Slavery and Oppression of the Blacks From 1865 to Present United States

Black people have a long history of oppression in the United States. White landowners used to seek slaves from Africa to come and work in the farms without pay. The system was adopted by a majority of white people and became a trend in the United States. However, by 1865, slavery was abolished, and the blacks were emancipated from their masters. Consequently, the abolition of slavery did not offer freedom to the blacks as they were expecting. Slavery and oppression of the blacks continued and continues to exist in different forms such as forced labor, racial profiling, convict leasing, and peonage. These forms of slavery and oppression have existed from 1865 and transformed through the years and are still evident in the modern day United States.

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From 1865 to the present, three institutions have been responsible for the discrimination of black people in the U.S., and they include slavery, Jim Crow, and the Ghetto system. Slavery in the United States was introduced to offer free labor in the large tracts of land that was owned by white farmers. The owners saw the importance of controlling Africans by restricting their freedom and forcing them to work on their farms, a system that worked for many years until it was abolished in 1865. However, the local prevalence of slavery, which was eliminated over 150 years ago, is still evident in the South (Acharya, Blackwell, & Sen, 2016). The continued practice of slavery led to the creation of racial caste line with the introduction of labels such as whites and blacks. The abolition of slavery affected the economy of the South. In 1866, the Republicans took control of the South's political system and this period was known as the reconstruction. The focus of the Republicans was to enact laws that would oppress blacks. The southern whites maintained control of the political system and were desperate to recreate the previous system of slavery. According to Wagner (2012), after the abolition of slavery in 1865, the white landowners enacted Black Codes that denied blacks the right to testify against the whites in a court, serve in the state militia, and excise their right to vote. These new rules were a new form of slavery adopted by the white landowners to continue oppressing black people. The new way of slavery is evident as illustrated by some sections of the Black Codes that required black people to sign yearly contracts or they could be hired out to white landowners. Some states limited occupation opportunities of the blacks for them to continue working on the farms to demonstrate further this new form of slavery. Besides, some judges were also allowed to permit black children to work for their previous owners without formulating consent with the parents.

Equally important, after enacting the Black Codes, convict leasing was introduced as a new form of slavery and forced labor to help states to save money on prison construction and generate revenue from the activity (Wagner, 2012). Counties in the southern states began leasing convicts to commercial enterprises. Local planters and industrialists also enjoyed the fruits of convict leasing, generated revenue, and reduced operating costs. Markets also developed that focused on the renting of convict laborers. Slavery was introduced in the United States to facilitate cheap labor and increase revenue. The goals of convict leasing were related to that of slavery that was abolished in 1865. Through convict leasing, industrialists and other employers viewed leased laborers as cheap and disposable labor. In the convict leasing sites, individuals underwent torture, cruel punishment, illnesses, lack of proper food, and other horrible experiences.

The Jim Crow era of 1865 to 1965 was another significant period that led to the oppression of black people in the United States. The end of slavery brought a dilemma to the South, as they were unsure of what to do with the emancipated slaves, how to acquire labor for them, and how to control them. A majority of the whites were not comfortable interacting with the blacks. Hence, they formed a system of codes that separated races and ensured further oppression of the black people. The Jim Crow era was the new system of oppressing blacks in the United States. The regime ordered blacks to travel in separate trains, reside in dark town slums, and attend different schools (Wacquant, 2002). The above are just some of the rules that were blacks were supposed to follow without question. Black people were separated from all social engagements in the society. Jim Crow stipulated blacks to attend separate churches and entertain themselves in different clubs. Moreover, blacks were disallowed to marry white people and cohabitation between the two races was highly discouraged. The whites wanted to maintain dominance economically and politically. Since they viewed blacks as a threat to their society, black people were denied to exercise their right to vote. All these restrictions were a means to oppress black people and suppress their chances of becoming productive people in the society. According to the American Civil Rights Union (2014), the notion of racial superiority reinforced by Jim Crow's rules and regulations created an everyday climate of overt hostility towards black people. White people viewed lynching and instilling fear as one of the most prominent methods of controlling blacks.

Extreme weather that affected cotton growing and the brutality of the caste oppression in the South led to the formation of the Ghetto (1915- 1968). A significant number of blacks migrated to the other parts of the United States with the hopes of leading better lives as free citizens. Despite the efforts to run away from the brutality of the South, the industrial areas did not offer equality and citizenship as was hoped by many blacks. According to Wacquant (2002), the ghetto was a system of racial enclosure, which was less rigid and fearsome than the convict leasing and peonage from the South. The overcrowding of the blacks in a single geographical location due to stringent laws and regulations led to the formation of the Black Belt, which was characterized by crime, disease, and dilapidation. In this case, the Black Belt could be viewed as a design that supports structural economic marginality to the people to ensure they offer cheap labor to the industries. The ghetto served as a racial prison where blacks were confined to one location and could not mix up with the rest of the community. Such a system was a clear depiction of black oppression and slavery in a hidden form that could only be understood by the victims.

Slavery, Jim Crow, the Ghetto systems, and convict leasing were designed to discriminate black people from becoming economically stable and live a life similar to the whites. Although slavery was abolished in 1865, it continued in other forms such as convict leasing, peonage, and the Jim Crow system. Equally important, instances of stereotyping and racial profiling of the blacks are evident in 21st century United States. In the contemporary U.S., black people are demonized and criminalized as thugs. Blackness is synonymized with criminality. For instance, President Obama termed a group of citizens from Baltimore as thugs. The term was later adopted to refer to black males (Smiley & Fakunle, 2016). Black men who fail to reach the standard of white America are referred to as "thug." Richard Sherman, a professional NFL player, was regarded a thug after his post-game interview because of his loud voice and his physical appearance. The term has penetrated to the political arena with some of Obama's political adversaries such as Karl Rove, and Rush Limbaugh has been recorded referring him as a political thug. Racial profiling is a form of oppression that existed during the early years of slavery and Jim Crow and is still practiced in the contemporary United States. According to Seabrook and Wyatt-Nichol (2016), racial profiling is utilized increasingly by the criminal justice system as a tool to solve crime in the society. It seems like racial profiling is the price blacks pay for being in the United States. Many instances exist that depict racial profiling of black people when they collide with the police. Blacks are arrested and convicted of crimes they did not commit more than other ethnic communities in the United States. For this case, it is essential to note that the effects of slavery and oppression from the early years are so powerful that even after the abolishment of slavery, it continued to exist in other forms, which have transformed for many years and are still evident in the contemporary United States.

References

Acharya, A., Blackwell, M., & Sen, M. (2016). The political legacy of American slavery. The Journal of Politics, 78(3), 621-641.

Seabrook, R., & Wyatt-Nichol, H. (2016). The ugly side of America: Institutional oppression and race. Journal of Public Management & Social Policy, 23(1), 20.

Smiley, C., & Fakunle, D. (2016). From "brute" to "thug:" The demonization and criminalization of unarmed Black male victims in America. Journal of human behavior in the social environment, 26(3-4), 350-366.

The American Civil Rights Union. (2014). The truth about Jim Crow.

Wacquant, L. (2002). From slavery to mass incarceration. New left review, 13.Wagner, N. (2012). Slavery by another name history background. Twin Cities Public Television, Inc.