Op-ed: Discriminatory Laws Over Time
The Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox. Still, blood stained the American soil. Disillusionment sunk heavy in the hearts of the oppressed. One war had ended, yet another had just begun. African Americans were supposed to be free, but White oppressors were disgusted by equality, intimidated by it. The idea of Black freedom only unlocked in their bigoted souls a more fervent, deep-rooted hatred, and innocent human life would continue to suffer.
“And who cares?” says abolitionist Frances Harper in her speech to the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, “the smell of blood and our bones scattered at the grave’s mouth; murdered people; a White League with its “covenant of death and agreement with hell.” And who cares?”.[1] A deafening silence rang throughout the town of Hartsville when the White League, a terrorist group aiming to restore White supremacy, violently murdered teacher Julia Haydon on her way to school in 1874. She was 17 years old. The murderers were released on bail for $3500.[2]
“What can be said of the civilization of a community that tolerates such a mockery of justice as evidenced by the release of the wanton assassins of Miss Haydon?” Frederick Douglass writes in a segment of the National New Era.[3] Over a hundred years later, and the justice system fails to charge anyone for the murder of Breonna Taylor.
What can be said of the civilization of our community?
The moral warfare which emerged following 1865 was a battle against racism and its multiple manifestations. Julia Haydon faced the traditional sort—overt discrimination and violence, less tolerable in today’s society. Yet there is another manifestation in particular, one less obvious but equally destructive, which prospered during the Reconstruction Era. Unlike traditional racism, structural racism has the ability to hide behind an illusion of neutrality. This very attribute is what allows it to prosper through today.
Although slavery became illegal in 1865, it did not end then. After the civil war, William Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, setting aside 40 acres of tillable land and a mule for each Black family.[4] Things were looking hopeful, but following Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson quickly reversed course on the Order. Thousands of freed slaves were displaced, completely deprived of land and work. In search of a new labor force, White Southerners capitalized on the mass unemployment by devising Black Codes and the Sharecropping system.
Black Codes declared vagrancy a crime, so Black people had to seek work on plantations from former slave-owners and accept inadequate wages in order to avoid arrest. [5] “Pig Laws” unfairly penalized Black people for minor crimes: stealing a farm animal warranted a felony charge. By 1870, 85% of prisoners in Alabama were Black, and incarceration became a new system of control.[6] Black Codes and Pig Laws also set the foundation for the succeeding Jim Crow era: a period of federally enforced racial segregation in the United States.
After the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896, the US Supreme Court further endorsed the “separate but equal” doctrine, legalizing segregation on the condition that racially separate facilities were of the same quality. Jim Crow laws segregated schools, parks, neighborhoods, restrooms, and hospitals, but facilities were not equal. Services for Black people were consistently inferior and underfunded.[7] For example, many Black people in the south had practically no access to hospitals. In Mississippi, most Black births were at home, explaining the high infant and maternal mortality rates among Black people at the time.[8] These segregation laws also unfairly impacted the education system. In school, Black children were only taught skills needed for agricultural or domestic work. The curriculum was tailored towards the needs of White landowners, and schools were essentially responsible for creating a labor supply. Only two percent of Black people actually held professional jobs.[9]
Even when the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case ruled the segregation of public schools unconstitutional, policies around the US continued to push for segregation. In 1956, Alabama laws prohibited Black and White people from partaking in recreational activities together, and Louisiana law required movie theaters and places of public entertainment to separate Black and White customers.[10] It was not until the enactment of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, after years of tireless protest and activism by leaders and members of the Black community, that segregation was legally outlawed. However, past segregation still impacts society today, especially as it relates to housing and urban planning.
Today, there is a substantial racial wealth gap: the median White household wealth, savings and assets minus debts, is $171,000, while the median Black household wealth is a mere $17,600. [11] What caused such a pronounced discrepancy?
When Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted the New Deal in response to the Great Depression, a component of the deal called the Home Owners Loan Corporation ensured that people did not default on their loans. The HOLC devised residential safety maps outlining areas with “hazardous people” in red. These redlined communities were not more likely to default on their loans, but discrimination in urban planning made it more difficult for Black people to refinance.[12] The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was even created to address racial discrimination in housing, but for 30 years, 98% of Fair Housing Act loans were handed out to White people. [13]
Furthermore, as suburbs emerged and White people migrated out of cities, White communities instituted covenants that forbid the selling of suburban homes to Black people. A significant portion of American wealth is generated through housing which is why past housing discrimination impacts society today. Three out of every four red-lined neighborhoods still struggle economically.[14] Reducing the unemployment and median household income gaps will not suffice. Black people will still be at a disadvantage due to centuries of compounded interest on white-owned homes and land. [15]
Neighborhoods today remain largely segregated and unequal because of redlining and discrimination. The National Fair Housing Alliance finds that there are still four million incidents of housing discrimination per year.[16] Black people are therefore more likely to live in areas with dangerous industrial plants and disintegrating infrastructure. They are also less likely to have access to clean water or fresh food. [17] Not to mention, mobility out of such neighborhoods is more difficult for Black people than White people. Thus, Black poverty is multigenerational.[18] Segregation has many additional societal consequences, especially in regard to the education system. Segregation of neighborhoods intensifies racial segregation of schools and widens the achievement gap. In 2016, predominantly White school districts received $23 billion more in funding than predominantly Black school districts.[19] Low-quality schools, poverty, minority status or any intersection of the three are all underlying causes of the achievement gap.[20]
As high school students, issues like the achievement gap and housing discrimination seem out of our control. Yes, to overcome systemic racism, our country will have to make massive changes in the way it operates, but there are actions we can take in the meantime that do make a difference. There are already tons of organizations and research institutions that work towards bringing about a more equitable society. Learning about and supporting these organizations are great ways to get involved. This website has a list of many reliable organizations that are already making a difference: https://inequality.org/resources/organizations/. We can also take steps in our day to day lives. Our school offers many opportunities to get involved from the Global Activism Series to Coexistence Club. Taking time to research some of these topics ourselves or having conversations with our friends and family members are great ways to make an impact. Even if these actions seem small, if we all do our part, we can help make the future more equitable.
[1] Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, "The Great Problem to be Solved" (speech, Philadelphia, April 14, 1875), Black Past, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1875-frances-ellen-watkins-harper-great-problem-be-solved/.
[2]“March 1, 1874: White League Formed.” Zinn Education Project. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/white-league-formed/.
[3]Douglass , Frederick. Edited by Lewis H. Douglass. The New National Era., October 15, 1874. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026753/1874-10-15/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1874&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=Hayden+Julia&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=2&state=&date2=1875&proxtext=julia+hayden&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=3.
[4] Netflix, “Explained | Racial Wealth Gap | FULL EPISODE | Netflix,” YouTube Video, YouTube, April 17, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqrhn8khGLM&feature=youtu.be.
[5] History.com Editors, “Black Codes,” HISTORY, August 21, 2018, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-codes.
[6]“Black Codes and Pig Laws | Slavery By Another Name Bento | PBS,” Black Codes and Pig Laws | Slavery By Another Name Bento | PBS, 2017, https://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/black-codes/.
[7]“Guides: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Jim Crow Era,” Georgetown.edu, 2012,
https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/c.php?g=592919&p=4172697.
[8]“Aftunion. “Jim Crow's Schools.” American Federation of Teachers, August 8, 2014. https://www.aft.org/periodical/american-educator/summer-2004/jim-crows-schools#:~:text=By%20the%201930s%2C%20some%20three,whose%20teachers%20had%20more%20training.
[9]Aftunion. “Jim Crow's Schools.” American Federation of Teachers, August 8, 2014.
[10]“Jim Crow Era - Timeline - Jim Crow Museum - Ferris State University,” Ferris.edu, 2019, https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/timeline/jimcrow.htm.
[11] Netflix, “Explained | Racial Wealth Gap | FULL EPISODE | Netflix.”
[12]Terry Gross, “A ‘Forgotten History’ Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America,” NPR.org, May 3, 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america.
[13] Terry Gross, “A ‘Forgotten History’ Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America.”
[14] “The Impact of Structural Racism on Black Americans.” Catalyst. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://www.catalyst.org/research/structural-racism-black-americans/.
[15] Netflix, “Explained | Racial Wealth Gap | FULL EPISODE | Netflix”
[16] “Report Housing Discrimination.” National Fair Housing Alliance, June 18, 2020. https://nationalfairhousing.org/report-housing-discrimination/.
[17] Terry Gross, “A ‘Forgotten History’ Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America”
[18] Richard Rothstein, “Modern Segregation,” Economic Policy Institute, 2014, https://www.epi.org/publication/modern-segregation/.
[19] Keith Meatto, “Still Separate, Still Unequal: Teaching about School Segregation and Educational Inequality,” The New York Times, May 2, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/learning/lesson-plans/still-separate-still-unequal-teaching-about-school-segregation-and-educational-inequality.html.
[20] “Achievement Gap Definition,” The Glossary of Education Reform, May 15, 2013, https://www.edglossary.org/achievement-gap/#:~:text=Closely%20related%20to%20learning%20gap.