Fortunately for millions of slaves in the country, emancipation came at an important time. Civil war of 1860s brought an end to the ugly institution of slavery and it was felt that blacks would finally be treated as equals. Unfortunately that did not turn out to be the case. Racism, wide-spread discrimination, white supremacy, inequality, lack of civil rights and poverty- all combined to create a highly prejudiced society where blacks were still barred from participating in elections, they were almost always sidelined in the job market, access to quality and equal education was obstructed along with numerous other subtle and obvious displays of discriminatory practices.
Finally in 1960s, African Americans did something meaningful to effectively curtail discrimination and get civil rights- they launched the civil rights movement which later made monumental advances in the United States during the 1960s under the leadership of people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. The bus boycott played a significant role in the Civil rights Movement as Roberta Wright wrote, "It helped to launch a 10-year national struggle for freedom and justice, the Civil Rights Movement that stimulated others to do the same at home and abroad."
It was quite surprising that even one century after the official abolition of slavery, black people were not allowed to vote. When in 1950s, new job opportunities emerged and the employment rate increased dramatically, black community was again hit with ugly realization that they were not being treated equally, and they came to the conclusion that Civil rights policies in the past had failed to give them equal opportunities and thus Kennedy administration was forced to pass the civil rights bill in 1963 that paved the way for Civil Rights Act of 1964. This was a major victory for the black community as this law finally gave them most of the civil rights that they had demanded. Chicago strike played an important role in this connection. (Graham, pp. 334-335).
Civil rights movement did grant blacks many rights they had been hitherto denied but it did not help them attain complete freedom from racial discrimination. It is found that discrimination and prejudices still plague the American society where blacks are regularly subjected to unfair treatment. African Americans are more likely to be caught by police and sent to prison compared to their white counterparts. This is the result of racial profiling that is the result of extreme prejudices existing in the country. Profiling is commonly defined as the “practice of viewing certain characteristics as indicators of criminal behavior." (Barovick, 1998) It is now an established practice especially in law enforcement circles that makes use of social science theory and other statistical information to gather most commonly found characteristics in people with violent personality. McCann (1992) has defined profiling as "the process of analyzing various aspects of violent crime to derive a set of hypotheses about the characteristics of an unknown assailant. The ultimate goal of profiling is to assist in the successful apprehension and conviction of the perpetrator" (p. 475). These people are seen as a threat and the law can at least keep an eye on their activities. These people also usually turn out to be blacks. This is clear and obvious case of racial prejudice. “There is racial profiling on our streets, highways and in shopping malls. Along with Hispanic youth, black persons are treated more severely than white teenagers at every step of the juvenile justice system. According to last spring's report by the Youth Law Center, blacks are six times more likely than whites to be sent to prison by juvenile courts, and demonstrably more likely to be tried as adults, and, of course, more likely to receive the death penalty.” (Strickland, 2001)
The country we are so proud of has not exactly been an ideal place for African Americans. The society has repeatedly violated the constitutional rights of blacks by treating them unfairly in many arenas and by subjecting them to such biased practices as racial profiling.
References:
- Strickland, Bill: The changing face of racism: new strategies needed for new century. Crisis (The New); Mar/Apr2001, Vol. 108 Issue 2, p20, 2p, 1c
- Roberta Hughes Wright, The Birth of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Southfield: Charro Press, 1991) 52-53.
- McCann, J. T. (1992). Criminal personality profiling in the investigation of violent crime: Recent advances and future directions. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 10, 475-481.
- James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States), 2003
- Hugh Davis Graham, Civil Rights and the Presidency Race and Gender in American Politics, 1960-1972 Feb 1992
- Harriet Barovick, DWB: Driving While Black, TIME, June 15, 1998, 35
- Anderson, M.L., & Collins, P.H. (1998). Introduction. In M.L. Anderson & P.H. Collins, (Eds.), Race, class, and gender: An anthology (3rd ed.). New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
