Racism in AMERICA
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Racism in America
During the World War II, it is estimated that over a million African Americans were enlisted in the military. Nevertheless, massive divisions were still present in the United States army with the blacks being discriminated against (Franklin & Moss, 1956). For instance, there was no enlistment of African Americans in the marine ranks. Blacks did not also receive the Medal of Honor despite their significant contributions to the force (Converse, Gibran & Cash, 2015). They did not also have an active involvement in the military only being assigned duties such as cooks, medics and engineers.
Using the knowledge they had acquired about their rights, soldiers from ethnic minorities became more aggressive in fighting for their rights. The belief that they were fighting a superior race and the fact that they were racially discriminated in America led to the perception of a double standard. As a result, the Double V campaign was initiated. Its major objective was to push for democracy both at home and abroad (Wood, 2019). It also served as a reminder as to the purpose of the blacks’ participation in the army which was for the freedom of their race.
Based on a story of the Scottsboro boys aged between thirteen and twenty, the documentary begins with a group of people in search of jobs who are travelling together with homeless people in a train. As they approach Point Rock, a town in Alabama, a fight breaks out as some white boys try to push the blacks off the train. They are intercepted by a group of officers and two women rush out claiming that they have been raped. A group of nine African American teenagers are arrested and tried for rape despite the lack of any evidence to committing the crime (Spohn, 2015). In a court in Scottsboro, Alabama, the group is convicted wrongfully and sentenced to death.
Luckily though, the International Labor Defense takes note of this case causing the Supreme Court to overturn the verdict by the Alabama courts twice. In the third trial, charges against four of the accused are dropped while the others receive long prison sentences. They are, however, promised state parole if they behave properly. Despite their release, their lives were permanently wounded.
Medical research on blacks is said to have commenced in the seventeenth century. It, however, became prevalent in the colonial periods. Doctors would carry out experiments on African slaves and Native Americans and the results would be beneficial to others. For instance, in 1768, there was a smallpox epidemic in which John Quier, a British doctor, used 850 slaves in attempt to find a vaccine. Their bodies would also be used for research despite the belief that the maintenance of bodies was an important practice. In the 20th century, it was believed that those who failed to pay their medical bills and had minimal chances of survival would ultimately pay using their bodies after death. An infamous incident during this period was the Tuskegee syphilis experiment (Alsan & Wanamaker, 2017). Between 1932 and 1972, the US government, carried out a research on poor Alabamans in return for food, medical services and burial insurance, a clear violation of human rights.
Wok cited
Converse, E. V., Gibran, D. K., & Cash, J. A. (2015). The Exclusion of Black Soldiers from the Medal of Honor in World War II: The Study Commissioned by the United States Army to Investigate Racial Bias in the Awarding of the Nation’s Highest Military Decoration. McFarland.
Franklin, J. H., & Moss, A. A. (1956). From slavery to freedom(p. 247). New York: Knopf.
Wood, A. L. (2019). Hanging Bridge: Racial Violence and America’s Civil Rights Century. By Jason Ward. Journal of Social History.
Spohn, C. (2015). Race, crime, and punishment in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Crime and Justice, 44(1), 49-97.
Alsan, M., & Wanamaker, M. (2017). Tuskegee and the health of black men. The quarterly journal of economics, 133(1), 407-455.
RACISM IN AMERICA
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Racism in America
During the
World War II
, it is estimated that over a million African Americans were
enlisted in the military.
Nevertheless,
massive divisions were still present
in the United States
army
with the blac
ks being discriminated against (
Franklin & Moss, 1956
).
For instance, there
was no enlistment of African Americans in the marine
ranks
. Blacks did not also receive
the
Medal of
Honor
despite their significant contrib
utions to the force
(
Converse, Gibran & Cash,
2015
).
T
hey did not also have an active involvement i
n the military only being assigned duties
such as
cooks,
medics and engineers.
Using the knowledge they had acquired about their rights, s
oldiers from
ethnic minorities
became more aggressive in fighting for their rights
. T
he belief that they were fighting a superior
race
and
the fact that they were racially discriminated in America led to the perception of a
double standard. As a result, the Double V ca
mpaign was initiated.
Its major objective was to
push for democracy
both at home and abroad (
Wood, 2019
).
It also served as a reminder as to
the purpose of the blacks’ participation in the army which was for the freedom of their race.
Based on a story of
the
Scottsboro
b
oys
aged between thirteen and twenty
,
the
documentary begins with a
group of people
in
search of jobs
who are travelling together with
homeless people
in a train
. As they approach
Point Rock, a town in
Alabama
, a fight breaks
out
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