Chapter 5 - The History of the Africans in America; Main leaders who fought against slavery
In 1619 a.d., a group of Portuguese sailors took 20 black men from Angola, a country located inside the continent of Africa, geographically located in the southern hemisphere of the planet. These Portuguese, then sold these 20 men to the britishers as slaves. At that time America was under colonial rule and not an independent nation. It was occupied by the British.
Those britishers who bought those 20 Black Africans as slaves, brought them America. These black men were assigned different jobs as their slaves over there which included farming in the fields, raising and looking after cattle, daily household chores etc. Gradually the population of blacks increased, most of them located in the southern part of the country of America.
Discrimination with them existed right from day one over there. They were asked to bow down to their white British masters every time before a conversation. At the grocery shops they had access to purchase a very little number of things required to sustain life and not all. They had no liberty to buy any luxurious items that could possibly pamper their self-pride. On the roads they were not allowed to walk on the same footpaths as those on which the white men treaded. They were asked to clean the dishes of their masters very carefully and thoroughly. If those dishes were found insufficiently cleaned, they were struck with blows by the body-guards of those white masters. So was the case with cleaning of washrooms. The toilets and bathrooms of the whites were supposed to be very clean and spotless. A single piece of scar or dirt if seen, the black guy would receive a harsh treatment. Racism existed at each and every step of their lives.
There was an incidence in which a black guy fell in love with a white woman somewhere around 1652 in a town in the southern part of America. She was also in love with this black guy. Both wanted to get married and have kids. But as soon as the administrators of that town came to know they put the black guy in a jail and warned the girl not to try and meet him ever after. After severe punishment of 5 years he was released from jail. The whites did all these as deterrents, as precedents - to induce the feelings of fear and awe inside the minds of the blacks, about even looking at a white girl. Not just this, they used to several "mind games" on a routine basis to keep the blacks in a suppressed state.
After that incident of 1652, laws were unanimously passed to prevent marriages between people of different color. These laws were so intense, that even now, after 368 years of that incident, we hardly see a black guy married to a white girl or vice versa.
The black slave population increased in America in the 17th and 18th centuries but at the same time their regressive and highly condemnable oppression at the hands of white people also continued. By the arrival of 18th century, the blacks got accustomed to this humiliating lifestyle. Some tried to form groups and raise their voice against this torture but the British authorities quickly came to know about their activities and they were forced to discontinue them. By 1725 a.d., not just whites who were of British origin but also those American origin had black people with them serving as slaves.
In 1776 a.d. a major event took place. After the Boston Tea Party event led by George Washington, the Americans got independence from the nasty britishers. On 4th July, 1776 America got freed from the shackles of the colonial rule which had tortured its citizens for a long long time. Initially, just 13 states were formed, the number which in due course of time got expanded to 50. The White Americans who were supposed to live as subjects of the britishers, a life which was full of daily insults and non-stop harsh treatment on a daily basis, finally had their say. Now it was all gone. They were the free citizens of a new independent nation, full of hopes and dreams about a glorious future and beaming with renewed energy. But these hopes and dreams which these white newly freed Americans had in 1776, were not all-inclusive. They were exclusive and divisive right from day one. How? Because they always excluded the blacks, the guys who were just sitting next to them. Instead of considering them as a part of the new American society, they continued to consider them as inferiors. The founders of America did establish the Constitution of America and framed all Americans - white and black, rich and poor - as equals in that official constitution, but that was just on paper. The reality continued to remain dark and gloomy - as the whites were unwilling and unable to remove that horrible line of distinction from the most important place where it mattered - their minds. Had they done that 244 years ago, these horrific killings of the blacks by the whites on American streets would have never happened. Hundreds of thousands of innocent black men wouldn't have lost their precious lives. Thousands of young black women wouldn't have got raped. The houses of blacks wouldn't have been burnt in so many American cities. None of these "massive crimes against humanity" would have happened. But unfortunately, all these continued to happen, quite often, with frequent starts and stops at the utter disbelief of the black citizens of America, giving them relentless, sheer pain throughout these times - physically and mentally.
The torture of the blacks continued from the time they had arrived (1619 a.d.). When America became independent from the colonial rule, George Washington took over as the first President of the USA (United States of America) which had just 13 states then. It is believed that Washington himself was a Slave Owner. However, he had good wishes for their overall development but his slaves could not get relieved from their slavery till he died.
8 of out of first 12 American Presidents owned black slaves of their own, which clearly shows the widespread discrimination and the sufferings of the black community, back then. This possession of slaves started from George Washington, as discussed above. By the time the 12th President Zachary Taylor came to power in 1849, there were 8 of those 12 presidents who were themselves in possession of black slaves, including Taylor.
Zach Taylor was a General and a national hero in the United States Army from the time of the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. He was elected the 12th U.S. President, serving from March 1849 until his death in July 1850. It is an irony that despite being considered national heroes, people like Washington and Taylor, did not do much about equality among the whites and the blacks. On the contrary, they themselves were in possession of black slaves. Among the first 12 Presidents, not much was done for the black community by any President.
After Taylor's death in 1850, the voice against racial discrimination of the blacks in every day life, everywhere, from the west coast to the east one, started becoming more and more prominent. Many black men and women started coming to the forefront, asking for the abolition of the system of slavery and for the equality among the two communities.
Abraham Lincoln and his Contribution towards removal of slavery:-
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After Abraham Lincoln became President of the USA, the civil rights movement gained substantial momentum. Lincoln always defined the Civil War as a struggle to save the Union, but in January 1863 he nonetheless issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in areas still under Confederate control. This was an important symbolic gesture that identified the Union's struggle as a war to end slavery. The contribution of Abraham Lincoln towards ending slavery in America is of the highest quality. He served as the 16th President of the USA from March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865. He was assassinated during his presidency.
The contribution of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., a black christian minister, is considered to be very significant as regards the fight for justice of the blacks against racism. He was at the core of what is now called as the "Black Lives Matter movement" between 1955 and 1968. He was mainly responsible for creating massive awareness among the blacks that they can not be insulted, molested or hurt by any white person. They have rights which are at par with the whites and any attempt to demoralize or demean them on the basis of their black color should be dealt with a very firm hand by them. Due to his outspoken nature, he became very popular among the black community youth between 1965 and 1968. However, just like other leaders who have fought fearlessly for the rights of the blacks over the last 200 years he too got assassinated in April 1968. In spite of his premature death at the age of 39, he has lit a flame of awareness amongst the blacks that keeps burning eternally as on date. 52 years after his death, he is considered a legend, a revolutionary who changed the way many blacks used to think about themselves as well as about their country.
40 years after the death of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., the first ever Black President was voted to power in 2008. It was as if the dreams of Dr.King were coming true, when Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States and said above, the 1st black President. He was born in Kenya, a country from the continent of Africa, migrated to the US and then rose among the ranks to become the President. Much was expected from him, by the black community in terms of justice being delivered to the blacks against police killings and all atrocities committed against the blacks. Being a prominent figure of the Democratic Party, which had a majority in the Senate for quite some time during his rule as also being a President, he was in a very strong position to do something very substantial for the black community. But during his tenure spanning for 2 terms as President (8 years from January 2009 to January 2017), he could not do much for the blacks, although he did not disappoint them either.
After Obama, in the presidential elections of November 2016, Donald Trump became the 45th President of the USA, after defeating Hillary Clinton of the democratic party. The blacks supported Ms.Clinton but she lost. Trump was initially believed to be a supporter of all things related to white supremacy in the US. Hate mongering organisations like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a white supremacist organisation which targets the black community as well as the jews and the immigrants, were happy initially and thought that their time to rule over America has finally arrived. They started attacking the blacks in cities to the north and central part of the USA like Rochester, Albany, Detroit, Buffalo etc. initially. But Trump proved to be smarter than them. He knew that any such attempt to demean or insult a particular community can destabilize and endanger his presidency. So he suppressed that movement of the KKK organisation very cleverly. Yet this group and similar such others keep targeting the blacks all across the US, with the perception in their mind, that a man who is white and supports white supremacy is in power. There was a fear that after the arrival of Trump as US President in January, 2017 incidences of attacks on people of color (blacks, hispanics, asians) will increase in a big manner. But those fears have been proven baseless in the last 3 years by the deal-maker inside President Trump. He seems to have balanced the struggle between the blacks and whites to a large extent. Apart from the couple of incidences in which black american George Floyd got murdered at Minneapolis city, Minnesota and another black Rayshard Brookes got shot at Atlanta, no other incidences have been reported so far.
Yet after the murder of George Floyd on the 25th May, 2020 there is an uneasy calm all over America. The blacks are clearly fed up of the racist attitudes of the police as well as white supremacists. This is because the manner in which Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, opposite that grocery store Cup Foods was so extreme, so dreadful, so heinous that even if you are not a black, you would start feeling extremely furious, like what I did that day, when I watched that video clip. He was pressed upon very heavily by officer Chauvin and other 2 officers that he literally struggle very hard to breathe. He was kept in that chokehold like, stranglehold like position for as long as 8 minutes and 46 seconds before eventually he succumbed to death. It was the worst possible death one human can give to another. Obviously the blacks were very furious and burned down a lot of public property across the USA. "Enough is enough" is what they felt as this can not continue for any longer. The blacks can not be ill-treated so badly by either the police or any other people. This huge amount of anger has led to continuous and undying protests across the US in the last 28 days. The murder of George Floyd has thus proven to be a Tipping Point, as far as the Black Lives Matter movement is concerned, wherein the blacks are demanding total eradication of all methods, systems and procedures, which are racist in nature. This is a watershed moment in the history of America, which is destined to bring in huge changes now. "Now or Never" is the message that each one of us is getting, all across the world, especially in american cities. They are demanding police defunding, severe punishments for anyone who insults or demeans a person of color and this time it seems they will get what they want, undoubtedly. This is a moment of change in the american history. Racism finally is getting removed from everywhere.
===================================================
After Abraham Lincoln became President of the USA, the civil rights movement gained substantial momentum. Lincoln always defined the Civil War as a struggle to save the Union, but in January 1863 he nonetheless issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in areas still under Confederate control. This was an important symbolic gesture that identified the Union's struggle as a war to end slavery. The contribution of Abraham Lincoln towards ending slavery in America is of the highest quality. He served as the 16th President of the USA from March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865. He was assassinated during his presidency.
The contribution of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., a black christian minister, is considered to be very significant as regards the fight for justice of the blacks against racism. He was at the core of what is now called as the "Black Lives Matter movement" between 1955 and 1968. He was mainly responsible for creating massive awareness among the blacks that they can not be insulted, molested or hurt by any white person. They have rights which are at par with the whites and any attempt to demoralize or demean them on the basis of their black color should be dealt with a very firm hand by them. Due to his outspoken nature, he became very popular among the black community youth between 1965 and 1968. However, just like other leaders who have fought fearlessly for the rights of the blacks over the last 200 years he too got assassinated in April 1968. In spite of his premature death at the age of 39, he has lit a flame of awareness amongst the blacks that keeps burning eternally as on date. 52 years after his death, he is considered a legend, a revolutionary who changed the way many blacks used to think about themselves as well as about their country.
40 years after the death of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., the first ever Black President was voted to power in 2008. It was as if the dreams of Dr.King were coming true, when Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States and said above, the 1st black President. He was born in Kenya, a country from the continent of Africa, migrated to the US and then rose among the ranks to become the President. Much was expected from him, by the black community in terms of justice being delivered to the blacks against police killings and all atrocities committed against the blacks. Being a prominent figure of the Democratic Party, which had a majority in the Senate for quite some time during his rule as also being a President, he was in a very strong position to do something very substantial for the black community. But during his tenure spanning for 2 terms as President (8 years from January 2009 to January 2017), he could not do much for the blacks, although he did not disappoint them either.
After Obama, in the presidential elections of November 2016, Donald Trump became the 45th President of the USA, after defeating Hillary Clinton of the democratic party. The blacks supported Ms.Clinton but she lost. Trump was initially believed to be a supporter of all things related to white supremacy in the US. Hate mongering organisations like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a white supremacist organisation which targets the black community as well as the jews and the immigrants, were happy initially and thought that their time to rule over America has finally arrived. They started attacking the blacks in cities to the north and central part of the USA like Rochester, Albany, Detroit, Buffalo etc. initially. But Trump proved to be smarter than them. He knew that any such attempt to demean or insult a particular community can destabilize and endanger his presidency. So he suppressed that movement of the KKK organisation very cleverly. Yet this group and similar such others keep targeting the blacks all across the US, with the perception in their mind, that a man who is white and supports white supremacy is in power. There was a fear that after the arrival of Trump as US President in January, 2017 incidences of attacks on people of color (blacks, hispanics, asians) will increase in a big manner. But those fears have been proven baseless in the last 3 years by the deal-maker inside President Trump. He seems to have balanced the struggle between the blacks and whites to a large extent. Apart from the couple of incidences in which black american George Floyd got murdered at Minneapolis city, Minnesota and another black Rayshard Brookes got shot at Atlanta, no other incidences have been reported so far.
Yet after the murder of George Floyd on the 25th May, 2020 there is an uneasy calm all over America. The blacks are clearly fed up of the racist attitudes of the police as well as white supremacists. This is because the manner in which Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, opposite that grocery store Cup Foods was so extreme, so dreadful, so heinous that even if you are not a black, you would start feeling extremely furious, like what I did that day, when I watched that video clip. He was pressed upon very heavily by officer Chauvin and other 2 officers that he literally struggle very hard to breathe. He was kept in that chokehold like, stranglehold like position for as long as 8 minutes and 46 seconds before eventually he succumbed to death. It was the worst possible death one human can give to another. Obviously the blacks were very furious and burned down a lot of public property across the USA. "Enough is enough" is what they felt as this can not continue for any longer. The blacks can not be ill-treated so badly by either the police or any other people. This huge amount of anger has led to continuous and undying protests across the US in the last 28 days. The murder of George Floyd has thus proven to be a Tipping Point, as far as the Black Lives Matter movement is concerned, wherein the blacks are demanding total eradication of all methods, systems and procedures, which are racist in nature. This is a watershed moment in the history of America, which is destined to bring in huge changes now. "Now or Never" is the message that each one of us is getting, all across the world, especially in american cities. They are demanding police defunding, severe punishments for anyone who insults or demeans a person of color and this time it seems they will get what they want, undoubtedly. This is a moment of change in the american history. Racism finally is getting removed from everywhere.
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