The Pursuit of Post-Racial Happyness

Former US American President Barack Obama had numerous firsts in the list of his achievements during his eight-year term as the 44th President of the USA, the biggest being the first ‘Black’ President to occupy the White House. His election to the august office in 2008 raised the hopes of many Americans especially African-Americans of a post-racial America, a utopian America free of racial discrimination.

A harsh beginning

The African-American community which today forms the third largest ethnic group in the US rose from the descendants of African slaves who were forcefully brought to America from Central and West Africa, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries despite the American Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. They were initially brought in as indentured servants who signed a bond to serve their masters for a few years and were later released as ‘freedmen’ with a right to own property and businesses. However, a majority of them were brought in as slaves to be bought, exchanged and be used for harsh labour in the colonies. Their children were also decreed as slaves by laws even if born of European fathers. The only respite for the African-Americans in this period was an evangelical movement in Protestant Churches called ‘the Great Awakening’ which took place during the 1730s-40s, under which many African-Americans were also accepted in different roles in religious congregations. However, they were not considered equal with the white parishioners.

By the 1770s, African-Americans constituted the second largest ethnic group in British North-American colonies and they fought side by side with the white Patriots during the American War of Independence from Britain in the 1770s. Their contributions did not get them any respite though the Declaration of Independence unveiled on 4 July 1774 boldly declared “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights like Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” as it was easier said than done.

Demonstrators picket in front of a school board office protesting segregation of students —GETTY IMAGES

The issue of slavery divided the states into ‘Free States’ and ‘Slave States’ based on their preference for abolishing or continuing with the pernicious practice. This division led to compromises which led to not only the continuation of slavery but also its recognition by the U.S. Constitution that allowed Southern slaveholders to maintain slaves for another eighty years. Additionally, the Constitution also included a ‘Fugitive Slave Clause’ which equated slaves with private property to be recovered from other states. Thus, the importation of slaves from Africa continued unabashedly leading to a rise in their numbers to about 44 lakhs with only about 4-5 lakh freedmen. African-American slaves were employed in the cultivation of cotton, the most important American export of those days; additionally, they were employed in the building of new railroads throughout the country.

Abolition of Slavery

The Northern States began a slow but steady move to abolish slavery from 1790 till 1830 through law suits and legislations in the state bodies. There were also moves to free the children of slaves while retaining the parents, which led to the survival of slavery in the North till 1820s. The Abolitionists first banned the international trade in slaves in 1807 but later compromised with the anti-abolitionists leading to several compromise acts including the Fugitive Slave Acts which were mutually signed between various states. However, the division grew massively during the Presidential Election of 1860 when the South states feared that Abraham Lincoln’s election would lead to complete abolition of slavery. This led to the rebellion of Southern states who announced their secession from the Union and the formation of a new union called the Confederate States of America. Thus, the American Civil War began at the start of 1861 between the Union and the Confederates over the issue of abolition of slavery. The Civil War though bloody and long, saw the declaration of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln on 1 January 1863 which changed the destiny of four million African-Americans changing their legal status from ‘slave’ to ‘free’. Additionally, the U.S. Congress introduced three important Amendments to the Constitution, viz. the Thirteenth Amendment passed in 1865 abolishing slavery; the Fourteenth Amendment passed in 1868, addressing citizenship and equal rights for all; and the Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, prohibiting discrimination in voting rights of citizens on the basis of “race, colour, or previous condition of servitude.”

March 30, 1965: US civil rights icon Martin Luther King and his wife Coretta Scott King lead a black voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery —GETTY IMAGES

The Reconstruction Era which followed the Civil War ended the practice of slavery, however, the Southern States enacted regressive laws for segregation of African-Americans which forced the community to build its own schools, churches and other public amenities. Racial segregation was upheld in the U. S. Supreme Court in a landmark constitutional case ‘Plessy vs Ferguson’ in 1896 which allowed separate public facilities for African-Americans and European Americans under the doctrine ‘separate but equal’ which was legal till 1954 when it was overturned by another Supreme Court ruling.

The Civil Rights Movement

The African-American Civil Rights Movement began dramatically on December 5, 1955 when Rosa Parks, an African-American activist refused to vacate her seat for a White passenger in a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama and courted arrest as an act of defiance. Rosa Parks was fined 10 USD and 4 USD as court fees but she appealed against the ruling in the Supreme Court where the segregation on Montgomery-Alabama buses was deemed as unconstitutional. Rosa Parks’ dramatic defiance sparked off a series of non-violent confrontations between civil rights activists and the U.S. government agencies from 1955 till 1968 including the famous March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs held on 28 August 1963, one of the largest political rallies in the U.S.A. till this day. The March was held from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial to symbolically connect the movement to the vision of both American leaders.

The March’s most impressive moment was the famous ‘I have a Dream’ speech by Dr Martin Luther King Jr. who delivered it from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of 2.5 lakh supporters. The speech stressed upon the importance of freedom from racial prejudice which was not achieved despite the Abolition of Slavery exactly a century before the March. The March is said to have pressurised President John F. Kennedy and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson enough to ensure the smooth passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and labour unions and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which expanded federal authority over states to ensure black political participation through protection of voter registration and elections and also the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act) which promised to provide equal housing to all without racial discrimination.

Post-Civil Rights Era

The post-1970 period has seen many ups and downs for the African-American community with their increasing presence in public offices, business, media and films; the first African-American representative to stand for President was Shirley Chisholm, a female senator who stood for President in 1972 and ran for Democratic Party nomination. This was followed by the first Ambassadors, Governors, Secretary of State, NASA astronauts, etc. from the community. However, the community also faced challenges such as the rise of drug abuse, street violence and rise in homicides. The community also saw radical groups like the ‘Nation of Islam’ headed by the controversial Louis Farrakhan which organised the Million Man March in October 1995 asking for rights for the community but also stoked fears of anti-Semitism and exclusion of women.

Over 15,000 civil rights advocates rally outside the White House to protest racial violence in Alabama in March 14, 1965 —GETTY IMAGES

The 2000s fortunately saw a reduction in the influence of the militant groups’ within the community and also saw the coming of the community’s crowning glory with the appointment of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States with the support of a rainbow coalition of various communities including 95 per cent African-Americans. However, Obama’s term also saw the controversial acquittal of George Zimmerman, a Hispanic community watcher in the 2012 shooting of an African-American teen, Trayvon Martin; it gave rise to a popular movement ‘Black Lives Matter’ which gained more traction after the shootings of two other young African-Americans in 2015. Though the movement gained support both from the community and outside, it also divided public opinion within the U.S. on racial lines.

These tensions were clearly reflected in the recent US elections. However, the African-American community has still reasons to cheer as in one of the most symbolic moves, the US Mint has decided to issue a historic 100 Dollar gold coin on its 225th anniversary in 2017 depicting the Lady of Liberty as an African-American woman.

DECODING HISTORY

History is a subject that merits discussions and debates beyond the confines of a classroom. Its purpose is to create a sense of inquiry and engage us in conversations and explorations of the past; because that is what defines our present. Decoding History is a weekly Saturday page where we explore an event in World and Indian history for answers to questions about the past that may lead us straight across the boundaries of nations, empires and civilisations. It is a page to educate and familiarise teens and adults with historical events that continue to hold relevance at a personal, national and global level.