African Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights

In the article, “African Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights”, author Sean Dennis Cashman explains in detail how hard it was for the African-American race to gain a place in society without being referred to as inferior people to the whites. Cashman introduces the ideas of important figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, a northern African American, and Booker T. 

Washington, a southern African-American, and compares their views as civil rights advocates. Decades after the Civil War had ended in 1865; there was still a feel of hate and unwanted ness towards the African-Americans. According to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, freedom had been given to them, and this called for equality to all peoples. As a caste system, was emerging, the African Americans were put on the very bottom though. It was said that the worst white man was still better than the best black man. Whites did everything they could to be socially better than the African Americans by disenfranchising, and setting up harsh Jim Crow Laws. 

These Laws were set up when poor white farmers from the south came to power. African Americans were segregated and in the Famous Plesy v Furgesson case the 8 judges ruled in favor of segregation as long it was “Separate but equal”. Of course it was never equal. They were segregated in schooling houses, places of public accommodation, like parks, theatres, hospitals, schools, libraries, courts, and sometimes even cemeteries. Suffrage was taken away and it was backed up by the idea that it would end corruption during elections. In doing so, the Mississippi Constitution was established which put a poll tax of two dollars so blacks would not be able to afford the vote. Also, if the person could not read and understand the constitution then he would not be able to vote.