The Nadir of Race relationship

The Nadir of Race Relations
In the article, The Nadir of Race relations, by John Boles discussed how white and black Americans dealt with the differences of their race. The nadir took place in the Southern United States from 1880’s through the 1930’s. This was a very difficult period for the black Americans due to the fact that white politicians’ alliance to discriminate blacks. Africans Americans were harshly abused and lost many civil rights. They lost their freedom, respect, and voice just because of their skin color. Even if a white person opposed to the callous treatment of the blacks, they were beaten or killed. Blacks faced lynching, segregation, violence, and legal racial discrimination while the white supremacy increased.
Boles first talks about how lynching was very popular and most powerful weapon in the south, it was used in the 1880’s against the white but by the 1900’s it made a drastic changed were the victims were mostly black; the total was 115 where 9 were of whites and 106 were black. Lynching decreased, but the number of white lynched never succeeded the number of blacks. Lynching was neither private nor hidden from the people; it was welcomed to the public, with colossal crowds, food, drinks and also voluntary participation. The voluntary participation consisted of being able to shoot, stab, hit, and burn the victim with no fear of being under arrest by the law. There were many occasions where victims were accused of committing crimes, and were sent to jail or even worse killed just by what it had been alleged by others. The southern trials were unjust and racial, they ignored all the evidence provided and were just based on their appearance and skin color. Stereotypes were also very popular and dreadfully offensive against the black Americas. Black phenotype was expressed in books, advertisements, and cartoons, basically in anything that it was possible to show blacks huge, exaggerated physical appearance. Black men were not just victims of these awful images, but included poor innocent children and woman. These stereotypes made it to the popular films as well. Racial segregation reached its highest point in the South after the 1900’s. Blacks lived in their own separated towns, separated from school, and churches. They were restricted from parks, restaurants, playgrounds, unless it was only for black people. They had their own special transportation, they were not allowed to stay in white hotels, use fitting rooms in stores, and they even had curfews in some cities. Blacks suffered riots where whites will only see any black Americans and were killed or beaten. By this point many blacks left the south and migrated up North and the West and never returned. In 1908, black leaders formed an organization named the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) the whole goal of this organization was to improve their race, earn the respect they deserved as human beings that they were. Booker T. Washington was the leader and the most powerful black man during the nadir, he believed that hard work was necessary to better the life of the black, also that knowing the basics such learning trade and self- discipline was necessary before attending college. The first black man to earn a P.h D was William E.B. Du Bois who believed that black people had to work to improve the cultural, social and economic status of the blacks. In the early twentieth century a few blacks improved their way of leaving and succeeded, there were black stores, pharmacies, funeral homes, insurance companies, and banks, but the banks were prone to bankrupts do to the low funds. Also black churches grew in size and became the biggest religious institutions in the south. The churches provided the blacks with not just spiritual needs but also human needs such as; education, cultural, social, and recreational. During World War I, the majority of Americans that served the military were the blacks from that South. They hoped for a better democracy in South after the war, but they found racism in the same position as when they first left because democracy only benefited the whites. The southern rural black worked under the sharecropping system were blacks worked in sections of land in return for share of crop rather than getting pay. The Great Depression was also very difficult for the Black Americans because the government kept their interest and they could not fight for their rights. One of the first successful cases of the NAACP was that by the year of 1939 only two black Americans were lynched. They succeeded with the help of the liberals to take lynching legislation through congress. Another case was that were hoping and working on desegregating education. This few changes were still not giving full freedom to the blacks that they continued to leave the South and by the 1930’s the South was in their final end of an era.
Boles tried to show the reader what it was like back then for black Americans, on how much they struggled in their everyday life. On how having dark skin makes one inferior, dangerous, immature, that when having light skin was totally the opposite. The author gives ample cases to better the readers understanding with real true cases, and put us in the situation they went through. For example, about the man who was lynched and cut open where his heart was cooked, liver sold, and his knuckles displayed in a window. These small details just give the reader a more vivid and argumentum on how the heartless white Americans hated the black Americans so much.
My view in this article is that people do not choose what race or color they want to be born with. That neither a surgery nor any sort of treatment can change the race one is born with. Therefore, why discriminate on peoples physical and nationality or race. Also that white people still feel superior or above everyone else in this world. This also shows me how until now there is still some sort of “segregations” in the 21st century. There still separations especially between Caucasians, Africans Americas, and Hispanics and to be more specifically the immigrants. Another case is on how some people discriminate on the gay or bisexual and they do not give them any rights in the exception of some states.
In conclusion, this was one of the hardest events for black Americans especially in the South; they never gave them an opportunity to show their abilities. In the mean while, innocent men, women, and children suffered, they were discriminated and had no civil rights. They could not attend the same school or church as white people because black people were prohibited. Physical differences between the white and black led to terrible violence, riots that caused the death of many black people.