Essay On African Americans In The 1900's
In the 1900’s there were many new fads, music, dance and issues that arose. With the end of World War I came a new era, the roaring twenties. Changes were happening everywhere, from the new prohibition laws to strikes in workplaces and gangs arising everywhere. During this time period many things improved including race relations, technology and much much more. During the twenties slavery wasn’t an issue anymore in the south, blacks were free to live how they wanted were they wanted and do what they wanted, for the most part. Everything was segregated from where blacks could attend school, what bathrooms they could use all the way down to where they sat on a bus. In the northern states blacks didn’t really have these rules to abide by.
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Although blacks did play baseball they couldn’t play on the same team as the whites did. They had their own league called the Negro Leagues. Some of the most famous baseball players were actually negro’s not whites. Baseball wasn’t the only thing newer thing during this time period though. Some other things to be introduced during this time was a new genre of music, called Jazz. Jazz music was created by combining instrumental ragtime with vocal blues (Americans 456). This music quickly became a popular genre of music to dance too (Americans 456). Nightclubs grew vastly in the 1920’s were both men and women would go to dance (Americans 456). Some of the most famous Jazz performers are Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, both were African Americans, and people loved their music. Some of the issues that arose during the twenties were that of crime and gangs.
Other groups such as the KKK were against blacks and wanted America to be “devoted to 100 percent americanism” (Americans 415). They would bomb black churches or shoot and kill them. In the southern states like Texas they would lynch blacks if they didn’t act how the rest of society wanted them to act. For example if you sat in the wrong seat on a bus or didn’t speak a certain way a group of whites would probably lynch you if you were black for not doing what they wanted you to do. Segregation ended in 1964 when the supreme court ruled that all segregation must stop, but their are still racial tension around today yet (Racial Segregation in The United States). You don’t really see it much in smaller towns but more in bigger cities. In all, african americans in the 1920’s became more appreciated and treated more fairly. With all of these changes came new laws, technological advancements, new ways of dancing and new types of music besides jazz. Some of the things we have today relate to the 20’s such as the riots due to a police shooting a darker skinned person. Without the 1920’s we would probably still be wearing long skirts and have longer hair. The twenties showed to others that you can be unique and have the freedom to make your own decisions for
yourself.
Although blacks did play baseball they couldn’t play on the same team as the whites did. They had their own league called the Negro Leagues. Some of the most famous baseball players were actually negro’s not whites. Baseball wasn’t the only thing newer thing during this time period though. Some other things to be introduced during this time was a new genre of music, called Jazz. Jazz music was created by combining instrumental ragtime with vocal blues (Americans 456). This music quickly became a popular genre of music to dance too (Americans 456). Nightclubs grew vastly in the 1920’s were both men and women would go to dance (Americans 456). Some of the most famous Jazz performers are Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, both were African Americans, and people loved their music. Some of the issues that arose during the twenties were that of crime and gangs.
Other groups such as the KKK were against blacks and wanted America to be “devoted to 100 percent americanism” (Americans 415). They would bomb black churches or shoot and kill them. In the southern states like Texas they would lynch blacks if they didn’t act how the rest of society wanted them to act. For example if you sat in the wrong seat on a bus or didn’t speak a certain way a group of whites would probably lynch you if you were black for not doing what they wanted you to do. Segregation ended in 1964 when the supreme court ruled that all segregation must stop, but their are still racial tension around today yet (Racial Segregation in The United States). You don’t really see it much in smaller towns but more in bigger cities. In all, african americans in the 1920’s became more appreciated and treated more fairly. With all of these changes came new laws, technological advancements, new ways of dancing and new types of music besides jazz. Some of the things we have today relate to the 20’s such as the riots due to a police shooting a darker skinned person. Without the 1920’s we would probably still be wearing long skirts and have longer hair. The twenties showed to others that you can be unique and have the freedom to make your own decisions for
yourself.