Civil Rights of 1964

Hi!

It's Brooke, checking in for the last blog of United States History to discuss with you the successful outcome of the undeniable unequal treatment of African Americans from the beginning of America. In the beginning, these African Americans were bought or stolen from their masters in Africa, and were sent to these new lands to do harsh, strenuous work for no reward or freedom. Treated unfairly before they even step foot in America, and now it's 1964 and the fight is slowing to an end. The Civil Rights Act in 1964 ended segregation in all public places, meaning no discrimination for a certain race, gender, or religion. This was the turning point in all harsh racist acts. Obviously, many individuals in the South still attempted to protest, but the African Americans had finally won their freedom after years of battling for the difference in their skin color that they can not control. For so long, there was separation of bathrooms, schools, restaurants, and etc. Each different places for different colored people were labeled things such as "Colored Bathroom Only", to depict that only African Americans could use the poorly kept, lower quality bathrooms. It is mind blowing to believe that republican white individuals once truly believed that the African American individual is less of a human than they were. There were two major follow up acts past in continuation of the trend which were the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The voting rights act prohibited literary tests and all other racist discriminate ways to stop a certain race from voting; whereas, the fair housing act banned discrimination in the sale of property. The African American population has been through many rough patches, but their repetitive battling has led them to reach their goals and have the same equality as the rest of America!

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act

Have a Great Summer and remember to learn your history!
Signing off,
Brooke van den Berg

Jim Crow

Hello Bloggers!

Currently, my class has been learning about the late 1800's - early 1900's. My subject of study is race, and in this time period, domestic racial inequality is at an all time high. When African Americans were given freedom, Caucasian's lost their minds. They did not approve of African Americans being able to do the same things they were. The result of this was the creation of Jim Crow Laws, which was a nasty racial caste system that whites created with the belief that they are superior to all African American's in all important roles. These laws took place in Southern racist states, and did not venture up into the Northern lands. Northeast American's were much more excepting of the freedom of African Americans. The South did not share mutual feelings. Some whites believed violence should be used to keep blacks at the bottom of racial hierarchy. The KKK was created in this time period to help carry out the violence aspect of Jim Crow Laws. The laws were obnoxiously racist; for example, "Under no circumstances was a black male to offer to light a cigarette of a white woman -- that gesture implied intimacy.", even though this was almost never meant as a sexual gesture. Whites were basically making things up to create the least amount of comfort in an African American's everyday lifestyle. Jim Crow laws, also called black codes, made it very difficult for African American's in public situations. There were separate schools, bathrooms, restaurants, water fountains, and so much more, that were all put in place because African Americans were not supposed to have the same amount of equality as whites. It was publicized everywhere that these two races were not allowed to do participate in the same opportunities as whites; for example, there were signs on every segregate place or object that required blacks to not be involved. So, there were a lot of signs. This was a very low time in Southern African American's lives, but they did everything they could to survive and follow the "rules" placed before them. I extremely respect every soul that had to go through this time period as a black individual, and there will never be this drastic divide racial environment again in America. 

Thank you for your time, 
        Brooke van den Berg 

You can find more information about this tragic time period at this site. 

Hello Bloggers!

        Today I am going to be talking about race relating to the Antebellum period. Specifically, I am going to be talking about the relocation of American Indians in 1830, which is commonly known as the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This act was signed by Andrew Jackson, and it gave the federal government the power to force the American Indians that lived east of the Mississippi, to move to the west of it. A product of this act was the Trail Of Tears, which was the journey to relocation they had to make. More than 4,000 Cherokee Indians passed away, and more than double that harshly suffered. American Indians died of cold, disease, and hunger on their way to their new home. The targeted tribes that they wanted to remove were Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, and Chickasaw Native Indians. The American Indian's weren't allowed to gather their belongings before they left, and it resulted in whites raiding their homes and stealing their items. It is pitiful how unfair, racist, and morally incorrect the Indian Removal Act was.  But the Act was urged by Jackson because when he was in the military he had fought and won against the Creek Indians, making him hate the race. It tremendously helped the white farmer community because it gave them more opportunity and land to grow crops on; for example, cotton and fruit. In 1828, there was a large amount of gold discovered in Georgia, to my belief, this discovery was probably a motivator for removing the American Indians as quickly as possible, so that the greedy white population could attack and conquer those new opportunities for money. The Removal Act permanently damaged the Indian population in the United States. We will always remember the Trail of Tears as a harsh, racist act of destruction, and I believe nothing in American history will ever resemble this horror again.

I found the following information on this link.

Best Regards,
     Brooke van den Berg