Conservative Ideology’s war on poor Black people
Traditional conservative thought is against social change/helping the poor, holds a deep belief that inequality among humans is natural, wants to uphold institutions that were created to be inhumane to Black people thus keeping inequality as the way of life in America, and takes various elements from the bible to create a bias culture of moral righteousness. Contemporary conservative ideology follows along the same framework, but uses new language/policies that further dehumanizes the poor/especially poor Black people, and blames Black women for their own struggle in America. Overall, conservatives want to return to an older time in American history while still lacking the concept of accountability.
…show more content…
Reagan’s campaign against poor Black people was successful in sharpening discrimination at a national level, even after the Civil Rights Movement worked to end discrimination within the system. Tillotson strongly argues that conservative ideology is “anti-African American agency and as an ideology it poses a significant threat to the internal security of African Americans” (51). Also that it has “destroyed to a large degree any efforts at an equal playing field for poverty stricken citizens of African ancestry in America” (Tillotson 50). Tillotson includes W.D. Wright’s argument that welfare segregates African Americans in ghettos by acting as a “substitution for educating masses of Black people” (40), and failing to properly train them for good paying jobs. Furthermore, even if they were skilled, they are already closed out of the job market based on skin color, the only place available for Black folks to remain is as an exploited underpaid cheap labor
But unfortunately the reality was that the minorities had much harder times than white Americans. In 1933, the general unemployment rate in the United States was over 25 percent; at the same time, unemployment rates for various American minorities ranged up to 50 percent or more (“Great Depression and the New Deal Reference Library”1). Racial discrimination was high and minorities were the first to loose their jobs during the Great Depression. They were denied to work. They were often denied employment in public works programs, they were sometimes threatened at relief centers when applying for work or assistance, and even some charities refused to provide food to needy minorities, especially to blacks in the South.
It is often said that White Americans created ghettos, but forced Black Americans to reside in them. The African American population is often seen as “free loaders”, “refusing to do for self”, and just downright “lazy”. It has become commonplace that Black Americans are blamed for being trapped in “the ghetto” when white Americans and government policy created them. Beryl Satter, in her exceptional work Family Properties, sets out to expose the policy created and enforced by the government with intentions to confine African Americans into a central area of Chicago. Beryl Satter discusses the race and housing discrimination in Chicago during the 1950s and 60s.
The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 was created fourteen years after the end of Reconstruction in the South and helped usher in the Jim Crow era that would proceed almost a century after. The constitution had many different sections, but a main concern at the time was the uniform poll tax, literacy tests, and the Grandfather clause, which would disfranchise most African Americans and many whites as well. The nation had different ideas on suffrage and who should be able to vote since the end of the war. Certain events would follow that would limit more of the freedoms of African Americans as well.
African Americans face a struggle with racism which has been present in our country before the Civil War began in 1861. America still faces racism today however, around the 1920’s the daily life of an African American slowly began to improve. Thus, this time period was known by many, as the “Negro Fad” (O’Neill). The quality of life and freedom of African Americans that lived in the United States was constantly evolving and never completely considered ‘equal’. From being enslaved, to fighting for their freedom, African Americans were greatly changing the status quo and beginning to make their mark in the United States.
On top of this, he argues that the white middle class are unrelenting with their methods of depriving black advancement in American society. Knowledge of this incites many blacks to occupy dead-end jobs, or to settle for mediocrity in the face of adversity. A large number of black males in America find themselves forced to take jobs that offer no security, or socioeconomic growth. He also contends that many blacks are not very literate and therefore left behind in cultural revolutions like the information age. For twelve months between 1962 and 1963, Liebow and a group of researchers studied the behavior of a group of young black men who lived near and frequently hung around a street corner in a poor black neighborhood in downtown Washington, D.C. Liebow’s participant observation revealed the numerous obstacles facing black men on a day-to-day basis, including the structural and individual levels of racial discrimination propagated by whites in society.
Libertarian Party The libertarian party was originated in Westminster, Colorado and was founded in 1971 by David Nolan. They stand on a platform that puts individual rights first. They are known as the “Party of Principles”, which is a representation of their beliefs that individual rights, if honest, peaceful, and not interfering or harming other individuals, should not be limited by government interference. This is illustrated by their platforms on personal and economical liberty and securing those liberties.
Al Sharpton radio host, and minister once said, “We have defeated Jim Crow, but now we have to deal with his son, James Crow Jr., esquire.” (cite) He then goes on to say that his “son” is smarter, slicker, and more cunning than him. This metaphor describes that even though the Jim Crow Laws have been ratified, there is a new racial discrimination in America that is growing and is harder to defeat than the last. The Jim Crow Laws were the set of laws that set the whites and blacks separate from each other in the 1900s, although they have been defeated, America today may be equal lawfully but not on an individual level.
Over the last 500 years people of color, especially African American, have endured a pattern of state-sanctioned violence, civil and human rights abuse. To enforce capitalist exploitation and racial oppression the government and its police, courts, prisons, and military have beaten, framed, murdered, and executed private persons, while brutally repressing struggles for freedom, justice, and self-determination” (Fitzgerald, 2007). More often than not, police brutality has been a persistent problem faced by African Americans. “Historically, racist violence has been used to impose racial oppression and preserve white power and privilege. Racist violence has served five primary purposes: to force people of color into indentured, slave, peonage, or low wage situations; to steal land, minerals, and other resources; to maintain social control and to repress rebellions; to restrict or eliminate competition in employment, business, politics, and social life; and to unite “whites” across ethnic/national, class, and gender lines” (Fitzgerald, 2007).
Racial Equality: A Raisin in the Sun In the 1950’s racial discrimination was a huge factor in the lives of African Americans. Lorraine Hansberry’s book, “A Raisin in the Sun,” helps people imagine the struggles that a standard African American family would have to endure. In the novel, the Younger family has poor housing conditions, badly paying jobs, and have given up hope of ever escaping their circumstances.
All things considered, this argument was convincing. In reality, one-third of the South’s population was black, and held an economic weight in society especially because of the emancipation of slaves. If whites ostracized blacks from working in the South, even as meager farmers and industrialist, the southern economy would falter as a
Can you be surprised at my discouragement?” This young African American was first in his class and that means nothing because he is black. Even though he was top of his class, his job choices were restricted because white people won’t employ him or work with him. This is one example that shows that blacks way of acquiring an income was cut off no matter how educated or experienced they
Johnson (LBJ) created a “welfare” system, much like that in Great Britain, that also provided direct relief to the poor within the country. Inspired by FDR and his New Deal, LBJ sought to not only address poverty within the country but also the racial inequality in poverty as well. Termed the “Great Society”, its legislation was his administration’s attempt to “go to war” against poverty. LBJ’s Great Society was a series of legislation and programs to combat the still growing poverty issue in the country but unlike the New Deal; it came during a time of prosperity not depression (Foner, 415). Unlike FDR, LBJ was not a wealthy political leader from an affluent American family.
During the years of the Progressive era and the New Deal period, the United States saw a lot of intervention by the government, specifically focused on the working and living conditions of those in poverty. Both periods were focused in helping the everyday man get what he needs and had primarily no focus on the social, economic, and political rights for African-Americans. Differences include the fact that Progressive focus concerning the work field was more about fixing the conditions for everyone; men, women, and children alike, but the New Deal’s focus was more on getting men back in work. The success of the programs and policies seemed to coincide with the feeling of the period. The Progressive era had successful outcomes with ideas and reforms, matching the upbeat, fast-moving feeling of the time.
Even approaching more recent times, the racial factor that denies us equality is still present. One report shows that, ‘’In 1995, average white households had $18,000 in financial wealth, while Black households possessed a total of only $200’’(‘’International Socialist Review’’) Just as we saw when talking about the gender inequality, people of certain, ‘’undesirable,’’ races can be subjected to unequal pay, due to racist, and bias bosses. Skin is only so deep, so we have to ask ourselves: Should color determine how others treat ? If so, we can then start to understand why America won’t ever be completely
Racial inequality has plagued our society for centuries and has been described as a “black eye” on American history. It wasn’t until the passing of The Civil Rights Act of 1965 that minorities were given equal protection under the law. This was a crucial step on our society’s road to reconciling this injustice. However, the effects of past racial inequality are still visible to this day, and our society still wrestles with how to solve this issue. In 1965, President Lyndon B Johnson said: “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say you are free to compete with all the others, and still just believe that you have been completely fair.