There is an idea that Americans still have complex relationship among different races. Some people consider them to be cowards when it comes to discussing race in the country. I am going to refute this statement, as nowadays Americans live with African Americans as peacefully as it can be, and it was not till 1980s, when the government signed some acts in order to stabilize the social situation. For the first time, it existed only on the paper, but later African Americans began to assert themselves. The history of African Americans is full of complexity and stories about their struggle for freedom. It should not be forgotten, so people organize exhibitions in order to keep memories of the native culture, and try to save every item that carries good or bad memories. Americans seek to develop the trust of African Americans using different methods, such as writing books about their lives or taking photographs during the brightest events in their lives. They do it in order to save the cultural consciousness of inheritors.
During the Colonial era, African Americans used to be slaves. The manpower was used in houses of wealth Americans; they did not respect their rights and were punished as animals for any kind of fault. There were no laws to protect African Americans, they lived in fear for their existence. In northern colonies the slaves were engaged in mining, domestic work and maritime, and in southern colonies they were used mostly on plantations (qtd. in Morgan). The Quakers, the first organized group to rise against slavery, became the best example for its followers. The African protest differed from sabotage of animals, tools or crops to suicide or the murder of their owners.
After the Civil War (1865) African Americans gained the freedom, but the process of reconstruction of the society took much time and the government tried to control the former slaves: they tracked their every step. With the coming of Radical Reconstruction the blacks received the right to vote in government – they won the election to Congress and states administrations. The politic world was fully engaged in solving the problems of African Americans, who sought to economic, social and political equality, but these requirements had been denied for a long time (“Reconstruction”). The Civil Rights Act banned discrimination in any of its exertions: at schools, working and public places.
Despite all the severities, African Americans are satisfied with their lives now: they receive the equal medical treatment, their employment is the same as Americans have. African Americans are full of optimism for their lives, as they reached the equality they wanted. Probably, the most valuable achievement of all the debates and struggles is the change in attitudes from America`s white people. Children have a lot of respect for races and they accept blacks in every social situation. Those, who do not follow the principles of equality, have to be punished, as they inhibit the social development of the whole world by their doings. The fake superiority of whites has not been proved, so all the scorings have to be stopped, because there is no reason to set a quarrel among the white and black population.
Having passed many obstacles on their way to equality, African Americans nowadays are even more race-aware than the white population of America. In general, they are satisfied with their lives, but in the case of discrimination, they are ready to stand for their rights.
Works Cited
Morgan, Edmund. American Slavery, American Freedom. London: W.W.Norton & Company, Inc. 1975. Print.
“Reconstruction”. History, 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
