Martin Luther King

Throughout American history, there have been many influential leaders who have changed the way we live and think. One influential leader is Martin Luther King, who led the Civil Rights movement which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations and brought our country together. Without Martin Luther King, our country would be very divided and possibly even lead to the destruction of America.

At a young age, Martin Luther King learned about racial equality through his father, who educated him on the issues of oppression and to make a stand for something you believe. Through his teen years, he was angry at the whites for being racist to someone just because of the color of their skin. He came to Morehouse for his freshman year and had an opportunity to see things from a new perspective.

His first act of activism was leading the Montogomery Bus Boycott, which was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. During this boycott, his house was burnt down turning King into a national speaker for racial discrimination. He looked past this and continued his fight for equality. His baptist views helped shape his morals and change the world.

Many challenges awaited Mr. King: such as being thrown in jail or attempts of assassinations. Mr. King was a man that not only fought for racial inequality but for any wrongs such as the Vietnam War. He spoke against the war and was even in opposition to the president. He was called a communist which was a huge insult back then and placed under surveillance by the F.B.I. However, none of this stopped him from achieving equality in America.

 Martin Luther's speeches were an inspiration to many Americans and showed them not to protest with violence but to peacefully protest. He was awarded a noble peace prize in 1964 for showing great courage in fighting for equality. 

The most famous speech by Martin Luther King was the I have a Dream speech. This speech is well known by many and known as a great speech. The speech was about racial economics and how he hopes one day everyone will be equal and treat each other like one another. A couple of years later, he would be shot by a man named James Earl in 1968. This assassination caused great riots in the country and took a long time for them to be controlled.

In conclusion, I have a dream that Martin Luther King's dreams will come true and that there will be no hatred in this country. He saw the Civil Rights Act of 1964 pass which was one of his main goals in his speeches. There is no doubt that left a great impression on others and spread a great message of love. He showed us that true dedication and having patience always pays off. A way we can help spread his message is to ask this question to ourselves. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”

California Reagents v Bakke

Throughout history, there have been many cases that have had an impact on our life. Today we were taught about California Regents vs Bakke. This case caught my attention because the race was being used as a way to get into college creating an unequal opportunity for everyone.

California Regents v Bakke was the case that the U.S. Supreme Court declared affirmative action constitutional but invalidated the use of racial quotas. Another affirmative case was Grutter v Bollinger which happened in 2003. This is a more recent case dealing with student admission and how they discriminate. 

The University of California denied Mr. Bakke twice as he was not the right fit for the college. Mr. Bakke claimed he was receiving reverse discrimination from the college as he showed proof that his test scores were higher than most of the applicants.

Mr. Bakke also claimed that this violated the 14th amendment. Which says No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.

The Supreme court then ruled that colleges using racial quotas were too strict.  Justice Lewis Powell Jr. split the difference, arguing that it violated the Civil Rights Act. This changed colleges and created a more equal playing field for admissions. 

In conclusion, race should not be used as a major factor in colleges. Rather they should look at all the achievements you've done or your grades. I'm glad to be in a time where these cases have already happened and I won't have to worry about race being a factor in college.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Throughout human history, there has always been one main topic of uncertainty and infamy that has been debated for centuries. That topic is why can't everybody be treated equally? Whether it be the Jews of biblical time or blacks, being sold into slavery. Human inequality has always been a controversial and hot topic. The reason why people get treated differently is because of the hatred in this world or just what they've been taught as a child. I'm thankful to have a great family who has told me the rights and wrongs of the world and let me express my feeling about current issues in the world.

    The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed, by President Lydon Johnson on July 2, 1964. The act prohibited discrimination in public places provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities and made employment discrimination illegal. This law guaranteed that the 14th amendment is upheld. The Civil Rights Act was also the longest debate in Senate history lasting, 534 hours in total. It's also known as the most important law on Civil Rights since Reconstruction. 

    The act was introduced by John F Kennedy. He was the youngest president in the office who was voted in to spark change in America. John F Kennedy gave a televised address to the American people and announced that he would be sending a civil rights bill to Congress. Unfortunately, Kennedy was not able to pass this due to him being assassinated, but he did introduce it and helped the Black race receive equal opportunity. The Civil Rights Act was a huge step in bringing the races together as it ended the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws segregated races and stood on the separate but equal act.

    Of course, there will always be people stuck in the past and being hicks. Some white groups opposed to integration with African Americans responded to the act with a significant backlash. The whites used legal and extralegal means to deprive Blacks. It's crazy to me to think before this act blacks were treated as second-class citizens and not even counted as a person. 

    In conclusion, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a part of our country that brings us closer to each other. I can't imagine what life would be like if I lived before the Civil Rights Act. I dream that one day there will be no evil in this world and that love will spread like wildfire. For us to get closer to that dream we have to realize we were all put on the Earth for a reason and that we were all created in God's image. If you have hatred towards a race just remember God created them and God never makes mistakes. Id, like to close with a quote by the great Martin Luther King “Racial segregation, must be seen for what it is, and that is an evil system, a new form of slavery covered up with certain niceties of complexity."

Brown Vs Board of Education

 Good evening everyone,

   

    It's irrational for parents to think their children won't be held back from school if we let blacks and whites in the same school.  The Separate but Equal clause keeps our children safe and keeps them from failure. I remember when I was a young boy and one of my teachers told me a saying that stuck with me ever since. "The bluejays and the Robins can play together but at the end of the day they have to go back to their nest." This quote meant that blacks and whites can play together and be friends but at the end of the day blacks and whites need to be separated as it's not what they were created for. 

Do you want the future generation to not receive a proper education.... with obvious distractions such as fights between the races? Blacks also have been proven to have a lower IQ level than whites and graduate way less. Also before blacks were free no one would teach them or read to them, therefore, giving them a disadvantage in school. They should receive the education they can understand and not such advanced learning, as the whites receive.

They would be held back due to being into unfamiliar scenarios and not feeling confident in school due to students feeling uncomfortable with their race group.  There is a possibility gangs can come out of school  now and destroy our child's lives.

Separate but equal is a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that states we remain separate and have the same facilities. The Separate but equal doctrine was also backed up in cases such as Plessy V Ferguson. 

The Plessy v Ferguson was a legal case that was in 1891 on whether or not blacks should be able to ride in a train with whites.  The case involved Homer Plessy who was 1/8 African American, who rode on a train car that was for whites only. The case was an easy one to decide as it got voted on 7-1. This was the first inquiry on the 14th amendment and whether or not the separate but equal clause should be removed. It was easy to see that the separate but equal clause was important for our country to thrive. 

The reason why the separate but equal clause survived through this case was that it had no violation of the 13th amendment which gave African Americans citizenship. The 13th amendment reads Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

In conclusion, blacks should not be in the same school as whites. For the main reason that they will not be prepared for the education and there would just be too much chaos in the school. I hope one day our country will wake up and see that removing the Separate but equal clause could very well destroy the United States of America.

Reconstruction

 The Reconstruction Era

Shortly after the Civil War was over, a new era came called the Reconstruction Era which, was the effort to reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy from 1865 to 1877. Shortly after the war, the president of the USA, Jackson passed black codes. Black Codes were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force.

After the Black codes were created the Republican party led a radical right-wing which allowed black people to have a voice for the first time. Of course, after this, the white people got mad and decided to create the Ku Klux Klan. 

The KKK is a U.S. hate organization that employed terror in pursuit of its white supremacist agenda. They would kill people if they had different beliefs or if they had a different skin tone. The 13th- 15th amendment also came during this period allowing black people to have a voice and be a citizen. 

During the end of the reconstruction period, the hate groups slowly started to die off and black people were starting to be called people. Obviously this was not the last time that the black people would have hate groups coming at them. Shortly after that, the confederate states started coming together with the Union and formed the United States of America again. 

CarpetBagger

 CarpetbaggerCarpetbagger 

Have you ever heard of the term "Carpetbagger?" Most people in this year in time have never heard of the word carpetbag before. So today I'm going to be informing you on what a carpetbagger is and why it got that name. Carpetbagger is a derogatory term for an individual from the North who relocated to the South during the Reconstruction period from the year 1865 to 1877. The Reconstruction period was the period following the Civil War that acted as a time where the United States of America kept trying to keep the Union and the South as one country. The reason why 'Carpetbaggers' went to the Confederate states is that they needed significant capital investment, and there were financial opportunities that didn’t exist in the North. 

Making fast money was on a carpetbagger's mind and finding ways to make that money also applied was just the start. An example of a financial opportunity for them was buying land in the South for a very good deal and then sometimes leasing the land. Another example is investing in small businesses such as banks at the time.
The reason why carpetbaggers are called carpetbaggers is that they were said to be able to fit all their belongings in one large carpetbag and go off. During this period carpetbags sold out almost everywhere because everyone was moving to different states. They were often compared to jews for being money hungry and trying to make every cent they could. Similar to a carpetbagger is a scalwag which was just someone from the South going to the North to look for finical opportunities.

 
   
The carpetbaggers were not well-liked due to most of them being Union soldiers and coming into a Confederate state was not the most ideal situation. However, there were many Political opportunities for them such as becoming high up in the office. Something that helped them to succeed was when the federal government banned former Confederate leaders and military from voting. Helping the carpetbaggers win most of the elections in the South was a big help to the minorities such as black people and different races. They were most of the time in political offices (no surprise) in the South because the Confederates were limited to running and voting. The people however living in the South weren't too friendly to carpetbaggers. They would call them names and sometimes even physically hurt them. The reason why the Confederates did this was that they viewed them as exploiters who only wanted to gain personal riches from the South and they thought they didn't really care for growing the country.

Carpetbaggers also backed the Republican party which was the party of Lincoln. One of the positive impacts left behind by the carpetbaggers was creating a statewide public school system. Some of the carpetbaggers taught newly freed African Americans how to read and write. Doing this however made a group not too happy. That being the Ku Klux clan, which targeted carpetbaggers just because of their efforts in supporting racial equality.

EOTO

Pro-Slavery

One of the acts in favor of slavery was the Kansas Nebraska Act. This act would open up slavery to the North if Southern slave owners moved to Kansas and Nebraska. One of the main reasons for this was to keep slavery balanced. Bleeding Kansas was a war against pro-slavery and anti-slavery this is known as the start of the Civil War. The war resulted in the building being set on fire and destroying certain printing presses. 

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was an act approved by Congress stating that runaway slaves must be returned to their owners. The government enforced this saying; that even if you want no part in it, you must abide by the law, or you could get fined.  There would also be a reward for catching the slaves and returning them.

Anti-Slavery

One of the Anti Slavery movements was the publication of Uncle Toms Cabin, written by Harriet Beacher Stowe. Who was once a slave and lead many people to freedom. The book discussed the injustices of slavery and how to fight against slavery. 

              

John Browns Raid happened for two days which they tried to start a slave revolt. Ten raiders died during the process; seven were tried and executed. Brown inspired many abolitionists and was a huge part of ending slavery.

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes used by slaves to escape from their jobs. This railroad would lead the slaves to different states and even had safe houses along the way. An estimated 100,000 enslaved people escaped through the railroads. The railroad was a key part of making slaves free and giving them the life that all humans deserve to have.