Chapter 7: The Making of African Americans in a White America

Slavery The experience of African-Americans has been shaped by the institution of slavery and its oppression Most slaves were from Northwestern African societies and were diverse in  language  kinship systems  economic systems  political systems

Slavery Slavery and its justifying ideology emerged out of Western Colonialism  statutory recognition of slavery  came about in 1668 Ideology of slavery and the slave codes were invented primarily to maintain the subjugation of Africans

Slave Codes 1.A slave could not marry or even meet with a free Black. 2.Marriage between slaves was not legally recognized. 3.A slave could not legally buy or sell anything except by special arrangement. 4.A slave could not possess weapons or liquor. 5.A slave could not quarrel with or use abusive language toward Whites.

Slave Codes 6. A slave could not make a will or inherit property. 7. A slave could not leave a plantation without a pass. 8. A slave could not testify in court except against another slave. 9. And others

Slavery’s Aftermath The period of reconstruction  Military Governors put in place during transition  Blacks given full participation in the political process  Fifteenth Amendment ratified 1870 – no discrimination based on race, color or previous condition of servitude

Slavery’s Aftermath The emergence of segregation laws (Jim Crow) Supreme court decisions and segregation  Plessy v. Ferguson – “separate, but equal”  Williams v. Mississippi – poll taxes, literacy tests, and residential requirements to discourage blacks from voting White primary elections – only whites could vote in primaries, thus taking away black power of the vote

Reparations For Slavery Slavery reparations- act of making amends for the injustices of slavery  An official apology  Financial compensation  Corporations that benefit from slavery and financial compensation Commission to study appropriate remedies

The Challenge of Black Leadership Booker T. Washington Born a slave on a Virginia plantation He was the head of Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama Politics of accommodation - compromise  Goals of self-help and economic self-determination

W.E.B. DuBois Born to a free family in Massachusetts First African-American to receive a Doctorate from Harvard Niagara Movement - racism defined as the problem of Whites Advocated the policy of the “talented tenth” The Challenge of Black Leadership

DuBois - the NAACP emerged from the influence of the Niagara Movement Black consciousness “Soul of Black Folks” Du Bois and Atlanta University  Study of African Americans in the South The Challenge of Black Leadership

The Exodus Northward A Demographic shift of Blacks, occurred from the South to the West and North during the early part of the Twentieth Century due to: 1. The search for a better economic opportunities Life in the North was economically better than in the agrarian South 2. Escape racial apartheid and violence in the South (e.g., Emmett Till)

The Civil Rights Movement Desegregation of public schools. De jure (“by law”) segregation  NAACP - Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, and U. S. Supreme Court decision  James Meredith (1962), the first African-American accepted into the University of Mississippi

Figure 7-3 Major Events of the Civil Rights Movement

Civil Disobedience Rosa Parks - December 1, 1955 and the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott Martin Luther King, Jr. - headed the Montgomery Improvement Association King and civil disobedience as means to bring about political and real change  People have the right (moral duty) to disobey unjust laws

King’s Strategy Active non violent resistance to evil Win over one’s opponents and gain their friendship Attack the evil rather than the people Accept suffering w/out retaliation Refuse to hate one’s opponent Act with conviction

Urban Violence and Oppression Explaining violence 1. Riff-raff theory of violence - that only a small group of undesirables is involved 2.Relative Deprivation and Rising Expectations Riots stem from rising frustration because of relative deprivation and the lack of perceived or real opportunities

Black Power Black consciousness and power movement emerged out of continued deprivation  Black Power movement of the 1960’s - (Charmichael) primary focus was on political and economic self determination  Black Pride  Black Panther Party - founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California

The Religious Force Religion has always been a source of political change and spiritual strength from slavery to the present Most African Americans are overwhelmingly Protestant (81.8%) The Nation of Islam, or Black Muslims, has attracted a large number of followers and received the most attention

Figure 7-5 Religious Profile of African Americans