ROLE OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IN THE STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY

ROLEOF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IN THE STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY

Equality,liberty, freedom and also democracy have constantly been changing andcontested understandings in America. For African-Americans throughvarious instances, they encounter in their daily life, freedom, andliberty is perceived to be connected to hollow promises.¹The formation of social movements is aimed at creating awareness tothe black people to challenge the federal government to acknowledge adeeper understanding of freedom and a wider view of democracy. At theCentre of these scuffles lies the desire to develop progressivepower. This paper will aim at providing historical debates overviewconcerning racial equality as well as the complex role of thegovernment in developing progressive agendas and ethnic balance.²

Itshould be noted that the advancement of increasing demands by thefederal government should be set based on the need to challenge theinjustices in our society and not the other way round. Failure toeradicate these prejudices and also racial equality has largelypromoted in the emergence of broad-based, multi-racial coalitionsamalgamated based on the racial and economic justice demands.³Consequently, economic populism that fails to support racial justicefalls short of the mark, in regards to creating power since the civilrights movements use the racial inequality issue to emasculateprogressive agendas. Similarly, politics based on race that does notaddress economic justice fails in building adequate power to fightthe economic inequality that fails to fulfill the promise of civilrights. Therefore, the key argument between the racial justice andeconomic struggles are a competition over the role of the governmentin a democratic society.

Thepeople of color know-how is engraved on the broad spectrum ofdiscussions concerning the government’s functions. Through theAfrican-American fights ranging from Black Power to Obliteration overCivil Rights, starting Rainbow Alliances and the modern practices ofBlack movements we can vividly witness the contours of the argumentconcerning the government and race.⁴When it comes to the refugees of color, their connection with thegovernment is complicated as a result of the role of governmentagencies in enforcing laws of citizenship and immigration. Theinferences for democratic governance are essential to consider sincethe anti-immigrant policy and sentiments are effective ways ofseparating constituencies against one another.⁵Another government role is to discourage political participationamong recent immigrants. Additionally, the Native Americans encounterwith the federal government is even more complex. The experienceranges from efforts to attain tribal impartiality duringRevolutionary War and by incorporating rules of late 1800 to thepresent-day stress on self-determination.

Thefederal government neglected civil rights issues by marginalizing andsegregating African Americans in the Southern states. Moreover, thegovernment enacted various forms of oppression, for instance,race-inspired violence and segregation.⁶To make it worse, Jim Crowl laws barred the Black People fromentering in classrooms, bathrooms, train cars, juries, from theatersand legislatures. The African Americans were being discriminated anddenied their fundamental rights by the federal government. The act ofneglecting Civil Rights grievances leads to the emergence of CivilRights Movement that aimed at restoring the African American rights.They fought for equal employment opportunities, education, housing,the right to participate in elections, equal usage of publicfacilities as well as the right to be free of racial discrimination.This movement played a critical role in the emergence of the judicialsystem that acted as a protector of marginalized people againstmajority power.

TheCivil Rights Movements came up with various attempts to overcome thefederal government’s reluctance and intransigent.⁷The resistance comprised of dramatic images, recorded speeches, andnewsreel that was published in daily papers and nightly news. Themovement was being felt throughout the nation where Americans saw theimages of enthusiastic, dedicated, and disciplined young individualsshaping their destinies. Despite the opposition from the federalgovernment, the Black community retaliated back with undeviatingaction demonstrations and powerful political unifying such asregistration of votes campaigns and also the Mississippi FreedomDemocratic Movement.⁸The photographs being circulated were angering, influential,inspiring and iconic hence the reason why they needed the images tobe contextualized. The notable campaigns are the NAACP’s Campaignin contradiction of Lynching as well as the NAACP’s permissiblecrusade opposing separated education which ended up being terminatedin the high court’s 1954 Brownruling.⁹

Insummary, this text has widely concentrated on the emergence of theCivil Rights Movement derived from the viewpoint of African-Americanopposition to segregation. As a result, there was the need toestablish movements to fight for racial, social, economic, as well aspolitical egalitarianism.¹⁰Consequently, it has also highlighted on how the federal governmenttook part in the shaping of Civil Rights Movements. This essay haswithout a doubt affirmed the longstanding black liberty struggle.This is through the use of stimulating discussions and pointing outsome of the cases that brought crowning achievements. With thisunderstanding, one can now grasp some of the complex roles played bythe government in the fight for the racial equality.

Bibliography

King,Desmond S.&nbspMakingAmericans: immigration, race, and the origins of the diversedemocracy.Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. 2000

Andrews,Kenneth T., and Sarah Gaby. &quotLocal Protest and Federal Policy:The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on the 1964 Civil RightsAct.&quot&nbspSociologicalForum&nbsp30,509-527.&nbspAcademicSearch Premier,2015.

Emerson,Thomas I., David Haber, and Norman Dorsen.&nbspPoliticaland civil rights in the United States: a collection of legal andrelated materials.Boston: Little, Brown. 1967.

1^ Desmond, King.&nbspMaking Americans: immigration, race, and the origins of the diverse democracy. (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2000), 89.

2^ Ibid., 95

3^ Kenneth Andrews and Gaby Sarah. &quotLocal Protest and Federal Policy: The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on the 1964 Civil Rights Act. (&quot&nbspSociological Forum, 2015), 59

4^ Thomas Emerson, David Haber, and Norman Dorsen.&nbspPolitical and civil rights in the United States: a collection of legal and related materials. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1967), 132.

5^ Ibid., 142.

6^ Ibid., 145-47.

7^ Kenneth and Gaby. &quotLocal Protest and Federal Policy: The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 64.

8^ Thomas, David, and Norman.&nbspPolitical and civil rights in the United States: a collection of legal and related materials. , 100.

9^ Ibid., 123.

10^ Desmond, King.&nbspMaking Americans: immigration, race, and the origins of the diverse democracy, 103.