African Americans After Reconstruction Essay

Post Reconstruction was supposed to be a time of change for the world, especially for African Americans. Although post Reconstruction was believed to eliminate segregation and racial discrimination, many people noticed that there was actually little to no change that occurred. Luckily, slavery was part of the past and many great leaders including Abraham Lincoln had set out to change America in terms of equality. Unfortunately, post Reconstruction proved that nothing had changed for African Americans who remained struggling with racial issues that ultimately restricted their freedom. First off, Reconstruction the Second Civil War provides evidence that nothing had really changed for the African Americans. “Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation
During the beginning of the movie, an African American attempts to register to vote but was denied. Although segregation had ended, African Americans still were not able to vote. The black woman who attempted to register to vote was denied because she was unable to do a ridiculous task asked by the white employee that not even he could do. It was clear that just because of the color of her skin, the white man was restricting her ability to vote. Even if an African American was able to vote, “their address would get printed in the paper so people knew where they lived” showing that they had no power, rights or freedom (Selma). Not only that but, having their address printed so that they could possibly get harassed by the whites was something that was unappealing for the African Americans. Many did not want to even try to register because they feared what would happen to
“Selma is fifty percent Negro but only two percent can vote” (Selma). Africans Americans were taking note that their denial to vote was an issue. Sadly, blacks could not get on jury who were responsible for making decisions because they were not even allowed to vote. “Not a single black person for one hundred miles [was] registered to vote” (Selma). This proved to be a major issue because ultimately blacks were not involved in making any of the decisions. The power remained in the hands of the white people similar to what happened prior to post