African Americans and Southern Racism During Reconstruction Essay

IntroductionAt the end of the well-mannered state of war, the States faced the difficult task of uniting not only ii marooned territories of the United States, but also two be givens enormous separated by racism and culture. Devastated and embittered by the damage of the war, the South had a long way to go in order to achieve true compare between the former slave owners and former slaves. The majority of the South remained peck in racialist behavior, finding post-Civil War legal loopholes to diminish African American rights (Tindall & Shi, 2010, pp. 757-758). southerners continued to marginalize Blacks in their behavior toward ex-slaves and the later African American generation, continuing the escalation of racial tensions through white terror and preferential military positions (Tindall & Shi, 2010, p. 759). Most subversively, southern newspapers propagated stereotypes against African Americans in their coverage and descriptions of constitutional expressions (Logue, 1979, p. 342). Although ingrained Reconstruction offered some progress toward social equality after the Civil War, its success was short-lived as African Americans suffered vast disenfranchisement through anti-Semite(a) rulings, attitudes, and media representation in the South at the second of the century.Rulings against African Americans by and by the Civil War had come to an end, African Americans in the South pronto made use of their new-found political and social rights, employing their right to vote from the fifteenth Amendment and serving as prominent political figures (Tindall & Shi, 2010, p. 722). However, the formerly fervent inscription to Radical Reconstruction curtly dwindled (Tindall & Shi, 2010, p. 739). Many of the advances toward civilized equality were soon erased In 1883, the Supreme Court declared the Civil Rights Laws of 1875 unconstitutional, and the political precedent Blacks had gained, especially in the South where 90% of Blacks lived, was completely undon e. Black elector fellowship dropped from 96% to 26% in South Carolina in effective 12 days (1876-1888) in those same 12 geezerhood, voter participation of Blacks dropped from 53% to 18% in Georgia (Burris-Kitchen & Burris, 2011, p. 5). Even while African Americans enjoyed an uninhibited freedom to voting rights, many an(prenominal) still suffered disenfranchisement at the workforce of rampant racial discrimination in the South.Although discontent Southerners could not balk the Black right to vote, they found ulterior methods to marginalize African Americans. Since the ordinal Amendment made it impossible simply to deny African Americans the right to vote, disenfranchisement was courtly indirectly, through such devices as poll taxes (or head taxes) and literacy tests (Tindall & Shi, 2010, p. 757). Jim Crow laws mandated racial segregation in public areas in the South and were very much attended by physical abuse and terror to African Americans (Tindall & Shi, 2010, pp. 756- 759).These underhand activities in the South demonstrated that while African Americans were technically free, they continually suffered from unsportsmanlike rulings and actions. These sprang from the rampantly racist attitudes in the South Although great strides were made toward political and economic freedom for Blacks following the Civil War, the progress made was quickly squashed by political movements and rhetoric, which implied that Blacks could not handle their newly-found freedom and that the albumen working class was threatened by Blacks who were trying to take their jobs, their property, and their politics away from them (Burris-Kitchen & Burris, 2011, p. 5).Racist AttitudesMany Southerners continued to believe and propagate these ideas that African Americans had a subversive agenda to the White working class. These ideas culminated in ingrained attitudes against African Americans in the South During the 1890s the attitudes that had permitted moderation in race relati ons evaporated. A violent negrophobia swept across the South and more than of the nation at the end of the century (Tindall & Shi, 2010, p. 756). However, African Americans at the turn of the century had become weary of disenfranchisement and were ready to stand up against these attitudes This generation was more assertive and less patient than their parents. We are not the Negro from who the chains of slavery fell a quarter century ago, just about assuredly not, a black editor announced (Tindall &Shi, 2010, p. 756). Unfortunately, this may nominate simply increased a White agenda of racial discrimination, as a growing number of young white adults, however, were equally stubborn to relieve Negroes in their place (Tindall & Shi, 2010, p. 756).Whether Southerners felt that African Americans imposed a threat to their jobs, their safety, or their rights, the overarching attitude of the South clearly displayed a reinforced desire to maintain racial dominance of the pre-Civil War e ra. Part of this attitude motivated a desire to limit education for African Americans To keep Blacks uneducated meant Whites could boast of their superior intellect this had been in the arsenal of Whites for hundreds of years prior to Reconstruction and continues to be used over 130 years after Reconstruction. Denial of education for Blacks existed through Reconstruction as a form of White racism and a justification for their inferior political and economic status (Burris-Kitchen & Burris, 2011, p. 6). Any kind of advantage Whites could claim in the South became ammunition in their discriminatory attitudes. These ideas and attitudes fed the propagation of racist stereotypes and bias in southern newspapers.Prejudiced Media in the South perchance the most subtle yet shocking form of racism in the South during Reconstruction was the biased reportage of many southern newspapers. Whether the ideas and attitudes of many southern Whites influenced these published stereotypes or vice versa, it is clear that southern publications often encourage and promoted racist attitudes at the end of the century. A publication in Charleston, South Carolina displayed this racist subtext While promising its readers truth, the Charleston Mercury mocked journalistic license by actually printing racist ridicule. A favourite method was to scorn African-Americans in the convention as a race, exploiting racist attitudes saved by white readers from slavery (Logue, 1979, p. 339). Covering the constitutional convention in Columbia in 1867, white journalists used racist stereotypes in describing the black delegates involvement Reporters emphasized how blacks would chuckle and grin, thereby exploiting the racist confidence of many whites that blacks were mere fun-loving, animal-like creatures who had to be protected from themselves (Logue, 1979, p. 341).The Charleston paper encouraged racistattitudes through the ridicule of black speech and pronunciation, mocking ex-slave ignorance sooner t han reporting important issues discussed at the convention When blacks debated the issue of changing the claim of districts to counties, for example, the only thing the reporters heard was the very awkward sound of deestrict as district is pronounced by some of the delegates. Because of their preoccupation with such factors, reporters seldom informed their readers about issues that were discussed, such as public education, relief from debts, taxes, and so on (Logue, 1979, p. 342). In this manner, the South remained entrapped in a media-fueled suspicion and devotion of African Americans, feeding the continued presence of racism and discrimination during the post-Civil War reconstruction.ConclusionIn conclusion, the progress of Radical Reconstruction more often than not failed to correct the disenfranchisement of African Americans in the South on a long-term scale. The attitudes of the Southern whites continued to influence the freedom of former slaves as they faced cutting rulin gs, racist attitudes, and biased media. While some African Americans from further generations were largely un willinging to bow subserviently to the effects of white terror and discrimination, civil rights equality had a long and arduous path to completion in the South. While many of the racist attitudes of the post-Civil War South seem shocking to a modern-day reader, the influence of the actions and attitudes of white Southerners serves as a varan of the power of repeated falsehoods, particularly within media subtext and bias.The disenfranchisement of African Americans during reconstruction displays the close of deep-seated racial prejudice based on fear, stubbornness, and ignorance. As Burris-Kitchen and Burris prefigure out Throughout American history, Blacks have been demonized and criminalized, and this history has led us to where we are today. Until we can change the perceptions of Blacks through the media, political and economic arenas they will continue to pay the price for an inherently racist political, economic, educational, and criminal legal expert system (Burris-Kitchen & Burris, 2011, p. 14).ReferencesBurris-Kitchen, D., & Burris, P. (2011). From slavery to prisons Ahistorical delineation of the criminalization African Americans. Journal of Global Intelligence & Policy, 4 (5), 1-16. Retrieved from http//0-web.ebscohost.com.library.regent.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=adef70d4-c4d9-4d2b-b5c9-3b1efa487879%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=127 Logue, C. M. (March 1979). Racist reporting during reconstruction. Journal of Black Studies, 9 (3), 335-349. Retrieved from http//www.jstor.org/stable/2784304 Tindall, G. B. Shi, D. E. (2010). America A recital history (8th ed.). New York W.W. Norton & Company.