Ending the isolation

Ending the isolation

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant facts and figures related to the history of African-Americans. Historically, blacks in America referred to themselves as African. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the term African American did not exist. This group was referred to themselves simply as Africans. For example, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, formed in the late 18th century, used the term African to describe black people. In this paper, the author will examine the struggle of African-American against discrimination, isolation, and segregation to attain equality and civil rights (Charles, 2007).

Discussion & Analysis

U.S. history is marked by instances of racial inequality. For the first 89 years of the nation's history, the practice of slavery was completely legal in many parts of the country. Black slaves with few or no legal rights toiled in the fields of their masters, facing harsh punishment if they misbehaved. After slavery was finally abolished throughout the U.S. in 1865, many states continued to segregate public places, enforcing separate "White Only" and "Colored Only" bathrooms, drinking fountains and swimming pools (Gatewood, 2000).

During the 1800s and 1900s, a lot of people would say they were kind of African Americans isolated and on their own when it came to a lot of things. Things like discrimination and segregation were contributing factors to their isolation. There have been many tries of ending this isolation. African Americans have tried to deal with this all in numerous ways: forming organizations, boycotting, and sit-in.

Throughout the years, African Americans did many things to get equality. One of these things was forming organizations. There were many different organizations that were established. Some tried to be peaceful and some were violent. Although the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) or the Black Panther Party (BPP) was two of the most famous ones, there are a lot more. Although they had different ways of handling the discrimination, they all wanted the same thing in the end, to be treated equal.

In the year of 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed (Pearson Education Corporation 2007). The formation of the NAACP was a result of two African American boys being lynched in Springfield. This tragic event lead to a conference that reviewed ways of accomplishing equal rights both politically and socially for blacks (Pearson Education Corporation 2007). This conference was led by eight Americans, seven were white and William E. B. Du Bois, the only black. Today the NAACP is one of the oldest

Although the NAACP consisted of mostly blacks, there are a large number of whites as well. According to Robert G. Miller, “The NAACP is built on the individual and collective courage of untold numbers of people-individuals of all races, nationalities and religious denominations, who were united on one premise: that all men and women are created equal”. This basically means that the NAACP's main purpose was to end any ...