in different regions of the world. He colonized many nations spreading his economic, political and social ideologies which to a large extent played a role in the process of civilization. Most of the political structures and ideologies the Africans in the modern world are as a result of the white man’s burden which including bring civilization and democracy to different countries. The process of colonization, from the white man’s burden perspective, is seen to have both positive and negative implications to the societies that were placed under the colonization processes.

It has led to increased levels of racial discrimination as the white man views other races as inferior to his race. The white man, for instance, thinks he deserves praise for taking the burden of civilizing large sections of the world. He is the source of a large number of technological advancement that enables him to control the world. The white people as the poem by Rudyard King notes continue to show pride as they display their power in might. He has advanced new ways of colonizing and conquering the world through political and economic philosophies. For instance, the white man’s democracy is viewed as the best form democracy.

The white man sets standards that people of color ought to follow. The Kerner report stated the society was dividing and moving towards a white and black society which clearly signaled existing prejudice in the writing of the report (Sterling, & Beasley, 2009). It considered the two races unequal making it clear that one of the races clearly received favors in their day to day living. The report

views the African Americans as valuing and considering racial violence as a way to attain equality.

Such a notion is misleading since many African Americans used legal means to ensure that their rights were included in the constitution. They used peaceful demonstrations and o preached peace even in cases where their rights were denied. Americans should be regarded as racial and not the Africans s they are the controllers of vast amounts of resources. They have a history of causing injustices and hence should take the responsibility as the major causes of racial violence and not the people of color. It does not okay to consider minorities as the causes of racially stimulated violence.

The report criticized the media reporting of the violence considering it is favoring the black. It did not criticize the large numbers of incidents where the discriminative practices caused by the whites were not reported. In this case, it created a biased image of Africans as the main sources of the violence that the society faced. The report as such portrayed the actions of the whites as a reaction to the negative behaviors initiated by the black. In essence, the main cause of the violence was discriminative practices by providing better opportunities and giving fair treatment to the whites.

The blacks simply advocated for fair treatment through means they thought would be appropriate for the government to notice. The government had itself moved slowly towards ensuring equal rights for the whites and blacks. Besides the black had nonviolent means of showing disapproval in their daily lives (El-Khoury, 2012). John Marshall as the fourth appointed chief justice of the United States of America (1755-1835) is

considered as the principal architect in establishing and defining the powers of the Supreme Court in the United States.

Regardless, His accomplishments more than any other statesman has set a prevailing tone of the American constitutional law. Marshall’s natural articulacy, enigmatic personality and exceptional gift for logical analysis overpowered the insufficiencies in his legal education to later becoming the chief justice. Although Marshall was a loyal advocate of federalism, he played a significant role in deciding fundamental constitutional questions and interpreting the Constitution according to its evident meaning (Clinton, 1999). In preparing the ground premises on Marshall’s opinion of his cumulative force of the argument, despite its every possible objection, the premises clearly points out the reflective character of Marshall that suits perfectly to the subject matter.

Marshall logical analysis undoubtedly supports every premise that has been carefully prepared, all possible objections examined, answered as well as every conclusion concisely and clearly stated. However, the complete analysis, the crucial wealth of illustration, provides the reader with the conviction that the matter in the subject has been adequately treated and fully exhausted. Marshall Power of phrase and contemporary influence on the constitutional principles has immensely and profoundly affected the political along with the legal thinking of the lawyers or the bar. Marshall Influence on his premise became pervasive on his careful reasoning, lawyerlike opinions which are now studied by the generation of law students, by judges and by practitioners as well as his opinions, therefore living almost as if they were part of the constitution itself.

Misguiding Kerner Commission Report

Marshall exceptional gift when it comes to logical analysis that entailed the interpretation of fundamental constitutional issues elevated

the supremacy of the Supreme Court in the United States.

Marshal’s accomplishment in the American judiciary system is legendary; this is by upholding reason while scrutinizing all the misconceptions about the constitution. Some of the most important decisions where Marshall used the inexorable rule of logic are in the case of Marbury vs. Madison (Nelson, 2000). Essentially, the case of Marbury was significant because it marked the beginning of the concept of judicial review, which initially it had been a function of both the lower federal court and the state decisions.

On the other hand, as laid out in Hamilton’s Federalist No.78, McCulloch was an additional decision made by Marshal as it helped define the political philosophy of federalism (Berger, 1985). Marshal’s decision contracts turned out to be a recurring theme that the court faced under after the Fletcher case. On the Worcester case, marshal laid down important decisions on the foundation for future civil rights cases (Lytle, 1980). Throughout out his career as a Supreme Court chief justice, marshal’s constitutional principles of upholding the rule of logic did not change.

Despite always ruling for the federal government of over the state government, he always advocated the importance of contracts as well as maintaining the significance of the federal government to give the final verdict when it comes to conflicts regarding the constitution (Hobson, 1996). In demonstrating his Inexorable Rules of Logic, Marshal strayed from his original federalism stand when he was deciding the Barron case. However, his conviction that the bill of right was established to restrain the powers of the federal government was uniform with the ideas of many other people of his time. By the

year 1978 policies that are race conscious became very much accepted in the American society and political environment.

The reason for this new change of things is partly attributed to the racial crisis that had erupted in some of the cities in the US three months, after the speech of Johnson of 1965 (Calmore, 1992). In the August that year, the loss Angeles’ Watts neighborhood erupted in flames, starting off a period of burning, looting, and fighting for four, hot and long summers, in predominantly areas occupied by the blacks all over the region. In 1968, these riots suddenly and mysteriously came to an end just as they had come and the cause of the riots remains a subject of debate. However, after the Kerner Commission was given a chance to evaluate and find out what could have triggered such an expected behavior and reaction from the blacks, the results tabled out seemed to be a misguided diagnosis and a serious indictment of the Americans. The central findings that were offered by President Johnson’s inquiry commission have been acting as conventional wisdom in academia, the state media and the community of civil rights.

The report gave a portrayal of America as a country in stark regarding two sides, the blacks and whites. According to the report, the drama of the nation was being played by only two key players who included the victimized blacks and the bigoted whites. At the moment the whites lived mostly in the comfort of the suburban areas while inner-city neighborhoods that were white prejudiced and dead-ended trapped the backs (Kerner, 1988). In a more curious dimension, this report does not mention or

come close to the great statutes on civil rights that had led to an irrevocable change in the status of the blacks from the north and the south of the nation. The report portrayed the country as moving backward, towards two unequal and separate societies, one white and the other black. Looking closely at the riots, this was an inevitable and natural thing to have happened and taken place especially when there was the existence of racial behavior and attitudes among the white Americans towards the black Americans.

Since the world war came to an end, a mixture of explosives had been accumulating among the cities, and it was not a surprise that the detonation of this powerful powder keg had at last happened. From these facts, the nation was going to be marked and hit by a racial division that kept on deepening, and an ultimate destruction of the democratic values that are basic among the citizens until the time when white racism comes to an end. Analyzing the causes that could have led to the protests among the blacks living in the ghetto of mid-1960s, the arguments by the kernel commission have no basis (Boger, 1993). The inequality that considerably kept on increasing could not have been part of the explanation or conclusion. By every means, Africans American status had improved then. By the look of economic terms, the average wages of this group had risen rapidly, more than that of the fellow whites, based on the virtue of the far behind this group of people had been.

By this time, the report had been formed, the African Americans had seen improvements regarding schooling and

education, the status of occupation, live expectancy, and housing qualities, the racial gap kept on narrowing and reducing significantly. Politically, the blacks had gained some power and had expanded regarding arrays that formed new legal rights. In agreement with the results and conclusions made by the Kerner report, it is true that African Americans were more likely to be living in poverty and suffering from higher rates of unemployment than the white counterparts. However, the conditions were pervasively equal among the cities that never experienced such riots.

The mere fact that the protests and looting took place in some cities is not enough to conclude that these people acted that way due to issues of poverty and unemployment. The same should have been experienced in the ghettos of all other cities. On the same note, these riots and protests came to an abrupt stop in 1968 (Boger, 1993). This fact does not indicate that the same people who were involved in the protests had their issues solved through employment and upgrade from poverty to riches. The same situation remained then.

The neighborhoods in the inner-city had not yet developed or transformed. The racism among the whites towards the blacks had yet disappeared. In those few months that passed after the report was out and the last case of racism, the state government had yet started its massive program of implementing all that which the report said was to serve as a solution to the identified issues. This fact is a show that the report could not have relied as an answer to what social issues the African Americans faced in the country (Nunn, 2002). It is thus

easy to take the requirements that were tabled out as solutions, as a way to speed and fuel a faster-narrowing process of the racial gap between the blacks and the whites other than a trigger of negative behavior among the blacks. It is evident that the report leaned on one side and applied the victim blame thesis.

The report is just another form of unfounded conclusions by several of authors who tried to do an analysis on the behavior of the blacks and how the white’s racism was so much rooted in their cultural belief. One such is the argument by Angela Davis that the myth about black rapist of the white women is a twin to the myth about the bad black woman. Both myths were designed to serve as an apology and facilitation of the continued racial exploitation of black men and women (Davis, & Rape, 1983). They were used in the justification of lynching on offenders who were blacks and not the whites. After black women had a perception of the connection in the myths, they were at the forefront to fight the act of lynching. The argument by Roberts that the meaning of crime is determined based on race is also a conclusion to explain how crime suspects who were black were readily convicted than the white suspects.

The statement shows how the crime was considered to be the behavior of the blacks and not the blacks. It serves to fuel racism and see the blacks as bad people. Mary Romeo’s claim that the culture of the Americans reduces the history of the Chicano to criminal characters that are personal was used to

by the author to describe how the whites used power forcefully on the Latinos and Chicanos based on racial lines (Romero, 2006). This idea comes from the policing and incarceration culture supported by the killing of the African American youth who was a Latino. To the police, people of color are criminals who should be punished or killed.

Khoury’s argument is that, despite that there exists a false sense of internalized social control and power presence; the blacks continue to build some form of resistance (Khoury, 2012). This fact is used to mean that the blacks behaved the way they did or committed the crime as a way of resisting the false and racial means of the whites to offer social control that was biased. It can thus be concluded that the way of behavior of the blacks that was taken as natural to be criminals was just a way of the whites to cover their racist attitudes towards the African Americans.

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