African American Experience Essay

African Americans lived differently than white men did during the turn of the century. They faced many problems within the society. whatsoever of the issues they faced were out of their hands. Although things were non the greatest all the time, there were supporters and organizations that they could turn to. Along with these organizations they had leaders that tried to help the race. umpteen African Americans became successful in the late 1920s, and still to this day there are many African Americans that are successful. During the time period around the late 1870s through the 1920s many African Americans did not have good jobs.The majority of African Americans lived in the southern states. Many were sharecroppers who worked the land and gave the land owners part of the profit from the crops. African Americans were cheated out of money through this process most of the time. The African Americans did receive the right to vote before white women. African Americans faced many issues passim these years. A series of laws were passed in the South to keep the African Americans at the lowest point possible in society. These laws were known as the Jim Crow Laws. dead after these laws were established segregation became legalized, and black codes that were abolished during the Reconstruction resurfaced and were supported in Plessy vs. Ferguson. This lead to African Americans worldness looked down on and suitableity far from reach. African Americans were not allowed to go to the same schools or drink out of the same water fountains as whites they were even told where they could and could not live. This put a strain on the race and the way they had to live. Many African Americans were also stripped of their voting rights. In 1890 a poll tax was enforced.This meant that poor people, of both races, were not fit to vote simply because they could not afford to. They also instituted a literacy test where you had to show that you were able to read and write. Many times Af rican American college graduates failed the test, up to now illiterate whites were some how able to pass. The responses to these issues were not good. They did not understand why they should be treated any differently from the whites. This led to riots and outburst throughout the country. afterward this, African Americans became the center of violent and cruel attacks.Lynchings were on an all time high in the late 1800s with more than a hundred African Americans being lynched per year. Law enforcement usually did nothing to stop these terrible acts and sometimes even participated. African Americans fled to the sum during this time in search of better jobs and home lives for their families. Many organizations were formed during this time in hopes of ceasing the violence and bringing America to equality. Two of the largest influences were Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. Both of these men had separate approaches with the end result being the same.Washington thought that e quality would be achieved, but it would be a very slow and ongoing process. He wanted to concentrate on get African Americans better paying jobs and a greater education. Du Bois believed that you should demand equality and stop at nothing to get it. He wanted better education, equal rights, and suffrage. Another well known advocate for African Americans was Ida B. Wells. She founded the anti-lynching movement that came into existence in the 1880s. This group set out to stop the violent acts aimed at African Americans.Wells goal was to make lynching a federal crime and keep the local law agencies from allowing and participating in hate crimes. White women from the North and some others supported this movement, but it wasnt until the 1930s that lynching became a federal crime. For a time, Wells published a newspaper, Free Speech. An angry crowd together of people burned down her office in Memphis, Tennessee and forced her to leave town. In 1891, Wells supported the strike of black c otton pickers. She was dismayed when 15 of the cotton pickers were lynched.The whites sent a strong message that they were not going to conform to her desires and accept the equality of the African Americans for some time. With the end of the Civil War, the African Americans received freedom from slavery and gains some rights but lost many of those same rights a mere twenty years later . They had sacrificed much and did not give them up easily. Even though they were often defeated in court and often threatened with violence, a visionary group of leaders pose the foundation for the future successes of the civil rights movement.They founded important educational institutions and organizations to fight for civil rights and cultivated both a new generation of leaders and a ontogenesis number of writers, artists, and professionals who embodied Du Boiss idea of a talented tenth and who became increasingly active and effective in the 1920s. Almost a century later, African Americans are better accepted in society than ever before. There is less of a double standard and more equality thanks to the live on men and women who came before and strove to encourage, nurture, and raise their children to grow up in a more civil environment.