Jim Crow Hangover: Poverty, Racism and Classism in America
By James Paige
()
About this ebook
The issue of the states' rights - rights and powers reserved by the state governments rather than the national government according to the U.S. Constitution – remains an issue. The battle over states' rights has shifted from north versus south to red versus blue. The social and economic disparities between Blacks and whites persist.
There are three periods of race relations in the United States following emancipation. Reconstruction, Segregation, and Complicit Tolerance.
Reconstruction, 1865 to 1877, was a period of hope. The formerly enslaved were less restricted socially and politically. Continued negotiations on the Confederacy's states' rights led to the withdrawal of Union troops - freedom protections for the formerly enslaved ended.
Segregation became law in 1896, and hope for inclusion and integration faded. It took nearly 60 years for the United States to rule segregation and the associated Jim Crow laws illegal.
The Brown v Board of Education of 1954 did not lead to a post-segregation era. The Jim Crow Hangover started an age of Complicit Tolerance of discriminatory practices against and over-policing African Americans.
Congress passed the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Act of 1972, and in 1974, the Fair Housing Act. Housing and employment equity remains elusive. After several voting rights acts, there is still voter suppression. Toleration of racial, social, and economic inequity continues.
The wealthiest country in the world continues to produce an astonishing number of under-resourced and unhealthy citizens. What could ignite sufficient moral indignation to challenge America's social and economic structures?
Related to Jim Crow Hangover
Related ebooks
Black History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGale Researcher Guide for: Jim Crow and the Build-up to the Civil Rights Movement Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Walls Within: The Politics of Immigration in Modern America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRace, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of Victor Davis Hanson’s The Dying Citizen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Ira Katznelson's When Affirmative Action Was White Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing and the Other America: The Poor People's Campaign and the Quest for Economic Equality Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Quagmire of American Politics: American Dream Or Nightmare? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGale Researcher Guide for: The Right to Vote Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Slave To Untouchable: Lincoln's Solution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Kathleen Belew & Ramon A. Gutierrez's A Field Guide to White Supremacy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProtest Movements: Then and Now Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGale Researcher Guide for: African Americans in Reconstruction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVirginia's Civil Rights Hero Curtis W. Harris Sr. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerica Needs God – Not Hypocrites, Liars, and Socialists! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMake Good the Promises: Reclaiming Reconstruction and Its Legacies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom the Shadows into the Sunlight: Making Racial Discrimination Irrelevant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRanch Girl and the Orphan Lamb Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Political History: From the Arch of Safety into the Mouth of the Lion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCitizenship on the Edge: Sex/Gender/Race Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat is United about the United States of America: The Ugly, Untold Truth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeyond the Politics of the Closet: Gay Rights and the American State Since the 1970s Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBetter Prosperity: On Justice and Affluence in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPainful and Grateful Lessons for Holiness Churches in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotes of a Racial Caste Baby: Color Blindness and the End of Affirmative Action Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Closet and the Cul-de-Sac: The Politics of Sexual Privacy in Northern California Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Politics For You
The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalism and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on the U.S.-Israeli War on the Palestinians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ever Wonder Why?: And Other Controversial Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Closing of the American Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Jim Crow Hangover
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Jim Crow Hangover - James Paige
©2021 by James Paige All rights reserved.
Published in the United States
ISBN 978-1-66-780876-5
A Segora Group Publication www.segoragroup.org
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
AMERICA’S LONGEST WAR
DISPARITIES – AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
POVERTY
TYRANNY OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
HEALTH
HOUSING
EDUCATION
PERSONAL FINANCES
LAW ENFORCEMENT
RACE AND CLASS
PUBLIC POLICY
PERPETUATING THE UNDER-CLASS
AFTERWORD
A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR
REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
What could ignite sufficient moral indignation to challenge America’s social and economic structures? The wealthiest country in the world continues to produce an astonishing number of under-resourced and unhealthy citizens.
The highest level of imprisonment and social and economic disparities exist within the United States. What attitudes, beliefs, and systems make this so? Why have racial inequalities persisted?
Jim Crow laws of the late 1800s delineated where Black people could live, work, attend school, and who they could marry. Laws disenfranchised African Americans and ended the political and economic gains made during the Reconstruction period.
Jim Crow laws remained in force until 1965. Although the rules are is no longer legally enforceable, the hangover of negative typecasting of African Americans and discrimination persists.
Ferguson, Missouri, formed a commission to investigate the killing of Michael Brown in 2014. The commission’s findings came 50 years after the Kerner Commission Report and mirrored the recommendations from 1968.
The Kerner Commission’s final report summary ended with an overview from Dr. Kenneth Clark that resonates today. Like past reports, Clark wrote the findings did not uncover any startling truths, unique insights, or simple solutions.
The destruction and the bitterness of racial disorder, the harsh polemics of black revolt and white repression have been seen and heard before in this country. It is time now to end the destruction and the violence, not only in the streets of the ghetto but in the lives of people.
Disparities will continue to widen unless we re-imagine America’s social order. Laws and public policies have not delivered equity. America has blind spots about race and class.
The circumstances we are born into and grow in are Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) - housing, education, household income, etc. These factors predict life’s trajectory.
For people of color, especially African Americans, racism and discrimination are health determinants that contribute to economic and social insufficiencies.
Harmful determinates of health hamper the ability to access opportunities. The absence of opportunity leads to unstable households, disruptive communities, and unhealthy lifestyles.
During the 2020 pandemic, people from all walks of life lined up for food bank donations. Income disparities shifted from existing only in depressed African American communities to all racial and neighborhood demographics.
Economic stimuli helped the poor and working/middle-class mitigate financial losses due to COVID-19, keeping millions from slipping into poverty.
Poverty versus wealth does not adequately describe the economic disparities and inequities within American society. Poverty is a term used to describe people lacking the resources to have the basics of life consistently. In the United States, most citizens are not poor, but a significant percentage of the population is under-resourced.
Under-resourced living is lacking the means and environment needed to access housing that serves family’s needs and an education that adequately prepares students to pursue careers of choice and a living wage income.
Overcoming under-resourced living is more than just getting a job, and overcoming classism and racism is more than just changing the law. It requires a societal commitment that America has been unwilling to make.
Statistically, 25% of African Americans live in poverty; the majority do not. Given the obstacles – employment, housing, education, and economic discrimination - it is incredible that more African Americans do live on society’s margins.
The enslaved and their descendants have been on an incredible journey navigating the waters of racism, discrimination, and bias.
From George Floyd to the January 6th insurrection in the nation’s capital, law enforcement’s unequal treatment of Black people was on full display. Over-policing of African Americans led to George Floyd’s death. The preferential treatment accorded to white citizens led to a challenge to American democracy.
Black excellence has emerged from the cavern of oppression. Given the opportunity, African Americans have excelled in every endeavor - science, mathematics, sports, business, politics, entertainment, etc.
Closing the white/black disparities gap requires more than special programs and equity initiatives. Social services assist people in managing their adverse living conditions better. They do not, however, lay a foundation for upward mobility and self-reliance.
Equality and inclusion are not outcomes of legislation, programs, or Presidential orders. They are a product of social justice – equitable distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges.
A society willing to accept all its citizens on fair and just terms provides equal opportunity.
Disparities are not the absence of wealth. Disparities are a lack of social equity.
AMERICA’S LONGEST WAR
Afghanistan is not America’s longest-running war; it is the Civil War. The armed conflict ended in 1865. A century and a half later, unresolved racial issues remain, and America is still grappling with the lack of social and economic equity.
The unresolved social and political issues in Afghanistan are thousands of miles away. The unresolved social, political, economic, and educational matters post-Civil War persist in the homeland.
Enslavement lasted from 1619-1865. The Emancipation Proclamation instantly freed 3.1 million from bondage. Ownership of human beings, limited to persons from the African continent and their descendants, was declared illegal.
It has been more than 240 years since owning other human beings became unlawful, yet, criminal justice disparities and discriminatory practices against descendants of the formerly enslaved continue.
Three periods of race relations in the United States followed Emancipation. Reconstruction, Segregation, and the current period of Complicit Tolerance. Reconstruction was a period of hope, but following Robert E. Lee’s surrender, the former Confederacy continued negotiations on the states’ rights and won. Their victory led to the imposition of Jim Crow and the Black Codes.
Segregation became law in 1896, and hope for inclusion and integration faded. Segregation was ruled illegal in 1954. Instead of fostering social and economic equity, the current Complicit Tolerance of African American second-class citizenship began.
Segregated communities were formed under the law, reinforced by Jim Crowism, and perpetuated by complicit tolerance of bias.
The Reconstruction Era - 1865 to 1877 has two meanings. The first applies to the complete history of the entire country following the Civil War. The second meaning is the attempted transformation of the 11 former Confederate states as directed by Congress.
During this brief 14-year period of Reconstruction, the newly freed were less restricted socially and politically. During Reconstruction, the Union required the former confederate states to craft new constitutions, which needed approval by the U.S. Congress.
After completing the requirements, the former confederate states were granted readmission to the Union. Additional laws passed defining how the constitutions of states of the former Confederacy would be created and enacted.
Society’s response to Reconstruction was to exhaust every avenue – legal and illegal - to maintain the Dixie way of life. There was minimal change in the racial, political, or social landscape.
The wartime proclamation by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman was to allot land to the formerly enslaved, allowing them to build financial self-reliance. The phrase 40 acres and a mule
has come to symbolize the broken promise of economic justice for African Americans.
From 1865 to 1870, The United States passed Constitutional Amendments ‘guaranteeing’ freedom for all and discriminating against the formerly enslaved and their descendants is unlawful.
1865: The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except for those duly convicted of a crime; 1868: The Fourteenth Amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws for all persons.; and 1870: The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits discrimination in voting rights and prohibits the federal government and each state from denying citizens the right to vote based on that citizen’s race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew the Union troops from the south as part of a compromise to get reelected, removing freedom protections and nullifying the constitutional amendments.
Local governments instituted the Black Codes immediately following the ratification of the 13th Amendment. The Codes became the foundation of Jim Crow laws.
The 1896 doctrine of separate but equal
became the national standard that allowed for and required racial segregation in public
and private institutions such as schools, public transportation, restrooms, and restaurants.
Jim