Racism In The 1960's

How the lives of Negroes were diminished by racist attitudes and beliefs in America up to the 1960s.
In today’s world, racism is considered an indictable and immoral offence, especially in countries that host a diverse range of ethnicities, such as America. However, if we were to take ourselves just a couple of centuries back, to the 1800’s, we would find that the view on prejudice, especially towards the darker skinned races, was unfortunately, significantly different. The Negro people were treated harshly during those times and up until the 1960’s were diminished by racist attitudes and beliefs in America. They were treated like second-rate citizens, innocent victims of racial prejudice, purely because of their skin colour.
The Negroes
that first came to America were originally from Africa. They were cruelly kidnapped from their home country to work as slaves for factories and homes in for the White American people. Their lives were despicably harsh, forced to do laborious work with no pay. Due to their low social standing and status as slaves, this race was denied many rights and privileges. This included the right to express political opinions and to carry guns. They were also not allowed to meet with black people. This lack of human rights purely demonstrates how Negroes were diminished by racist attitudes and beliefs.
In 1863, the slavery of the Negroes in America has been abolished.
However, despite their new found freedom, the racial prejudice still continued, stronger than ever. The African Americans had to endure the humiliation of segregation. They were not allowed to use the same facilities and were only allowed to study at “black-people” schools- which were extremely under-funded and thus did not offer a good education. They were even not allowed to use the same toilets! The police, who were dominantly of white-coloured skin, were also extremely biased in their judgment of crime, and thus many innocent Negroes were condemned for offences that they did not commit. This made their life very hard and unforgiving. It also rendered them almost unable to climb in social standing, and be able to enjoy the luxuries of a comfortable lifestyle. This poor treatment of black people further highlights how the racist attitudes and beliefs in America diminished the lives of these bright individuals, who in different conditions, would have been able to achieve great
things.
It was only until the 1960’s that the unfortunate circumstances of the Negroes began to change.
This oppressed race decided to raise objection towards the prejudice that binded their lives. Through the help of activists such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, masses of people, both black and white, protested for the rights that the Negroes were so cruelly denied. Their efforts were fruitful, as in 1964, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. This law banned discrimination in school, public places, jobs and many other fields. It was through this law that the equality for all Negroes was achieved, and since this time, America has improved leaps and bounds towards the purging of racial prejudice towards not only Blacks, but all other cultural backgrounds. This is shown by the appointing of Barrack Obama as president of America in
2010.
The past for the Negroes is not a pleasant one, throughout the centuries they were forced to endure brutal lives at the hand of the racist beliefs and attitudes that were present in America. However, as with all mistakes, we as future citizens need to learn from this and hope and dream, like the great Martin Luther King did, for a day when, “…all people will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Bibliography:
* http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/racism-against-african-americans * http://www.english-online.at/history/african-americans/history-of-african-americans.htm * http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/discrimination.html