The American Federal Government and the Struggle for Black Equality - Tajae Pryce

       

       The ongoing narrative of blacks in America encompasses a vast scope of issues that must be evaluated in order to effectively understand the plights, progressions, and regressions that have befallen upon the race throughout history. These topics range from economic and political matters, to social and cultural subject matters as well. An imperative dynamic that must be explored in this narrative is the relationship between black Americans and the federal government in the period directly succeeding the Civil War in 1865, to well over a century later in 1990. Authoritative government policies throughout this period have served to aid in the advancement of blacks and provide unprecedented opportunities for their political and economic involvement as well as their overall status of welfare and social integration and pursuit of civic equality, but have also imposed doctrines and legislative decrees that would only hinder fight for racial equality. History shows that progressive racial policies have not been independent of the perseverance of black spearheads or those who fought aggressively to maintain them using various resources, nor have oppressive policies been implemented without black opposition or vehement challengers. The fight for black equality in America represents a series varied response to the federal government’s attitude towards racial affairs by black Americans as they accommodated and resisted accordingly as to whatever method appeared to be the most effective to their struggle for equality.

            The end of the American Civil War in 1865 brought with it an essential need for a structural restoration of civil proceedings as well as a clear proclamation of a course of action in regards to what the “new” United States of America meant and how its institutions would be established and upheld moving forward. Not only was there now a task of identifying an appropriate governing and renovation of the economically dismantled former Confederate states and to whom was to commence in leading this process, but there now existed the question of what the freedom actually meant in regards to the 4 million freedmen spread throughout the states but mostly concentrated in the South. The definition of freedom varied greatly amongst blacks themselves, white citizens and governmental authorities. The most directly impactful product of emancipation was the sudden bestowment of the right of suffrage for black men. Eric Foner describes the coming of black suffrage as “a sense of millennial possibility second only to emancipation itself” (Foner, 129). Blacks, in this period, were generally proactive in participating in the political process. They engulfed themselves in the acquisition of historical and civil knowledge and took advantage of all mediums for acquiring information. Black Americans partook in a period of jubilee where not only could they cast a ballot, but they had the opportunity to be self determined individuals in control of their familial affairs and were able to openly choose what ideologies and philosophical dogmata to adhere to and those to reject. The access to the ballots for black men as well as many other socio-economic opportunities were quickly diminished, however, due to Andrew Johnson’s Presidential Reconstruction policies. With congress on leave, Johnson proceeded to enforce his own system of reconstruction, an arrangement where former Confederate legislators were essentially given pardons and were able to reclaim lost properties provided that they pledged their allegiance to the United States and paid necessary restitution fees. Presidential Reconstruction would result in the leadership of the South being placed back in the hands of the same white, elite class whose main objectives were to uphold an economy and social society driven by the fruits of cheap, black labor. Immediately, systems were put in place in the South to once again compel blacks to work and to limit the amount of freedom afforded to them. Black Codes throughout the South made it virtually impossible for blacks to work without being contracted by white property owners and could be arrested under charges of vagrancy if they could not show proof of contractual work obligation. The ability to acquire land was restricted to those citizens deemed as skilled laborers, which translated into white landowners with the ability to develop and certify skilled trades. Blacks were systematically forced out of the judicial system and could neither participate on juries with whites nor testify against white citizens leading to highly disproportionate black conviction rates and indictments oftentimes made from falsified reports. New forms of child apprenticeships also became prevalent where former slaveholders could, under their discretion, take a black child to work for them for undisclosed periods of time and in return for relatively unattainable profit returns. Black Codes aimed to reestablish the ideologically racist slave system that had been the standard in the South’s economical and social system before the Civil War and Lincoln’s order for emancipation.

            In response to Black Codes, opposition to such legislative policies grew feverishly coming from not only Republicans and Radicals in the North, but from organized blacks as well. Blacks had organized themselves into informative coalitions of activists and awareness mediums, rallying for changes to government and a ratification of Johnson’s method of reconstruction. 1867’s Military Reconstruction Acts were brought about by the actions of black organizers collaborating with white Republicans demanding congress to intervene and enforce more civil legislation. Once delegates were appointed to throughout the South, allowing for the ability for blacks to access the ballots, blacks would further organize and create unions that served to provide for accessible black establishments. These coalitions utilized the political system to create school systems, churches, orphanages and other progressive institutions for black Americans. This period also saw rise to perhaps the most impactful change in America’s racial narrative as black began to hold office in not only local government, but on the state and federal level as well. With black participation in elected offices, legislative policies would gradually focus more on race relations, education, and economic policies in regards to the black population and the preservation and improvement of civic entitlements.

            The rise of white vigilantism would, however, become a key element of the demise of the continuity of a constructive Reconstruction. In 1866, the formation of the Ku Klux Klan, led primarily by former Confederate officer Nathan Bedford Forest, ignited a wildfire that spread from Tennessee throughout the rest of the South. White Southerners infuriated by the political and social enhancements of blacks and what they saw to be a destruction of an ideal Southern society, expressed their opposition through organized violent acts of political terrorism. Vigilantes would attack leaders of the new founded coalitions, black and white, and would incite fear into the hearts of anyone who sympathized with the plight of blacks and their fight for equality. Acts carried out by the Klan and similar vigilante groups were barbaric in nature with their outright bulldozing methods used to assassinate and attack black and Radical organizers, critically diminishing black political involvement both in voting and in creating and maintaining necessary establishments required for black progression. The extensive pervasiveness of Southern violence and corruption would transform the perception in which the rest of the nation viewed the South. A sense of Northern indifference would commence as the South was once again viewed as a burden in need of restoration and by the helm of a worldwide depression in 1873, more Americans began to adhere to the “right man ideology”, a philosophy that identified an elitist, capitalist driven white upper-class as the appropriate sect to be in charge of effectively running the nation and restoring stability. The Republican Party, which in many ways served as an effective avenue for black enfranchisement, transformed its platforms and ideologies to focus on capital and economical development driven by the elite once again diminishing the push for racial equality to the status of an afterthought. This period of redemption saw the rise of sharecropping as the standard for Southern economical systems. The sharecropping system would constrict black laborers to unbreakable contracts with landowners with little to no profit return for the farmers. Anti-enticement legislators ensured that blacks would be kept under the control of wealthy landowners and be provided limited chances for economic enfranchisement or upward mobility.

            The Redemption movement did not diminish the determination of blacks and their fight for equality; rather, this period was met with tenacious resiliency by the oppressed race. Blacks continued to vote during Redemption and exhausted all attempts to hold and attain public offices. Some would choose to emigrate westward in an attempt to escape from the harsh realities of Southern life, but those who stayed and fought back would organize and further utilize the political system to their advantage. One such prominent organization was the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. This group of female activists led movements that would initiate the creation of necessary institutions and black owned businesses and provide for the social welfare of blacks throughout society, morally and legally. The NACW would prove to be a key catalyst for the emergence of an identifiable black middle class. Fraternal institutions would also materialize further creating a socially stratified dynamic within black culture. Blacks would also take advantage of the gradual tensions and eventual breaking away of large portions of the Democratic Party that would lead to the undermining unified white authority. The dismantlement of the Democratic Party created opportunities for blacks to engaged in biracial political coalitions. These newfound political groups, more specifically the Readjuster Party, strived for the protection of rights for the working class and black Americans and opposed corrupt and oppressive governmental policies and proceedings such as the Virginia Board of Public Works imbalanced control of national infrastructural projects. In North Carolina, blacks further exploited the prospects brought on by political empowerment by taking control of regional affairs especially in areas which a high black population such as the Eastern 2^nd District. Populist organizers fused with black Republicans and drastically reformed state legislature dealing with high interest rates, regulations regarding the appointment of local representatives; effectively decentralizing political control and developed regional constituent governance.

            The astounding levels of black progression was once again met by racist opposition as the 1890s saw a reigniting of Redemption paradigms and campaigns for white supremacism. Racially driven massacres and violent terrorism directly responded to continued black political engagement and leadership. The phenomenon of lynching evolved from a local rarity to an impending threat to all blacks and their sympathizers throughout the South and, perhaps more alarmingly, in the early 1890s, the cultural tolerability and prevalence of spectacle lynching reached peak frequency. Southern whites turned to bouts of mob violence and openly conducted murders at alarming rates, perversely attempting to redeem the “white man’s rule”. Debates within black culture would ensue regarding how to address and respond to the now highly agitated level of racial tension and outright violence. Some of black America’s most prolific figures during this time with contrasting views were Ida B. Wells, Booker T Washington and W.E.B. Dubois. Wells was a journalist who daringly took documented accounts of lynching occurrences and overall racial violence and injustices.  Wells expressed her philosophy of the need for blacks to defend themselves and to not succumb to racial terrorism without fighting against it, “…every Afro American should ponder as well, is that a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give” (Wells 1892). Ida B Wells represented the black collective that believed self-defense was to be the primary response to racial violence.  Booker T Washington was a prominent propagator of blacks taking an accommodationist role in society, adhering to the racially stratified hierarchal system that white America essentially wanted, and urged for the black race to put aside their fallacious fantasies of a rapid acquisition of racial equality and commit themselves to developing efficient skills and trades necessary to provide America’s economic system with a reliable backbone of a strong working class, “The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing… The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera-house” (Washington 1895). Washington’s appeal for compromise would create stark debates and differing responses from black America as many, including Du Bois, who viewed accommodation as a malignant paradox that would only serve to reiterate and enforce white supremacism and set back the progress made by blacks even further, “As a result of this tender of the palm-branch, what has been the return? In these years there have occurred:

1. The disfranchisement of the Negro.

2. The legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority for the Negro.

3. The steady withdrawal of aid from institutions for the higher training of the Negro” (Du Bois 31). 

            Faced with the an oppressive society under Jim Crow, a resurgence of violent white terrorists groups, and a high demand for northern labor due to the staggering European immigration because of World War I, the early 1900s saw an unprecedented amount of black Americans migrating to the North. An estimated 500,000 blacks moved northward between 1915 and 1918 followed by another 700,000 following during the 1920s (Arnesen iii). Automobile industries in cities like Detroit and meat packing facilities in Chicago enticed the generally economically deprived black populous to relocate to a land of guaranteed economic opportunity and the promise of the chance of social mobility. This flood of migrants in pursuit of a better standard of living was met with issues and hindrances. Blacks were subjugated to urban “ghettoization” standards where they were forced to live in poor, under maintained communities as well as opposition from white unions who attempted at every level to discourage companies from hiring blacks whom they believed would take their jobs. New migrants were also initially denied membership from organizations that would aid to secure their worker rights such as the American Federation of Labor and were victims of riots and terrorist attacks in their communities in an attempt to drive them out. Blacks would take advantage of the wartime climate and unionized on their own in vital industries of the decade. Black women, specifically, had leverage in regards to how effectively they could strike or protest unfair working conditions as their husbands and male family members were typically off to war, thus, they were being paid a government stipend allowing them to sacrifice wages in efforts to advocate for better working and living conditions, domestically.

            Later on in the years after the Great Depression of 1929 and before the Second World War, black Americans’ would find themselves even more economically plighted then their white citizens because of limited welfare institutions for their communities. President Hoover opted to take a laissez-faire approach to the economy and appealed to white southerners to join the Republican Party; one which would now alienate from black political engagement and affairs. Hoover went as far as to appoint prominent racist judge John Parker to the Supreme Court which would further block litigations aligned with black enfranchisement. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal would further disenfranchise blacks despite its nature of social welfare. Agricultural Adjustment Acts would limit the types and quantity of crops grown and credit landowners heftily as black farmers would be left to fend for themselves and be forced out of the workforce. Blacks once again turned to political empowerment to aid to their betterment collaborating with labor organizations engulfed under communist umbrellas where intra-racial coalitions lobbied for the betterment of the proletariat and equality for all creeds and colors. These radical affiliations eventually led to the taking over of the NAACP by the black working class, focusing on impartiality in regards to class and for the mobilization of the working class. Communist associations would create venues for black institutions until the gradual decline of membership that came with the stigma of the Red Scare after World War II where communist affiliation was socially and politically demonized.

            The widely accessible mediums of television and radio brought exposure to racism in America and led to much criticism by other nations leading to new methods of protest to be utilized by blacks. Eventually, pivotal accomplishments such as the desegregation of the military and the established precedent of ‘separate but equal’ being unconstitutional would be achieved through legislative and judicial policies. The fight for equality would take on new identities as Black Power became the mantra for the freedom struggle. Blacks chose whether to align with Ghandian non-violence and the pursuit of excellence through education and enfranchisement under leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., or to take ‘by any means’ approach combatting oppression, as was the case with groups such as the Black Panther Party. These various means, however, were systematically attacked federally through policies such as the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program and misaligning smear campaigns of the effectiveness and fairness of affirmative action.  Blacks combatted this by attempting to collaborate through a representative black coalition, unifying without uniformity. The National Black Convention event in Indiana would lead to more participation of blacks in political arenas but still shed light on the vast differences of issues amongst localities.

The 1980s would bring forth a new challenge to black Americans imposed by federal government. With the election of Ronald Reagan came the establishment of a “New Right” a moral agenda aimed to counteract the counterculture legacy of the 1960s. Spending attributed to welfare, healthcare and education was astronomically rerouted to military budgets and what would become known as the War on Drugs and the hyperactive growth of America’s prison system. Strict laws were enforced on not only drug dealers but users as well with the 1980s seeing a boom of arrests and incarcerations due to possession alone. Focus was shifted to punitive responses to drug use rather than treatment and communities with high parentages of users and dealers were targeted heavily. Being black in America, especially in urban areas, could be enough legal motivation for lawfully justified searches and seizers at the discretion of law enforcement. Black men filled prisons and were permanently marked by criminal records disqualifying them from being full participants in the workforce and from political engagement; essentially creating a subclass of the population that could still be exploited for economic gain.

The struggle for black equality has always been a tandem of progression and regression hallmarked by the innovation and fearlessness of a dignified few of certain historical eras, and by the workhorse mentality and mobilization efforts of a mass of determined human beings constantly fighting for the recognition and establishment of rights they believe are self evident and humanly entitled to. The federal government is the crucial component to exploit and manipulate in order for civil rights to be established and to set the course for social and cultural recognition to shadow. Black Americans have used, and continue to use, this same system that has imposed oppressive policies that have seemed unable to be conquered, to establish equality and set precedents in order to guarantee the advancement of their decedents and the progression of humankind and social consciousness as a whole. It is not without these direct challenges and acts of resiliency, that cultural, social or political standards can ever be transformed.

Works Cited

Arnesen, Eric. Black Protest and the Great Migration: A Brief History with Documents. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print.

Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. Unabridged ed. New York: Dover Publications, Inc, 1994. Print.

Foner, Eric. Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction. New York: Vintage, 2005. Print.

Washington, Booker T. "Atlanta Exposition Speech." Cotton States and International Exposition. Georgia, Atlanta. 09 Feb. 2015. Speech.

Wells, Ida B., Miss. "Southern Horrors. Lynch Law in All Its Phases." New York Age (1892): n. pag. Print.

Phillis Wheatley, “To the University of Cambridge, In New England”: A Close Reading by Tajae Pryce

Phillis Wheatley’s poem, “To the University of Cambridge, in New England”, addresses an affluent class of 18^th century Harvard students on the topics of mercy, salvation and hope for the impending and distant future. Wheatley makes great use of Christian ideologies and incorporates superficial tones of uncompromised humility in order to successfully relate to her audience on a culturally rational level in order to maintain a cohesive level of consideration of her thoughts. Despite the obvious discernible differences between Wheatley and her audience ethnically, her style of delivery and choice of metaphors allow for the effectiveness of the conveyance of her central themes.  The author makes a point in the poem to strategically convey humble nature by attributing her African origins to an unfortunate, dark incident that she was luckily saved from through the mercy of a Christian god and His devotees. Wheatley further incorporates strategic implementations of religious themes throughout the text in order to advocate her audiences to unceasingly purse the betterment of themselves and continuing to willingly attain knowledge.

Wheatley refers to her homeland as “The land of errors, and Egyptian gloom” (“Cambridge” 4). Her use of ‘Egyptian’ as an attribute plays to the Christian teachings in the Holy Bible wherein Egypt is described a region of historical disparity and persecution. More importantly, in Christianity, Egypt was the land where God’s chosen people, the Hebrews, were held in captivity and went through great turmoil before eventual, merciful liberation. Wheatley was reciting this poem to a nation where Christianity is mainstream as well as slavery and forced labor. A deeper reading of this line and the reference to Egypt perhaps begins Wheatley’s veiled theme of Christian hypocrisy. The following nine lines of the stanza further embellishes on Christian ideology and iconography. She emphasizes a message of vast godly mercy available to those who seek forgiveness due to the compassion that Jesus holds for His followers and the sacrifice He made dying on the cross for their salvation.  “See him with hands out-stretched upon the cross;/ Immense compassion in his bosom glows;/ He hears revilers, nor resents their scorn:/ What matchless mercy in the Son of God! (“Cambridge” 13-16).  This theme of merciful liberation is intriguingly juxtaposed with the decree of  “Father of mercy, ‘twas thy gracious hand/ Brought me in safety from those dark abodes” (4-5). Here, the author aligns her own liberation from Africa to America as evidence of Christian mercy still at work. This gracious liberation narrative was a historically uncommon one for an African immigrant to America to give and more than likely was not expected by the audience no matter what level of acculturation to the Western world Phillis Wheatley would have had. Africans, for the most part, were forcibly removed from their homelands and transported in the unsanitary, uncomfortable hulls of cramped slave ships where many could not survive the voyage. Wheatley may have been very young at the time of her purchase and subsequent transport, but was she still conscientiously aware of the harsh conditions on the ships and the dehumanization of Africans to the status of expendable commodities. These horrible realities, however, according to this poem, have not deterred Phillis’ faith and thankfulness to the Christian God. Her story and undying faith serves as a testament to the pious obedience to Jesus that she is trying to instill in these men of Cambridge as well as the rest of the American middling and upper classes.

Another strong theme that Wheatley emphasizes in “Cambridge” is the importance of one’s ability to shun sin. In the last lines of the poem, she explains that the joys that may come with sinning will only result in condemnation to an eternity of pain; “Its transient sweetness turns to endless pain, / And in immense perdition sinks the soul” (“Cambridge” 29-30).  Wheatley being cast in the unfortunate position of an ‘Ethiop’, as she describes, once again uses herself as proof of someone who can be reformed to live a righteous life. In other words, if she, an African, can be reformed, her much more privileged audience of white, American elite should be able do so even easier. Wheatley further makes references to these inherent privileges afforded to her audience by encouraging them to not only improve upon these opportunities of great godsend, but to expound upon them on their quests to intellectually and socially develop themselves into men of unlimited reverence;  “Improve your privileges while they stay, / Ye pupils, and each hour redeem, that bears/ Or good or bad report of you to heav’n” (“Cambridge” 21-23). Wheatley’s allusion to “dark abodes” (6) is another strong play on the Christian benchmark elements of darkness attributed to malevolency and lightness to piety.  

The manner in which Phillis Wheatley delivers this poem is not meant to portray an accommodative submission to a socially stratified Western culture, nor does is brazenly bring to light the faults of such a society. However, she creates a platform for constructive conversation on important issues in society such as the morality of forced labor institutions, racism, and other forms of oppressive systems and policies. Wheatley, through her writing style and use of religious allusions, is in a way offering a ‘what would Jesus do’ approach into the colonies’ narrative when contemplating socio-political policies and analyses. Wheatley’s conscious awareness of the need for her to convey a humble tone is critical. She was widely regarded as a prodigy of her time from the days of her youth. She was well educated in the arts and sciences and was encouraged to learn develop her various talents; but, she was present during the 18^th century and no level of social admiration or fascination could take away the reality that she was not only a black slave, but a women as well. Wheatley still faced the prejudices attributed with her ethnicity as well as overly misogynistic attitudes that had been aligned with females for centuries. Her “Cambridge” address was delivered to a generally wealthy white male demographic; brash social criticisms and exposure of immoral contradictions in such a setting could have potentially jeopardized not only her reputation but also her well being. Instead, the author, a best as she can, levels herself with her audience on one of the most intimate human levels acquirable, common spiritual faith. It is through this style of illustration that someone with as many perceived social inadequacies as Phillis Wheatley faced was able to create a substantial avenue for other women, especially of color, to see literature as a viable option for the expression of their ideas and creativity.

                                         Works Cited

The Bedford Anthology of American Literature, Volume One: Beginnings to 1865. Second ed. Vol. One. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 602, 603. Print.