African Americans Survival

Chapter 8: Endurance During Segregation and Oppression

How African Americans endured during the time of segregation and oppression is covered in Chapter 8. The author’s main point was that despite all the challenges they encountered in getting an education and making a livelihood, African Americans were still able to thrive. Despite being subjected to racist oppression, brutality, and segregation, they developed music and became educated. African Americans received low pay despite putting in hard labor and long hours. Unlike their American peers who held professional jobs, they labored at jobs that were typically despised. More than half of African Americans of all ages were employed in 1890, according to the author. (163). In addition, a majority of black farmers did not own any land at the turn of the 20th century. However, that did not stop them from farming. They acquired their farm supplies through credit financing and mortgaged their farm products. At the end of the year, they normally had very little money to spare, after paying planters and merchants, leaving them in debts most of the time. As a result, they ended up in prison because of debts and other crimes such as theft and homelessness. These prisoners were rented to employers who subjected them to harsh working conditions with no pay (166).

Striving for Education

Majority of the African Americans wanted to get an education. However, black schools did not receive enough funding, and black parents had to supplement it by providing heat, teaching rooms, and boards to ensure that their children received education. At the beginning of the 20th century, black schools were also opened for a shorter period of time compared to white schools. In addition, there were very few high schools, making access to high school education hard. Black students who wanted more than “an elementary education had to leave home or forego further schooling” (168). Despite these challenges, African Americans were determined to get an education, and black teachers were willing to teach despite their low wages.

Oppression and Voting

Their success was not well received by some of the whites and to ensure that they remain in power, white supremacists used poll taxes to bar blacks from voting. The poll taxes “worked well as a way to discourage black people from voting” (178). The whites set up impediments in form of legislations between 1889 and 1910 to prevent poor white men and black men from voting.

Chapter 9: The Effects of the Great Migration

Chapter 9 describes the effects of the great migration on the lives of African Americans. The main argument that the author passed across was that African Americans still sought to create a better life for themselves even after World War 1. The author notes that “through the great migration, the number of African Americans multiplied in cities where blacks had hardly been noticed before” (191).

Creating a Better Life

African Americans sought to escape from oppression by the whites and to acquire better jobs that had better pay (192). The well-educated African American worked odd jobs until they amassed enough capital to establish their own businesses. This goes to show their resilience towards creating a better life for themselves. During this period, African Americans also fought back. An example of this is the Niagara movement formed by Du Bois and others to fight for African Americans civil rights in 1905.

The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s was marked by African Americans connecting with their peers around the world. Their contribution to the American culture through their arts, theatre, and music was also recognized. The author notes that “black musical landmarks appeared in quick succession in the early 1920s” (207).

Conclusion

These two chapters reveal the struggles faced by the African Americans and how they overcame those challenges. The chapters give an insight into their contribution to the American culture through their creation of American music and entrepreneurship.