In his speech entitled Whenever the colored man is elevated, it will be by his own exertions, John Rock expressed the essence of freedom and aspiring self-determination, reminding his listeners of the truth that the Black people must exert enormous efforts to improve their status in society and, generally, their lives. African Americans had to directly achieve the higher status they desire to represent. The argument was that specific models of self-determination, self-reliance, or autonomy would progressively push the forces of discrimination and oppression to give up, hence building a much greater opportunity for other Black people to raise themselves. Rock's speech does not in any way provoke a feeling of inadequacy, inferiority, and self-blame, but inspire his listeners with a feeling of personal responsibility which is the driving force of religion and social revolutions. It does not lay down troublesome or onerous moral responsibilities, but provided assurance that in an unfriendly, generally chaotic world, everybody, irrespective of socioeconomic status or racial background, could become a contributor in matters with tremendous religious and historical importance.
Rock simply promotes the idea of unity and cooperation among African Americans. He believes that their forebears failed to attain the freedom they longed for due to the absence of solidarity within the African-American community. As he stated (Manning and Mullings 109): “We ought not to come here simply to honor those brave men who shed their blood for freedom but to take counsel of each other, and to enter into new vows of duty.” However, this endeavor was too challenging and frustrating, as manifested by the false promises of emancipation and reconstruction. It is true that in the course of the reconstruction, several developments toward equal opportunities in the South were realized, provided that federal servicemen stayed there to ensure that the rights of these free people were respected and fulfilled. But true freedom should not depend on the protection of others. Those rights must be respected even without the presence of an external force tasked to ensure the realization of this freedom.
African Americans were given the right to vote and occupy important public positions, and contributed to the formation of public schools in the South, even though financial support was hard to come by. The Black people built their own communities, commerce, and churches. Yet, numerous Southern white people kept on turning down and condemning this move toward equality, even to the point of oppressing, intimidating, and tormenting Blacks at both the public and private domain. But in such coordinated attempt to exploit the opportunity that the abolition and Northern triumph provided, Blacks resisted and contested reactionaries who were successful in wearing down their civil and political rights.
Sadly, it seems that during the reconstruction African Americans endured greater racial discrimination, especially the women and workers, than in the earlier period. Women were oppressed and workers were abused. However, because of the unbeatable spirit of African Americans, Black women were able to fight for their rights and stop injustices against Blacks (e.g. lynching). These Black women led the way toward real freedom, protesting against Jim Crow laws and other racially charged policies. African American workers also did their share, protesting against the serious economic oppression that they endured by organizing a labor union and other workers' movement. Apparently, the fight of the African-American people for true freedom is still ongoing. Sooner or later, this aspiration will turn into a reality, as long as the African-American community pays attention to what their progressive fellow people, like Rock, claim would be the best way to achieve that much-desired self-determination.
Work Cited
Marable, Manning and Leith Mullings. Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal: An African American Anthology. Landham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. Print.
