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... Politically and militarily, no other country can match the might of America. ... This can firstly be seen in the way the USA was ‘born of a struggle’ against the imperial power of Britain, yet the result is a country which people believe is the defender of freedom and democracy. ... This barbarity is even set out in the Constitution, which states that black slaves are worth only three-fifths of the price of whites, and which ‘protected’ the slavery for at least 20 years after its foundation. ... Although slavery was ‘abolished’ in the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), a series of ‘Jim Crow’ laws were passed in Southern states between 1890 and 1912, which openly segregated, and degraded the position of black people within American society. The laws were named ‘Jim Crow’after a minstrel show character from the 1830s, who was an old, crippled, black slave who embodied negative stereotypes of blacks. ... This meant black people were only allowed to swim in many public baths at the end of the week, when the pool water was at its dirtiest. ‘Black Codes’ were also introduced which were ‘crimes’ which applied to black citizens only. ... The Ku Klux Klan began directing its activities against the Republican Reconstruction governments and their leaders, both black and white, which came into power in the southern states in 1867. Klan ideologies swiftly moved to concentrate mainly on the ideas of racist hatred for blacks, resulting in lynch mobs who were often extremely violent towards the black victim. ... Over the its 200 year history, few successful black right’s groups have formed, but those that have sometimes achieved some form of black advancement, even if this advancement was in most cases repealed by new white racist laws or ideals. Two such black groups were the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), and the National Urban League (NUL) founded in 1909 and 1910. These groups proved to be limited in their power, and ultimately achieved only minor successes during the Second World War, when the NUL petitioned against the segregation of the armed forces, and the NAACP instituted a campaign against segregated public education. ... Although these black activist groups proved to be limited in their gains, the successes “marked the beginning of militant action on behalf of black civil rights, which fifteen years later became a mass movement” (MEIER and RUDICK, 1973).
Approximate Word count = 1897
Approximate Pages = 7.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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