Essay Sample on Social Justice Movement in American History

Social movements play a significant role in bringing social change in society. Discrimination of race has been part of American history since the 17th century during European colonization in northern America. Africans were brought to America as slaves after being kidnapped from Africa. They suffered under their white masters, and those who were not slaves had to endure discriminatory laws that barred them from equality in the states. With time this was outlawed, but until today, racism is still manifested against the African American community.

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All American citizens should be granted equal rights, and color should remain to what it is, just color. We as humans have no reason whatsoever to choose who to enjoy rights and who shouldn't because we are all here in this world together. People should find a way to co-exist or find a reason not to bar anyone from enjoying their existence. Most of the black Americans did not choose to come to the states. They were forcefully taken away from their lands and forced into labor under harsh conditions. They fought for their rights during their stay, and they became part of the USA.

Since time immemorial, African Americans have been protesting for their legal rights, and this has gone unnoticed by the entire world. The African American rights movements have been held since the 17th century until now. Explaining one's color to people and why they should not judge is not a simple task, primarily when it is neither known to self, and it is precisely what the black community has been subjected to over the past three centuries. People must be treated humanely and left to enjoy their human rights because everyone deserves that. We owe it to ourselves to love and live with each other because we need each other to survive, but most importantly, African Americans should keep fighting for their rights and do better than their ancestors did.

The history of racism goes way before our existence. After the white people invaded Africa and kidnapped the "strong" Africans and brought them to the states, they forced them into labor. They were beaten, tortured, Christianized, and hanged. Most of them were forced into Christianity, and since then, it has been their way of life, holding on to their faith and serving their masters. After the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, African Americans gained their freedom from slavery. Since then, it has been a struggle fighting for their rights and looking over their shoulders, making sure they did everything right. Some of them won their way up by participating in LDS church activities in the 1870s.

Amanda and Samuel Chambers, for instance, lived in Salt Lake City, where they served in the LDS and participated in social functions, which led them to acquire land and gained recognition as devout believers (Coleman, 2020). Dr. Mayme Clayton, another visible hero in black history, is well known for her passion for keeping African Americans' history in records. She collected artifacts, books, dances, photographs, and recordings and saved them in the African Americans studies center library at the University of California, Los Angeles. Reservation of history has given people hope of ending racism and the need to finding the truth about their existence and their background from their collective past. Having a black librarian, Dr. Clayton, was a considerable advantage. The white men who were influenced by racial hostility would have deliberately erased or buried the truth about black history. Other people who collected and preserved the history of the blacks were Dr. Currie Ballard, William Loren, and Paul Stewart, they are responsible for the history records existence, and their efforts have been well appreciated up to date (Thompson, 2020).

Georgia E. Lee Patton is also a significant contribution to the black society, where she emerged a fighter in an era where it was hard to expect such; this was between the 1880-1890s. She was born in a slave family, and through financial challenges, racial discrimination, and limitation of women education, she managed to become the first black female doctor and opened a medical practice in Memphis, Tennessee. She became the first black woman to receive a surgeon and physician license and helped a lot of people during those times, earning herself a nickname "Gold Lady." She proved to people that African Americans are capable of achieving greatness and are as important. She gave women hope and motivation to be on the front line in fighting for African American rights (Granshaw, 2020). In the early 1900, the struggle against racism in America became the primary concern for the black community, and parties were formed where the elite people from the black community came forward to fight for their people. They used peaceful demonstrations, the formation of parties, campaigns peaceful boycotts, sit-ins, and marches in unity, which was their most potent weapon. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was a grass-roots political organization that was formed in February 1909 to help fight for African American rights. Following the killing and injuring of many black people with others forced to flee after riots and violence escalated, people had to act. The segregationists influenced people and fueled racial and religious hatred. This rose fear and alarm among African Americans. The NAACP was populated by not only black people but other white people who thought that everyone deserved equal rights regardless of their race. This organization is responsible for very many accomplishments that have gone unnoticed in American history (Jonas, 2007).

Other parties and organizations that formed from the NAACP were the Committee on Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Congress of Racial Equality, Black Panther Party, among others. Some of the issues which the NAACP advocated for were: civil rights, public education, and persuasion was influencing the media, bringing both political and social change, lobbying, and educating the general public.

For many years the black community had to undergo hardships including housing bias, police brutality, school segregation, segregated city buses, among others. It was difficult to get spots at the higher political table, and thanks to this fact, they had no one with political power to defend or fight for them apart from their upcoming leaders. The few able blacks who gained fame by accomplishing famous acts gave them confidence. One of these was Jack Johnson, who defeated Tommy Burns for heavyweight boxing championship of the world in 1908. The African American was very united then, and this enabled them to achieve a lot in regards to their freedom in the history of America.

Over the years, there has been tremendous progress on the issue of social justice in America. Barack Obama became the first African American president in the history of America from 2009 to 2017, and this significantly contributed to the racism declination. Although he did not focus much on the African American, he proved that America is not just for the white people and that anyone could lead the country as long as they had what it takes. President Obama pointed as an excellent example of what a humane person should do, and that is not taking sides in leadership but focus on the state's well-being. He made sure that every program the government was working on would equally benefit all citizens regardless of social ethnicity.

He did not achieve much regarding racial discrimination and inequality, and he couldn't do this because he was put in this position to serve everyone, given this new era where the challenges are not as much as they were before. The black community should have used this opportunity to help themselves, but they didn't. They elected a black president and thought that one person would accomplish everything, but they were wrong.

Dust was swept under the rug, and now, during President Trump's reign, it is clear that the African American community can never achieve complete equality in America. They are still struggling with issues of employment; they are behind economically, and their education funding is still a problem. Making this worse is that no one can stand up for them, not even the civil rights group. We know that many African Americans are thriving and doing good for themselves, but compared to the old times, they have lost the will to unite and fight for each other. They managed to put one of them in the president's seat, and this proves that they have the potential also to end racism and to fight for their rights.

Up to date, even in films, blacks continue to suffer under the white people because of their color. Cases of foul arrests on black people still exist, unemployment cases where only a few manage to get jobs and are ill-treated because of their color. Innocent kids, some of whom don't even know about racism, can't study peacefully in individual schools. They have their parents educating them as early as possible about what to expect as they grow up. Services offered in public places such as restaurants, hospitals, even in sports grounds, cases of racism are still evident. We should appreciate the achievements which have been made over the years, including the right to vote, own land, and to rule out segregation.

African Americans have also managed to acquire positions of power in the government and other high political organizations and has kept them going for this long. In the media, films, and the music industries, African Americans are thriving and making history. They are doing a great job of representing and reminding the world of the reality of American society today. Some of these white people who run some of these entertainment industries, however, still give some stereotype roles to black people that portray race discriminations, which people term as 'unconscious racism."

In the past, film industries never hired black actors to play black characters, and still, these roles were not as good and portrayed them negatively on purpose. This brought a negative effect on the people and tainted the image of African Americans. Since they began casting the black people on films and now having them running entertaining industries, there is an improvement in how race is portrayed in society. They have put their community on the map through the "race films" and are treated with more respect and dignity. They were forced to start making their films and play decisive roles to create the right image, which was earlier tainted by the white people (HORTON et al., 2020).

Rap music has been at the forefront of the media and has been the voice of African Americans ever since its existence. Hip hop rappers have been conveying messages of the social significance of the black community and have grown popular over the years. They spread the news of their daily lives, dreams, and discontents outside of their immediate neighborhoods. They are the voice of the poor, the urban youths, those whose lives are generally dismissed by society. Up to date, rap music has kept African Americans on their feet (blanchard, 2020).

In conclusion, the history of African Americans has been an eye-opener and has had a significant impact on today's society and our perspective. The suffering that they have undergone and are still undergoing and the achievements they have made is a clear indication that no setbacks should put us down. The fight fought by the first African Americans since they arrived in America as slaves, and now, they are thriving in all fields, having their platforms where they can share and show their achievements is something that we can all learn from.