Who Was Riding Whom, Essay Example

Introduction

A considerable amount of American History is drawn from  the Colonial through to the Civil War era.  Most of this was focused upon minority groups and the exploitation of these by the predominately white land owners.  This created a power struggle of politics and economics where racism and sexism escalated conflict.  This paper examines this situation and addresses the question ” who was riding whom and how were they riding them”?  The paper is structured into three main parts:  i) Historical background  ii) The argument and supporting evidence  iii) Concluding remarks.

Historical Background

It was in the year of 1619 the first shipment of black slaves were brought to the Americas.  In order to serve the white colonists.  Most of these being located in Jamestown, Virginia, and to be used as a source of cheap labour.  Slaves did not readily accept the position of enslavement.  In this letter.  Revolts during the period 1720 to 93.  The white landowners put down such reports with considerable force and hanged many slaves in order to set an example to others who would revolt.  Four petitions against slavery were made during 1773 to 1777.  Slavery was an extremely cruel institution imposed by the white colonists on the important Negro population from Africa.  In 1790it supported 1000 tons of cotton and in 1860 the South had increased this to 1 million tons.  In the same era slaves had increased from 400,000 to over 4 million.[1] (Arnove)

It was in 1607 that England placed hundred and five colonists in Virginia and the settlement was called Jamestown.  After 15 years the settlement had only 1200 residents.  It was the discovery of tobacco that created a boom time which  remained through the 1620s.  By the end of the 17th century.  Virginia was listed as England’s most profitable overseas colony.  It created a huge return in tobacco revenue.  The success was largely due to the huge slave trade  that was built up in order to harvest this tobacco.  The Chesapeake Bay was a huge dock that contained slave ships and  cargo ships bound for Europe.  Virginia settlers were only concerned with wealth creation, and getting rich quickly.  They cared little about the morality of slavery or the welfare of others.  This was contrasted to the settlers of New England who had more pious and  religious beliefs; this was more of a family community. Virginia was more a community of single get-rich-quick merchants.  New England built churches, schools, self-government, and thrived; whereas, the Junior struggled to survive in a single dimensioned  economy.

New England was considered a haven of puritans and a great example of righteousness.  Virginia was the hellhole of sin, disease, slavery and exploitation.  By the middle of the 17th century, slavery and racism had grown deep roots in the South.  The scene was set for the American Civil War. The origins of the Civil War were  about the dispute of slavery.  Southern states were angered by the North’s attempted antislavery policies.  The South was mainly run by a plantation system dominated by the use of slavery.  The North were growing large urban populations with no slavery.  There was a higher birthrate in the north, with larger number of European immigrants joining the community.  It was in 1860, with the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln that caused the succession of the Southern states to form that of the Confederate states of America.

Other minority groups

The gay community in the USA were inspired by the civil rights movement.  They organized themselves in order to fight for equality of rights.  They started a  controversial legal battle that still goes on to this very day.  History shows that gay people have been a minority group that always have been discriminated against.  They have been victims of both abuse, violence and sexual harassment.  They have even been targeted by religious groups, as the non-conformist stereotype of the gay person, for a is against teaching of Christianity.  This reached an ultimate head in the second world war in Europe with both Hitler and Stalin murdered a huge number of gay people as part of their policy of ethnic cleansing.  The position today is still deeply divided regarding gay and homosexual rights.  Hence there is a similarity to that of slavery, i.e., if you try to avoid this issue and marginalize the gay community from society.  It remains equally impossible to that of the stance taken with civil rights, slavery, women’s right to vote etc.

In the USA marriage has been defined as “a religious and local commitment between a man and a woman”, essentially the ultimate expression of love between two people. (Messerli, 2009). Whether the morality of gay marriage is right or wrong seems to be debated on moral, religious, democratic and human rights.  Whether same sex marriages should be legalised may briefly be summarised as follows:

• Denying such rights may be considered a breach of both religious freedom
• The concept of homosexuality is not new and is generally accepted as part of a modern social lifestyle
• Denying such marriages may be considered an act of minority discrimination
• There is no evidential reasons to suggest that gay couples cannot raise children as good parents, child adoption rates rise creating a more caring society

The Civil Rights Movement was considered to be at its peak in the ten years from 1955-1965. “Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, guaranteeing basic civil rights for all Americans, regardless of race, after nearly a decade of nonviolent protests and marches”  (Cozzens, 1988).  The African community in the USA suffered the indignity of many decades of second-class citizenship.  It was in the 1940s and 1950s that leaders within the black community began to rally the people  and fight back.  Not until  after the end of the Civil War did  the black community start  to enjoy some privileges i.e. the right to vote, the right to schooling and the right to hold public office.  Despite some progress,  life for blacks in the southern states remained a dismal prospect.  In some regards there  was even a continuation of the old practice of slavery.

There was really a catalogue of events in the 1950s that fuelled the civil rights movement.  In 1954 in the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education, the Supreme Court declared school segregation as unconstitutional.  In 1955 in the town of Montgomery, Alabama, a certain ‘Rosa Parks’  refused to sit at the back of the bus, as required by the city ordinance.  A boycott followed and  ultimately this resulted in  bus  segregation being declared as unconstitutional.  In 1956 Southern congressmen formed a coalition  and tried to challenge the rulings of the Supreme Court.  In 1957, the Arkansas government Little Rock attempted to use the National Guard to prevent nine black students from attending the Little Rock high school.  This involved intervention from the president and the dispatch of federal troops to ensure legal compliance.  Essentially, a decade of unrest.

Objectives of the Civil Rights Movement

In the 1960s, the most noted civil rights leader was the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King. It was King who promoted a nonviolent approach to the civil rights movement; having spent time in India, with the followers of Gandhi.  He believed that dialogue was the most powerful weapon in order to end the oppression of the people in their struggle for freedom. Dr. King compiled many leading academic works on the civil rights movement, but his most famous “I have a dream” speech inspired a nation. (Chew, 1995).

It was in 1963, that Martin Luther King’s letter from a Birmingham Jail, reached out to the growing civil rights campaign.  His goal being to end once and for all time.  The segregation of black people in every aspect of American public life.  In the same year, King led a huge rally to Washington DC.  It is here that he delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech. He inspired a nation and placed the civil rights movement clearly at the forefront of the nation’s national agenda.

On April 4th, 1968 King was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis Tennessee.  King was 39 years of age, and he never wavered in his belief that one day African-Americans would attain equal rights in the American justice system.  The real aim of the civil rights movement was to convince the federal government to act against the oppressive Southern states.  The segregationists who controlled the southern states had brutally oppressed any who stood against their views. This position, had stood firm for over 50 years.  Although the civil rights movement was essentially violent nevertheless, it was an insurgency designed to bring about reform and change.  The key issue being ” significant change was never going to occur within the political system: To be forced”  (Scheier, 2009).

In the 1960s civil rights movement moved into more gender related issues.  The feminist movement focused upon equal rights and number of key importance :  education, social welfare, equality and rights of the female minorities.  The movement carried on through the 1960s to the late 1980s but really came to a head in 1963.  It was here, the activities of Betty Frieder [who later became known as the mother of the movement], formed a female action group, that in 1966 became known as ‘the national organization for women’.  The feminist movement achieved a significant amount of its objectives, and the passage of new laws.  In particular, title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, equal pay act of 1963 and the Supreme Court ruling in 1965.

Not all of the civil rights movement, agreed with the nonviolent philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King.  A group that called themselves the Black Panthers believed that King’s nonviolent policies have failed.  The Panthers introduced a more violent stance to their  arguments and they argued in favour of a revolutionary war.  They advocated violence in order to meet their demands.  They were not without structure and stated for clear goals: equality in education, housing, employment and civil rights. They had a 10 point action plan delivered from a party platform.

Gavin Wright an  economist at Stanford University, states that the civil rights movement was an economic success.  The southern states have benefited considerably in terms of economic improvements and infrastructure.  The success has been somewhat limited to the launch of Metropolitan  areas in the south.  Regrettably, there are still many rural black communities living in poverty.  It was unfortunate that the breakthrough of the black community into the labour market impacted at a time of economic decline; giving rise to a fall in unskilled wages.  Wright considers that we need a new revitalized robust economic growth pattern, if the goal of racial justice is ever going to be a realistic option for the majority.

Today’s civil rights movements are somewhat muted compared to the leaders of the 1950s and 1960s. With Pres. Obama having the highest office in the land, it is considered that the manifestation of the civil rights dream has been realized.  In some regards. There are no big battles to overcome, and as such.  There is a lot of relevance in what is becoming a globalized society or village of all the nation communities.  The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was focused on the plight of the African-American community.  Today the racial landscape is changed far more Latino Americans and Asians entering the community.  In addition, the USA is having to deal with a large number of illegal immigrants entering the country.  Most of these people do not speak English and in addition, exist outside of the normal system.  This means that they cannot get or obtain the benefits of US citizens, i.e. denial of social welfare benefits, healthcare, voting rights, employment entitlements, etc.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the working-class struggle in the USA reached a stage of violent conflict. This was evidenced by the Attica New York prison uprising.  For some time, the prisons in the USA have been a stark reflection between the rich and poor classes of American society.  In the 1970s there were some 1.6 million people entering the prison systems.  Most of these people being from the low working-class.  The death of George Jackson, a political spokesman, kills the hands of prison officials reflected across the entire US prison system.  He represented the voice of the inmates who witnessed the terrible treatment of the American judicial system.

In the 1950s and 1960s workers organize themselves into unions, this being joined the middle of the civil rights struggles.  Trade unions became a vital component for old and new immigrants created new alliances and test the limits of class solidarity.  It was in the 19th century immigrants from Europe competed for employment in the New York docks this against northern free black people and slaves from the South.  The 20th century saw the emergence of new immigrants from Eastern Europe and the numbers swelled the labour market and changed the face of the waterfront.  The Irish emigrants set up a number of enclaves and drove the blacks from the docks. Similarly, the Mexicans carved  out a place for themselves on the southern coast.  Whilst in Los Angeles, the Italians created a large part  of the dock workforce.  The longshoreman found a system whereby they would sort matters out for these ports owing to the fact they had tight control and reigned supreme.  Employers tried to drive a wedge between them and exploit both ethnic and racial differences; this to maximize profit and gain some control wages.

The longshoreman gained a stereotyped reputation of  being strong in the back but feeble of mind. The waterfront crated a harsh environment for these men — they cursed, drank, fought  and lived for the moment.  The fact that they were acting in gangs most of the time created a fellowship and bond between them.  They worked in one of the most dangerous occupations of the time.  It was the Irish who were the most dominant on the waterfront in the 1850s.  These situations inspired  the film, the gangs of New York centering on the five points district in Manhattan.  The area was described as being a stinking cesspit with pigs and sewage running through the streets.  The neighbourhood contained the most miserable of lodgings and housed the poorest Irish immigrants.  History says the film exaggerated the situation, but there was certainly a lot of street fighting and crime taking place.

Works Cited

Arnove, Howard Zinn & Anthony. “Voices of a Peoples History.” Arnove, Howard Zinn & Anthony. Voices of a Peoples History. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2004. 196.

Chew, Robin. Dr Martin Luther King jnr. 1 12 1995. 3 3 2010 <http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jan/king.html>.

Messerli, Joe. Should same sex marriages be legalized? 24th May 2009. 1st October 2009 <http://www.balancedpolitics.org/same_sex_marriages.htm>.

Scheier, Bruce. US Civil Rights Movement as an insurgency. 15 12 2009. 3 3 2010 <http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/12/the_us_civil_ri.html>.

[1] Voices of a Peoples History, H.Zinn and A Arnove p167.