Civil War Racial Inequality

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It is without a doubt that racial inequality is a prevalent problem within the United States. Nonetheless, the reasons for its prevalence are greatly contended. Many social and economic forces have played a critical role in the evolution of racial inequality throughout history. The overwhelming disagreement over the aftermath of the civil war leading up to the civil rights movement is a major factor of which greatly divides the American people. Racial inequality has been a predominant matter within the American society since Africans were first brought to the United States. From the start, Africans were degraded as slaveholders treated them as property and forced them to spend their life in servitude. The controversial issues that stemmed …show more content…

Within northern industries, the exclusion of blacks was exceedingly common. Contrarily, in the south, black workers were preferred over foreigner workers. While racial discrimination was unquestionably a factor in the north, other influences emanating from the south also impacted the exclusion of African workers from northern industry. Firstly, many ex-slaves did not migrate out of the south after the end of the Civil War primarily because migration did not offer “…a realistic solution to the plight of the black masses. It was for this reason, and not out of any lack of knowledge or motivation, that more blacks did not flee the South…” (Steinberg, 1981, p. 174). Secondly, and more importantly, the role that cotton production played in the national economy was a leading factor of the south’s dependency on African …show more content…

“Between 1910 and 1920, the black population jumped from 5,700 to 40,800 in Detroit, 8,400 to 34,400 in Cleveland, 44,000 to 109,400 in Chicago, and 91,700 to 152,400 in New York” (Takaki,1993, p. 311-312). In the years leading up to World War I, European immigration slowed and, once the war began, immigration was blocked “…reducing their numbers from 1,200,000 in 1914 to only 110,000 in 1918” (Takaki, 1993, p. 313). This sudden absence of foreign workers caused a major shortage in the labor market within northern industries which forced employers to repress their racial propensities and begin recruiting African American

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