Week 2 Reflection: Reconstruction Era and Jim Crow Laws

The reconstruction era lasted from 1865 to 1877 following the civil war in the south. It was a time for  rebuilding the nation following the turmoil of the war. Reconstruction focused on integrating African Americans into society with the passing of the 14th and the 15th amendment. Before 14th and 15th amendments were passed, Blacks were violently discriminated against and treated as non-citizens. Right after the war,  all-whit legislatures in the south passed the black codes. The black codes denied Black citizens the right to purchase or rent land and basically keep them into slavery. These amendments allowed  African Americans to be equally protected under the law and forbid states to deny suffrage to anyone based on race. Although these amendments were passed, they were difficult to enforce because of terrorists groups like the Klu Klux Klan. This led to segregation and Jim Crow laws in the south. These laws limited African American citizens and create them as second class citizens. Although the Reconstruction eventually ended and things in the south basically stayed the same, some good came out of it. Following the reconstruction, African Americans had some success. About 2,000 blacks held public office, 16 were elected to U.S. congress, 600 elected to state legislatures and hundreds more were in local government offices. Seeing blacks integrate into society was not something most white Southerners wanted to see so the African American community was met with violence and lynchings. Lynchings in the Jim Crow south were a torturous spectacle that were highly public and  carnival-like. Thousands of young black men were hung and forced to be a spectacle to white southerners. White men in the south justified these murders by the rape myth. The rape myth paints black men as sexual beasts and predators that want to take advantage of white women. White men wanted to be seen as the saviors of the "pure" and "innocent" white women. Ultimately the Reconstruction was a big fail and did nothing to combat racism and inevitably rooted racism into American society.

In my opinion, I do not think anything can justify what these people were doing to the Blacks in the south. Publicly murdering someone and subjecting them to such a spectacle is outrageous and disgusting. Murder is murder no matter what twisted justification you try to use. People in the north should have taken the reconstruction more seriously and continued to progress. If they had not left the southern states, maybe racism and race relations in general would be much better by now. In response to the final exam prompt, I believe that the great American assumption is partially true. Since race is so deeply embedded into society, the great American assumption is mostly true for American citizens that are white. White American have had more opportunities and  have not had to worry about the  their skin color getting in the way of their success. Most average workers will not become successful solely based off of hard work, they have to have connections and networks to help them get to where they need to be. Success typically (not always) relies on who you know and what they can do to aid your success. As of right now, those are my thoughts on the exam prompt.

 

Above is a picture of African Americans protesting the Jim Crow Laws




http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=8&smtID=1
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3110