Fighting Racial Oppression, Essay Example

Introduction

The United States has suffered years of racial injustice and discrimination since years and years passed. There is documented evidence of persons who have died because of their link to the fight against racism and racial prejudice in America. Many are the times when human rights violations were committed against the racially discriminated [people of America. This discrimination took several forms. Though initially against the African Americans, Latin Americans and Native Americans, the tense hatred that developed soon spanned the whole society strata. And those races that were discriminated against now turned against the discriminative white Americans n an anti white anti racism movement. And this fracas cost lives form both sides of the struggle against racial equality or prejudice. We all know the Rev Dr.Martin Luther King Junior, the vocal provost of the Baptist church who lost his life because of fight against black oppression in America. We all know of the famous Olympic sports men who lost their medals because of gesticulating in support of there black fans. We all have heard of the lady who would not stand in the bus and give seat to a white and the consequences that befell her. And many more. These are the icons of the fight against racial discrimination and oppression of the lowly rated non white American in the yester years. But we still know of certain individuals who have been in the anti racist and civil rights activism and have lived to see the present day success (has there been any really) of the fight against racism. We k know of Jesse Jackson and the bitterness has suffered when the American people could not vote him for president in the late eighties. And we all saw him shed tears during the acceptance speech of the present day president of the united state, barrack obama, himself a black American and a victim of racial prejudice. We have all heard of the extent to which the past administration has gone in the fight against racial oppression. And we all have an idea of the ‘black spot’ or ‘melting points’ of racial oppression battles. A mention of Alabama almost always reverberates with the racial equality struggle. but there have been individual who contributed to the fight against racial oppression, even to the extent of losing their jobs, their freedom, their human rights and even went ahead to lose their lives in the cause of justice to all Americans, but whose names may not have risen to the level of immortality with which martin Luther king is remembered. And in this piece of writing we will explore such a case. The fight against racial oppression was not fought, and won, by the minority non white American alone. There were those whites who were committed to the fight against this vice even to the extent of falling out with the administration and lose their friends because of supporting a cause that was worthy but did not augur well with their white colleagues. A case of such will also be evaluated. But all in all, the Americans have been fighting this war for eons and eons. They have won several wars and battles but this particular one against the racial prejudice just seems to have proven almost insoluble until the year 2008. This year saw the election of an African American into the highest office in American soil. The election of president barrack Obama into the white house may just be the beginning of the permanent end to the fight against racism, successfully that is.

Name of Black Resister Against the Racial Oppression of African Americans

Her name is Angela Davis. A lady who resisted the black oppression and lost lots of things on the process.  But she somewhat managed to come back a victor. Angela was born to black parents frank and sally who were teachers by profession. She was born in 1944 in the state of Alabama. Being a black, she attended the schools for the black. And as would be expected these institutions were poorly equipped, poorly staffed and poorly and poorly managed. And by extension they were poorly performing schools which did not give their students any chance of advancing to better high schools, colleges and universities. As such Angela and her friends attending this school were not expected to get on to higher places in life. But this was not the case for Angela Davis.

Angela having noted the oppression and lack of equality among the races around her neighborhood decided to voice her concerns against such an anomaly. She joined a communist movement and was able to attend conferences and finally gain education in Europe. While there she was able to acquire a document, the “Herald Tribute” detailing how the white extremist group KKK (Klu Klux Klan) had dropped bombs in her neighborhood and killed her childhood girl friends in her home area. After completing her masters degree in philosophy, Angela went back and acquired a job as a lecture in the University of California. She got engaged in the struggle against black oppression. And she started efforts to get three brothers released from prison. This had been jailed in connections with the civil rights activism and the struggle against racism (web).

As Angela did this, she knew she was risking her job her freedom and her life. Eventually, she lost her job at the university because of this activism. She was jailed on various counts. And as a result of her efforts at securing the release of the brothers, an incident in court on the day of the case hearing turned fatal and three people were killed among them a seventeen year old of the three brothers. This is the price this lady had to pay. However pressure mounted after her incarceration and she finally was released from prison.

Name of White Ally in the Fight Against the Racial Oppression of African Americans

This case study also comes from a resident of Alabama, a state we have noted above as having been the hot spot of racism and discrimination against the blacks. This is the case of a white lady. Her name was Anne Braden. Born in 1924 in Alabama, she attended the racially segregated school for the whites. She was born of middle class whites of the Alabama state. Despite the despicable hatred against the blacks that spread across the school, she was a sympathizer. She went on with her education and finally came to practice as a journalist, a career she used as a platform for her work in civil rights campaign as a white ally of the black civil rights struggle. After graduation from college, Anne joined a major journalism company where she worked. She was opposed to the effects of racism and always implored the white against racist treatment of the blacks. She was an active member of the black civil rights movement. She went ahead to marry a fellow journalist who was also a white ally of the black civil rights movement. She even assisted a black family buy a house using her name when they could not acquire one on their own because of the racist rules. Since then, she has been the most vocal anti racism complainer, among the few white that were openly opposed to the white supremacy and the racist approach against the blacks (Fosl, p120). During the years when Jesse Jackson campaigned for presidency, Anne Braden was among the chief campaigners. Eventually she died in the year 2006 but not without the recognition of her efforts with an award. In the fight against the white supremacy, Anne risked many things. She risked losing the privileges the whites enjoyed. She risked being left out of the jobs that were set for the whites. She risked being abadoned by the white friends and only associated with the blacks. And she paid the due price of this activism. She was black listed from being locally employed and all she could do now was community organization (Levin, p54-56).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the fight against racial oppression in amerce has had a long history. People have been murdered and opportunities lost because of the race one came from. Several were held up in prisons for years and for centuries anger, rage and hatred have thrived between the whites and the non white Americans. There was a great wakening that saw the formation of civil rights movements formed by the blacks to pressure the society to ignore the racial oppression. Mostly these activist groups were formed by the blacks who felt aggrieved. But against this back ground still, there is need to recognize that there were white allies who joined the blacks in the struggle and paid the ultimate price by going against their race, although in tandem with their conscience. The fight against racial oppression was a fight between human feelings and inhuman feelings.

Works Cited

 Angela Davis biography, Web Retrieved 16 December 2009 <http://www.jayepurplewolf.com/PASSION/ANGELADAVIS/index.html>

Levin, M. “Catherine Fosl, Subversive Southerner: Anne Braden and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South” American Studies International 41 (2003):54-56.

Fosl, C.Subversive Southerner: Anne Braden and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South. Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2006

Fulton, W. Anne Braden Biography Web Retrieved 16 December 2009 <http://www.veteransofhope.org/bio.php?vid=34&p=bio>