Afam history essays

Afam history essays Since arriving on the shores of the United States, the experience of the African American individual has been a turbulent, convoluted struggle for full rights as citizens. Through the use of many strategies, blacks in the United States have reached parity with whites in terms of social and political rights, and are still striving for economic parity. Various methods worked, however, with varying levels of success; and, the proper strategy to use is a topic that was disputed throughout much of the history of blacks in America. It is the case that there was never one strategy used from the start, and that the history of the African American strategy in the United States has been one that changes with the times. In this order of effectiveness (last being most effective), through the pursuit economic reform, the fight for legislative equality, and the assertion of cultural identity, blacks in the United States have gained full rights as citizens. It is my intention to outline each strate gy, is reasons for failure and ultimately why the assertion of a cultural identity was the most successful. Throughout this discussion, however, it must be kept in mind that the use of such strategies was an evolution, and each strategy gains potency as time moves further away from slavery. In the early days after the Civil War it almost seemed like blacks werent going to need to find a strategy to be regarded as full citizens. Under the protection of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, African Americans enjoyed a period when they were allowed to vote, actively participate in the political process, acquire the land of former owners, seek their own employment, and use public accommodations. Opponents of this progressive period of reconstruction, however, soon rallied against the former slaves' freedom and began to find means for eroding the gains for which many had shed their bloo...