Baldwin's Scopes Analysis

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In the war against the Philippines, many African American soldiers of the US joined the Filipino insurgency instead. The desertion rate for African American soldiers was high in this war. By the end of the war, 500 had decided to live in the Philippines. So why did so many of them leave our country? That’s because during this time, the white man gained more power while the black man was left as a stepping stool. Although slavery was abolished, there was still plenty of unequal treatment towards African Americans. In many states, Jim Crow laws were passed that segregated men of different colors. Many were lynched or executed for a crime they never committed. Many individuals voiced their concern over the abuse that others received, and many …show more content…

He believed that proper progress should include the ending of exploitation towards the working class, and the equal treatment of those who do not fall under the anglo-saxon category. Roger Baldwin formed the American Civil Liberties Union, which sought to lend a helping hand to those who were wrongly put into prosecution under prejudice. For example, he helped defend Italian immigrant anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. He believed the two were wrongly put under trial due to their nationality and political beliefs. Baldwin is a firm believer in freedom of expression. He has defended John Thomas Scopes, during the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, for teaching evolution in public schools. It wasn’t just those he deemed worthy either. Roger Baldwin took the meaning of freedom seriously and defended everyone regardless of background. Some of the people that were defended were those that were looked down upon in society. For example, ACLU defended the freedom of speech and freedom of expression of the American Nazi parties. Although the decision may have caused some concern, Roger Baldwin made sure that nobody was left in the dust from the path to true equality. As said by him, “I always felt from the beginning that you had to defend people you disliked and feared as well as those you

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