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Why are there so few African Americans in Livingston County?
Transcript of Why are there so few African Americans in Livingston County?
The Civil Rights Movement
August 1963: more than 200,000 gathered at the Lincoln memorial, the biggest civil rights movements ever. some people in these riots were Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm x and Medgar Evers. Martin Luther King Jr. was a person who inspired people to take action and to know that we are all equal. Another black was Malcolm X who had a total of six daughters, and spoke publicly to blacks and helped changed their lives.
August 28, 1967, Martin Luther king Jr. gave “I have a dream” speech, and is among the most acclaimed in U.S. history.
Slavery in the 1800s was awful. People were basically treated like animals, whips, shackles, they were even fed pig fat! During slavery Africans were taken from their home and told to either work on a plantation, or just do everyday work for their slave owners. These slaves had no clue whatsoever what these white men or white people were saying to them, they just had to do what they were told. Many Africans would dream of escape to their home country. Keep in mind all of these slaves had no clue where they were on this earth, they probably didn’t even know what half the animals were in this place! This place was like another planet too these slaves, all they knew was their home in Africa not the United States. Slaves were given names that they had to answer to. These slaves were given American names like Mike or Toby or Keith when that was not what they wanted to be called. This work the slaves had to do wasn’t just easy farm stuff, this was hard work. Work so hard their hand and feet would bleed at the end of each day! Most of the cuts probably got infected! The white men didn’t care. They were happy to be sitting home not doing any work, watching the slaves do everything and not be treated like they should be. This was a case of Racial Discrimination. And even though later on in life how there was no more slavery, there was still discrimination. The blacks seemed to never get a break. Throughout 1896 even though there was no slavery, you better bet there was Racial Discrimination. White this black that it was out of control. This carried on into the 1960s! Blacks never got a break.
On November 5, 1992 African American man Malice Green was found by the police inside his car with a handful of crack cocaine. He died, supposedly from drug use. This seemed to be true up until August 23, 1993 an autopsy revealed that Green died from blunt force trauma after being beat to death by five white policemen. Two of the policemen, Nevers and Budzyn were charged with the murder of Green. Freddie Douglas was guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Many people believed that the assault on Green from White police forces became another sad case of racism. Because Livingston County is in the metro Detroit area, African American’s might not want to live in an area with a bad reputation.
Affirmative Action Law
Racism Protests on College Campuses
On March 20, 1987 200 University of Michigan students stood and protested outside the entrance of campus building Fleming Hall. These protesters were made up of two groups, the Black Action Movement Group and the United Coalition Against Racism. These minority races were fighting to eliminate racism from their school, one of there requests being to see an increase in black enrollment.
Moving forward to 2003, The Affirmative action law was passed in Michigan to encourage colleges to take students of other races to desegregate schools. As minority race enrollment was rising, In 2006, Michigan voted again and this law was banned. The rate of African American students in many colleges started to decrease. In 2006, only 13.2% of U-M students were African Americans, Native Americans or Latino. In 2012, only 9.7% students were of those races. Many other ethnicity statistics at this school are very low, and some are the lowest figures of the school since 1969. In 2012, 58% of Michigan voted against the affirmative action plan again. In October 2013, this issue was debated upon by the U.S. Supreme Court, and whether or not this law is truly fair to all races. These minority races might not want to live in the Livingston County area if colleges aren't looking at your race to gain your chances of acceptance.
Why does bigotry remain?
Why do you think there are so few Blacks in Livingston County?
Does this mean all Black people are African American?
How do you define what African American Means?
Even though African Americans have origins in Africa, if a Black person isn't born in America they wouldn't be African
. For example, a Black person born in Europe would be considered African European.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Black or African American is someone who has origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
From 1961-1968 was a very important time period of african american because this is when the “Civil Rights Movement” took place. The Civil rights movement was discrimination against african americans and women, including all form of segregation. In 1964 it was terminated that unequal application in regards to voters registration requirements. And it was ended in 1964, so they could not discrimination of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Jim Crow laws were law saying blacks are not the same as the white and they can’t do anything that the whites do. Like when Rosa Parks was asked to move to the back of the bus and she said “no”, the Jim crow law says the she has to move to the back or she would go to jail.The Jim Crow laws started in 1877 and ended in 1964. For the Jim Crow law they had signs that said whites only and colored only,and the white only was better and cleaner than the colored things.
The Death of Malice Green
Livingston County Population by Race
The underground railroad is an escape route the slaves used to be free. Many slaves would try to accomplish this stunt but many would fail. In 1849 Harriet Tubman escaped to Philadelphia to be a free woman. The underground railroad went along the borders of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The underground railroad was not easy, in fact many people failed and got punished severely for it.
The Underground Railroad
In 1889 to 1918 over 2,500 blacks were hung. A lot of blacks were hung by the KKK.The KKK is a hate group against the blacks. In 1915 all blacks in the south had to use different things as the whites.
In the 1950’s there were boycotts against the bus because blacks had to sit in the back and if the whites wanted their seat they had to give the seat to them.Then after Rosa Parks got arrested blacks didn't ride the bus for a year over 4,000 blacks didn't ride on the buses. Rosa Parks got arrested in Alabama on Dec.1, 1955 and then there were riots. Another person that made people mad was Jackie Robinson.He was the first black person in the MLB. Nobody wanted him in the MLB because he was Black.
The Jim Crow Laws
Harriet Tubman was a famous person who escaped the underground railroad in the 1800s. Harriet Tubman was for the longest time a slave who grew up in a town in Maryland called Dorchester. In 1849 Harriet Tubman escaped Maryland to move north to Philadelphia. Harriet Tubman when the civil war started worked for the Union Army as a cook and a nurse. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war. After Tubman escaped to Philadelphia she immediately returned home to rescue her family. She was a very strong woman.
In the 1800s a war over freedom and slavery broke out throughout the U.S. This was called the Civil War. There was two armies the Union who wanted to free the slaves, then the Confederates who wanted to keep slaves. Union north, Confederation south. During this time the U.S was chaos. Pro freedom and pro slavery. It was crazy! Abe Lincoln, the president at the time of the Civil War did not agree with slavery. In fact he later in time ruled out slavery and made the U.S a free country for all races. The Civil War was not humane.
Bigotry remains because some people are ignorant to other races and peoples opinions. For example, Craig Paul Cobb wants to create a white utopia in the town of Leith, N.D. Cobb has purchased 12 plots of land and will create "pioneer little Europe." It's because of people like Cobb that bigotry still remains.
In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama became the first Black president of the United States. When looking at Livingston county's voting demographics, Obama’s republican rival John McCain had about 13,000 more votes than Obama. However, the majority of Michigan voted for Obama which is what our state’s electoral vote counted for. When Obama ran for election again in 2012 against Mitt Romney, Romney had over 20000 more votes than the democratic party candidate. It isn’t unusual that Livingston County votes in favor of republican party members because they haven’t voted in favor of a democratic member since the 1964 election. The difference of votes between candidates are higher compared to past elections. You can’t tell whether Obama got a lower number of votes in Livingston County because of his vision for America or because of racism from just looking at voting statistics. Instead, you have to learn more about the people of Livingston County.
When looking for other factors as to why there isn't much racial diversity throughout Livingston county, it was hard to find statistical reasons. In 2000, the average pay was $87417 when the population was 722 Black people. Statistics from 2005-2009 show that the median income for a Black person was $66,328, when the population was its highest during 2000-2010 at 1073 people. This income was also the lowest in this 10 year span. In 2010, the Black population dropped to 809 people but the average income raised to $104464. From 2005-2009, it appears that some Black people were making less money than previous years, and the Black population drop seen in 2010 could mean that they moved away for job purposes.
Knowing the Differences Between Bigotry and Racism
Unfortunately, both of these issues still exist today. Understanding the definition of bigotry helps us understand why bigotry remains today
Bigotry is showing intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from themselves, holding their opinions to the highest value.
Racism is showing discrimination against other races, and holding your race superior to someone else.
The Civil War
Because of the slave trade, Blacks would be brought to United States and be kept as slaves mostly in the south. The underground railroad led some slaves to the north, but most were caught and brought back to the south. Because Michigan is farther north, there probably weren't many Blacks in the Livingston County area at the time. Years after slavery ended, some African Americans moved north in search of jobs. Jobs were found in large cities, and large cities formed around industries and employment. Livingston County has never been a highly employed or populated area, and it's hard to move into a place where there isn't a lot of racial diversity if you're the minority race.
These two graphs show that in the past 10 years, there's been no racial diversity.
Although it's hard to see, the Black population has increased by 87 people in the past 10 years.
Mini Project: http://hebertca18.edu.glogster.com/jazz-music
By Mackenzie Bradbear, Ty Brady, Chloe Hebert, and Nick Tortora