Restrictions on Advancement

History reveals that when black people have tried to advance toward attaining their rights, i.e. the right to be free from slavery, the right to vote, and more presently the right to be diverse and unique individuals, individuals of the majority “white culture” attempt to suppress this progress. This is seen during slavery, the post Civil War era, and even in the present-day.

During the era of slavery, we observe the desire for freedom contrasted with the suppression of that freedom by slave owners. Slaves yearned for freedom; yet, freedom was unattainable. John Wilkins, author of Jefferson’s Pillow, writes, “. . . the slaves wanted acknowledgement of their humanity, the freedom to choose their own lives, and spiritual and living space without the threat of beatings and other forms of coercion” (22).  Those slaves who attempted to access this freedom by escaping or revolting had limitations placed on them and their families in the form of beatings, whippings, being sold, or worse. This was only the beginning of restrictions being placed by white people on the desires and ideologies of black people.

When the Missouri Compromise was passed which allowed states in the north to become free states in order to counter slavery, we see restrictions, imposed by white Southerners by the passing of the Fugitive Slave Laws. These laws asserted that slaves who escaped, regardless if they escaped to free states in the North, must be returned to their owners.  Again, we see the reiteration of the idea, where there is a move toward change and progress for slaves, there were laws executed to restrict this movement. Further limitations are enacted as freed blacks try to attain their rights after the Civil War.

The aftermath of the Civil War put an end to the expansion of slavery into Western territory and brought about the abolishment of slavery. Yet, in the South, “Black Codes” were instituted to put restrictions on the civil liberties and civil rights sought by black people. Following the establishment of the “Black Codes” was the institution of Jim Crow, which further confined black people’s rights by limiting their right to vote and by spurring the ideology of “separate but equal”. This pattern of black people’s rights being limited is perpetuated in today’s society.

The ideas of freedom and attaining rights seen in the past during the era of slavery, post Civil War, and Jim Crow, have echoed to the present day. Currently, black people are fighting for the acknowledgement and acceptance of their diversity as unique individuals, without biasness and preconceived notions from the majority white audience; and the freedom from assimilation, which encompasses assimilating into the projections of the majority, “white culture”. Yet, as history shows us, limitations will be placed on these desires. What has been some of the restrictions placed by white people on the expressions of black culture presently? What effect have these limitations caused?

“Swing low, sweet chariot coming forth to carry me home, swing low sweet chariot coming forth to carry me home”-Wallis Willis