With Affirmative Action becoming a dying institution, and Minority Scholarships appearing to be coming to an end. I am beginning to wonder if The 1970's, 80's, and 90's were the "Reconstruction Era" of the 20th century? For those who are unfamiliar with 'Reconstruction' that was the name of the era right after the Civil War (1865) to the 1890s.
After the Civil War slavery was declared illegal (13th amendment), blacks were granted citizenship in the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which was reinforced along with voting rights in (14th & 15th amendments). The Civil Rights Act of 1873 made racial discrimination in public places illegal. For a very brief period blacks in America used their new found freedom to vote, run for political offices (many of the 1st black congressmen like Hiram Revels came from this period), and to educate themselves (the 1st Black Colleges were built during this time). This golden age started to crumble in the late 1880's when a white backlash arose to criticize black advancement at the expense of whites. The slaughterhouse cases of the 1880s determined that citizenship for blacks only ensured their right to move freely from state to state. The Civil Rights Act of 1873 was struck down, and racial hostilities became so extremely that the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision (which made racial segregation legal) was easily passed in the Supreme Court.
Events of the past 20 years seems so similar to those of 100 years past that it isn't even funny. Since the Regan administration there has been an increasing outcry of "perceived" black advancement at the expense of whites. Other wise known as Reverse Discrimination, whites are using this belief to attack (successfully I might add) Affirmative Action, Minority Scholarships, and even the neccessity of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. There are even debates, and rumors of re-segregating schools in the South. These hostilities have led to an increasing amount of "accepted" racism in American society. African-Americans regardless of education are having an increasingly hard time getting jobs, particularly now that the economy is in shambles. This situation will not improve in the forseeable future as Bush (who more than likely will get re-elected to a 2nd term) is content to constant focus on War. That his only domestic attention has been on the University of Michigan's Affirmative Action policy speaks volumes. I openly wonder if it is worth it for people of African descent to remain in this country?
Almost 100 years ago Marcus Garvey asked this very question to a black America which was not ready to hear him. Mr. Garvey felt that racism in America was ingrained in the culture and that the country would never allow blacks as a whole to be prosperous. I think the strategical break down of Affirmative Action after only 20+ years is proof of this. These laws were created to counteract the effect that almost 300 years of slavery & 100 years of apartheid had on the social-economic status of African Americans. That politicians are willing to erase these laws after only 30 years (with the majority of African-Americans still poor, and under educated) of existance shows that America has no interest in improving the black condition. However, we as a people do not need to continue to depend on the "kindness" of whites. There is a solution to our problem: emmigration (moving to another country) .African Americans are one of the only groups in the world that refuse to emmigrate to other countries in order to improve their social-economic condition (hispanics are currently doing this by the millions, and europeans also did so by the millions in the 19th & 20th century). Why do we not do the same? Why not go back to Africa? the time is now.
After the Civil War slavery was declared illegal (13th amendment), blacks were granted citizenship in the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which was reinforced along with voting rights in (14th & 15th amendments). The Civil Rights Act of 1873 made racial discrimination in public places illegal. For a very brief period blacks in America used their new found freedom to vote, run for political offices (many of the 1st black congressmen like Hiram Revels came from this period), and to educate themselves (the 1st Black Colleges were built during this time). This golden age started to crumble in the late 1880's when a white backlash arose to criticize black advancement at the expense of whites. The slaughterhouse cases of the 1880s determined that citizenship for blacks only ensured their right to move freely from state to state. The Civil Rights Act of 1873 was struck down, and racial hostilities became so extremely that the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision (which made racial segregation legal) was easily passed in the Supreme Court.
Events of the past 20 years seems so similar to those of 100 years past that it isn't even funny. Since the Regan administration there has been an increasing outcry of "perceived" black advancement at the expense of whites. Other wise known as Reverse Discrimination, whites are using this belief to attack (successfully I might add) Affirmative Action, Minority Scholarships, and even the neccessity of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. There are even debates, and rumors of re-segregating schools in the South. These hostilities have led to an increasing amount of "accepted" racism in American society. African-Americans regardless of education are having an increasingly hard time getting jobs, particularly now that the economy is in shambles. This situation will not improve in the forseeable future as Bush (who more than likely will get re-elected to a 2nd term) is content to constant focus on War. That his only domestic attention has been on the University of Michigan's Affirmative Action policy speaks volumes. I openly wonder if it is worth it for people of African descent to remain in this country?
Almost 100 years ago Marcus Garvey asked this very question to a black America which was not ready to hear him. Mr. Garvey felt that racism in America was ingrained in the culture and that the country would never allow blacks as a whole to be prosperous. I think the strategical break down of Affirmative Action after only 20+ years is proof of this. These laws were created to counteract the effect that almost 300 years of slavery & 100 years of apartheid had on the social-economic status of African Americans. That politicians are willing to erase these laws after only 30 years (with the majority of African-Americans still poor, and under educated) of existance shows that America has no interest in improving the black condition. However, we as a people do not need to continue to depend on the "kindness" of whites. There is a solution to our problem: emmigration (moving to another country) .African Americans are one of the only groups in the world that refuse to emmigrate to other countries in order to improve their social-economic condition (hispanics are currently doing this by the millions, and europeans also did so by the millions in the 19th & 20th century). Why do we not do the same? Why not go back to Africa? the time is now.