History of racism in the United States

Image: Barrancópolis

The history of the United States has always been related to the racism of the country. It has had a fundamental role in the socio-economic formation of the United States. Racism in the United States was born even before its formation as a state, and it persists to this day, although in a less obvious form. For some historians, the United States is the country where racism has been most important and for the longest time in human history. Therefore, in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to offer you a summary of the history of racism in the United States.

Index

1. Slavery in America
2. Post-slavery stage in the United States
3. Post-racial society

We begin this summary of the history of racism in the United States by going back to its first decades of existence as a state, when slavery of people of color was legalized. The Declaration of the United States spoke of equality among all men, but for the founding fathers of the country, blacks were not included. This is because most of the founding fathers owned hundreds of slaves, and to them they were nothing more than labor.

During the first years of the Independence of the United States, the slaveryincreased in great proportions, the slaves were cheap labor for the production of cotton, and they helped with them the commerce of the young country with the rest of the world. Slavery did not stop growing until the Civil War.

The Civil War It was a warlike conflict that took place between 1861 and 1865. The war pitted two sides of the United States, the northern states against the southern states. The northern states were abolitionist, they wanted slavery was forbidden, because they were industrial workers, for whom slavery did not generate so many benefits. On the other hand, the southern states wanted to maintain slavery, they were agricultural workers who based their economy on the labor of slaves. The war ended with the victory of the northern states, and with it the abolition of slavery in the United States.

It is important to highlight the figure of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States for 4 years who fought for to abolish the slavery. He was the president during the Civil War and was assassinated shortly before the end of the war. He was most responsible for the end of slavery, without a doubt one of the most important characters in the history of the United States.

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Slavery had been abolished, but not even with those did racism disappear in the United States. Blacks were no longer slaves but they still did not have the rights and freedoms that the rest of the American people owned. The end of slavery did not end racism, it was really only the beginning.

Shortly after the end of the war, the period of the Jim Crow Laws. Legislation that took away all rights possible to the population of color: they could not vote, they could not go to white universities, segregation in public transport, bathrooms, and even water fountains.

The society was totally divided and, because of this, popular movements began to appear to abolish Jim Crow laws and that blacks had the same rights. Some of the greatest figures in these movements were Luther King and Malcolm X. Without them it is impossible to understand the change that the United States underwent in these decades.

The Afro-American society movement succeeded in Jim Crow laws were banned in the 1960s. These years were a time of great change for the United States, but not even with this ended the country's racism.

To continue with this summary of the history of racism in the United States, we must talk about the society after the end of the Jim Crow laws, which is the period that continues to this day.

After the end of the Jim Crow laws, legislation was created that gave civil and political rights to blacks, on an equal footing with the rights that white people possessed. A minority of African Americans managed to make a career, something unthinkable in American society a few years ago. They also held political and military positions with great relevance in the new society.

But on the other hand, racism had not disappeared. Proof of this is the depression and murder of leaders of the pro-African-American movement groups. Examples of these were the murders of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X or relevant figures of the Black Panthers. Society had not changed at all, there was still a large number of racist people.

To this day, the United States remains a racist society. Not as much as in previous centuries, but there is still a social and economic inequality based on skin color. For all this, the history of the United States cannot be understood if we do not understand the racism that its society has always had.

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