The Effects of Racism on African Americans during the Civil War Era

Racial inequality and race powerfully shaped American history from the beginning. During the world war era, most Americans especially the blacks were highly oppressed due to racism. The oppressions have been included as central part of the American history and not as distant history. Moreover, there have been different effects that were brought about by racism to the black Americans during the Jim Crow era. Racism is a situation where Americans were divided regarding their skin color, and the blacks began being oppressed. Racism in American during the civil war gave birth to various oppressions such as slaver, displacement, and physical oppression (Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo 67). In order to thoroughly understand race and racism in America, it is important to investigate different ways in which classifications of racisms get linked to various forms of economic, social oppression. Ethnicity, on the other hand, refers to sharing of cultural practices, distinctions, and practices which usually divides one group of individuals to another. In this paper, we are going to explore different types of racial and ethical inequality among the Americans during the civil war era and the Jim Crow era.

Racial inequality brought about cultures that were unusually encompassing and also founded the division of humanity not forgetting physical traits in America during the civil war era. The foundation was colonization was also as a result of racism in the native land. Moreover, slavery among the Americans was also facilitated by racism especially black Americans (Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo 67).

Geographical Displacement and Genocide

After the settlement of Europeans in North America, an indigenous population that had control over the vital economic resources was encountered and got affected. Such financial resources grabbed by the Europeans included land (Heard and Holly 319). From the beginning, the colonialist practiced displacement and genocide on people and their properties. Both the British colonialist and the government of America plus the Europeans practiced genocide. Most individuals who owned land during the civil war era were driven out of their area, and some were even killed after being snatched their properties. Following their cultures of being nomadic or semi-nomads justified the oppressors since they claimed that the owners were not civilized therefore they were not supposed to own land (Heard and Holly 319).

Slavery

According to the knowledge of many people, a lot of the black American that resides in the United States are products of ancestors were had been taken into captivity by the white people. In America, during the war era, human beings especially the blacks were viewed as properties of the white people. Such individuals were owned just the same way a horse or donkey can be held. The slaves were oppressed, beaten, physically harmed and emotionally disturbed by their owners (Kimberlyn Leary 127)

Furthermore, cases of slaves being raped were considered normal, and at some point, their owners would split the slave’s families and go ahead to sell their children in exchange of property.   Moreover, being a slave was a lifetime condition with very little payment in return. The slave owners success highly relied on the efforts put in place by the slaves, and therefore, they were forced to pay them little incentives as a way of motivating them (Kerri Ullucci 534).

Second Class Citizenship

Even though slavery was abolished after the civil war have completed, there were no reports of completely eradicating racial oppression that had been legally enforced. If the American constitution amendments that stated that every individual is given equal citizenship had been implemented, then racial abuse would have been dealt with (Kerri Ullucci 534). However, no efforts were put in place to ensure that every individual is treated as a full citizen of America.  Second class citizenship is a situation where some citizens have fewer rights compared to others. The situation can either by through legal rights denial, official or even ineffective formal practices on the denied rights.

Diffuse Discrimination

Oliver, Melvin, and Thomas point out that every form of racism results in racial oppression and prejudices (55).  In America during the civil war, black individuals were treated differently following their race type. Most employers did not hire or even promote a black American even if they had great qualifications that were required. Moreover, a situation where landlords only rented their houses to the white individuals and left out the blacks was also a form of discriminating them. Furthermore, various banks laid down ruthless laws on loan acquisition making it difficult for black Americans to acquire the loan.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that racial discrimination in the United States of America during the civil war brought about various ugly effects to the black Americans. Most of them were sold into slavery following the difference in their ethical groups; some were grabbed off their properties such as land and even killed. Moreover, the black Americans under the colonial rule were denied their rights, and no banks wanted to associate with them. According to the discussion, during the civil war era, Africans who resided in America were considered as half citizens. Therefore, they have fewer rights as compared to other citizens.

Work Cited

Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial          inequality in America. Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.

Heard, Holly E. “The family structure trajectory and adolescent school performance: Differential     effects by race and ethnicity.” Journal of Family Issues 28.3 (2007): 319-354.

Leary, Kimberlyn. “” Interpreting in the dark“: Race and ethnicity in psychoanalytic             psychotherapy.” Psychoanalytic Psychology 12.1 (1995): 127.

Ullucci, Kerri. “Book Review: Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence      of Racial Inequality in the United States.” Urban Education 41.5 (2006): 533-540.

 Oliver, Melvin, and Thomas Shapiro. Black wealth/white wealth: A new perspective on racial inequality. Routledge, 2013.