Running Head: African Americans History

African Americans Struggles and Accomplishments

African American History

2
Thesis and Introduction

As a nation where our Founding Fathers who used the quote, All Men are Created
Equal makes one think everybody is created equally, regardless of their race, background, and
culture. This, however, was not true for African Americans, to name one group of minority in our
countrys history. For many years, they were treated like second class citizens who barely had
any rights in this nation. They began by being owned as slaves by whites, especially in the
Southern United States and after slavery was abolished, they were still disenfranchised with
segregation laws (also known as Jim Crow Laws); they were not permitted to vote, and were not
granted the same equal rights as their white counterparts. For nearly a century after slavery was
abolished and reconstruction began around the 1870s, African Americans remained
disenfranchised, treated as lower citizens, without equal rights, and in many earlier civil rights
cases, our own United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of segregation and Jim Crow. African
Americans eventually were granted equal rights but these were not automatic and only possible
because of the courageous efforts of many civil rights activists and other groups fighting for what
they believed in and these were not easy fights. Some of these examples I would be the Tuskegee
Airmen of the Second World War in the 1940s, Rosa Parks in 1955, and Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. of the 1950s and 1960s. Without these brave individuals, many may wonder if this great
culture would still be living under segregation, not being allowed to vote, and treated as second
class citizens in todays society.

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3
Plessy versus Ferguson (1896)

In 1892, a man by the name of Homer Rudolph Plessy, who was of mixed white and
black decent decided to board the whites only section of a train in Louisiana and was almost
immediately arrested for doing so. In 1890, Louisiana passed what they called equal but
separate accommodations for white and colored races in railways and many African Americans
resisted in several ways and in 1892, they arranged for Mr. Plessy (who could pass as being
white) to refuse sitting in the coloreds only section of the train and become arrested (History
Matters, n.d.). Mr. Plessy challenged this arrest and violation and it eventually made its way to
the Supreme Court in 1896 which ruled against Mr. Plessy. Justice Henry Billings Brown, one of
the justices in favor of this ruling arguing that as long as racially separate facilities were equal,
they did not violate the Fourteenth Amendments guarantees of equal protection of the law. All
the Supreme Court justices but one (John Marshall Harlan agreed with Justice Browns
argument (History Matters, n.d.).
The ruling of this case provided more proof African Americans were not treated equally
under our law and more like second-rate citizens who were subjected to operate separately
from white people and this notion was reaffirmed by our nations top court in regards to this
ruling and segregation and people being separate but equal was the law of the land. This
unfortunately would be a way of life, especially in this part of the United States for many years
to come.
The Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen of the 1940s were an all African American unit of United States
Army Air Corps (now Air Force) soldiers/airmen. They formed during the World War Two Era

African American History

and were an important part of both the United States Military and World War II, it was interested
because they had the battles of racial segregation and discrimination while at home and were
having to fight against fascism and the Nazi Regime while assigned overseas. The Tuskegee
Airmen were training at Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama and approximately 990 pilots
graduated from this Airfield and they served in four combat fighter squadrons and four B-25
squadrons that did not fly in combat (Gropman, 2011). Due to the military being segregated at
this point, this was solely an African American unit of men and they felt it was necessary to win
a place in both the Army Air Corps and in the hearts of people at home. These men were and
still are, an important piece of our history as a nation and their actions abroad display how much
dedication they had to our nations and their efforts assisted in enabling desegregation in the
United States Military which occurred in 1948 by the stroke of then-President Harry S. Trumans
pen with Executive Order 9981 (Gropman, 2011).
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was another popular figure within African American History and this was an
average woman who was not a political figure or even a Civil Rights Activist or Radical, just a
quiet, conservative, and church going woman who worked as a seamstress in her city (Kohl,
2004). She sat towards the front of the bus where the seating was for whites only and whenever
the bus began filling up with people, she was told to move by the bus driver and even heckled by
other white riders due to her refusal to move out of her seat. The bus driver eventually called the
police and she was arrested because her city of Montgomery, Alabama had a law on the books
which mandated segregated seating on buses. After this day, many African Americans including
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of Alabama rushed to Rosas defense and the Montgomery Bus
Boycott and this is where African American Citizens decided to stop riding the buses (Kohl,

African American History

2004). This plan worked because buses were desegregated the following year thanks to the
efforts of Mrs. Parks action along with Dr. King leading this boycott.
The March on Selma in 1965 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act
This event was extremely instrumental to our history as a nation and one to bring equal
rights amongst all races and cultures. A young and energetic Civil Rights Activist, Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a driving force in the fight for Civil Rights for not only African
Americans like himself but for everybody else. He wanted to see everybody granted the same
rights regardless of what race, religion, gender, or ethnic background they happen to be. He led a
peaceful march from the Selma, Alabama to the states capitol city of Montgomery to mainly
fight for the voting rights bill but also towards the other tragic conditions and injustices aimed
towards African Americans in Alabama to include police brutality and several people murdered
under the administration of then-Alabama Governor George Wallace and nothing being done
about those murders (Brooks, 1965). This happened to be a peaceful march but erupted in
violence to include some injuries and murders along the way from both law enforcement and
other counter protestors but Dr. King and his followers continued marching despite their
challenges.
Following the March on Selma and deaths of some of the activists to include one killed
by an Alabama Sheriffs Deputy, then-President Lyndon Baines Johnson passed the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 which guaranteed all African Americans all over the United States the right to
vote. The 15th Amendment, which granted all African Americans the right to vote, was originally
ratified in 1870, however, the South implemented literacy tests, poll taxes, and forms of Jim
Crow used to suppress and disenfranchise African Americans from voting but these Jim Crow

African American History

laws were banned with the passage of the 1965 act (History Matters, n.d.). This act was one of
the most important pieces of our history in regards to equal rights and this affected where we are
today because African Americans along with other minorities are afforded the equal opportunity
to vote in all elections as their Caucasian counterparts.
Conclusion
In a nation founded upon the notion of All Men Are Created Equal, one has to wonder
how this phrase was interpreted or even if this phrase was only directed at a particular group of
men such as Caucasian Americans. As displayed, African Americans had their struggles to
include segregation, being lynched, disenfranchised, and many other atrocities and even our
highest court upheld some of these rulings reaffirming segregation and these other Jim Crow
type laws. Thankfully, African Americans have been granted equal rights and although not
perfect in the 2015 United States, we have made great strides in affording equal rights and if it
was not for the activism and hard work of the great Civil Rights figures, particularly of the 20th
Century. Without these courageous people, these great strides may not have been possible and
African Americans may still be subject to "Jim Crow" laws. As a white man, my rights would not
be infringed but I cannot imagine this nation if it operated this way today and I have absolutely
no tolerance for discrimination, whether it is against race, national origin, religion, or even
sexual orientation. To me, the notion All Men Are Created Equal covers everybody and not
just Caucasian Males because if that is what it meant, the notion should have been, All White
Men Are Created Equal. We still have race problems in todays society and it bothers me and I
hope and pray that one day it will disappear and everybody agrees to treat everybody equally and
no more discrimination at all.

African American History

References
Brooks, N. (Reporter). (1965, March 28). Meet The Press: Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Selma
March. Meet the Press. Retrieved Sep 21, 2015 from
https://a248.e.akamai.net/7/1635/50139/1d/origin.nbclearn.com/files/nbcarchives/site/pdf
/48756.pdf
Gropman, A. (2011). Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Air Power
History. Fall, 2011, Vol. 58 Issue 3, p60, 2 p.
History Matters (n.d.) Separate But Equal: The Plessy v. Ferguson Case. History Matters: The
U.S. History Course on the Web. Retrieved Sep 21 2015 from
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5485
History Matters (n.d.) The Act Has Not Failed: A Call to Extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
History Matters: The U.S. History Course on the Web. Retrieved Sep 21, 2015 from
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6263
Kohl, H. (2004). The Story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Revisited. Paths of
Learning. Summer2004, Issue 21, p11-23. 13p.