By Sam Anderson, Hunter Escher, Aiden Holtkamp, and Calvin Sickler
Table of Contents P.3: World War 1, is the south still becoming more dangerous for African Americans
P.4: How is jazz changing is america
P.6: (Back to Africa Movement)
P.7: What Is The Harlem Renaissance
Despite the contributions to World War 1, is the south still becoming more dangerous for African Americans? By Sam Anderson
Despite the contributions of blacks during World War 1, the south is still becoming more dangerous for African Americans because of two main reasons: Mob violence. The KKK was one of the mobs that lynched people. One of the best examples of this was a black man named Ed Roach. Ed Roach was suspected of raping a young girl, but later was proven innocent. After the police arrested Mr. Roach and he was awaiting his trial, members of the KKK broke him out of jail and riddled his body full of bullets, no one was proven guilty. Another Example was in 1925, where a black doctor named Ossian Sweet moved into a white neighborhood and a mob of more that 3,000 people appeared outside his house. As the hate escalated, the police even supported the mob until members of the mob started shooting their firearms at Mr. Sweet. Mr. Sweet returned fire, killing a member of the mob. When everything was settled, Ossian Sweet and his entire family were convicted of murder while not a single member of the mob was proven guilty of anything. Discrimination. After World War 1, black soldiers still remained segregated and were less funded and more likely to be court marshalled than white soldiers. Also, in Texas, the democratic party did not allow blacks to participate in presidential primaries. Even though this was deemed unconstitutional by the
supreme court, Texas found loopholes and their rule stayed intact until the 1940s. African American movements were evidence that African American's felt oppressed. There were two major movements where blacks were trying to leave the south: the Great Migration and the Back to Africa Movement. In the Great Migration, blacks moved north for jobs. Even though these jobs were generally low paying, unskilled jobs, many blacks prefered this to the south. The back to Africa Movement was a major movement that reached more than 2,000,000 followers at its height. This was the idea thought of by Marcus Garvey where whites would never accept blacks as equals, so blacks should found their own country in Africa. Even despite its support, the movement collapsed and never became a reality. These show that black people were willing to go to great lengths to get out of the south. In conclusion, life in the 1920s was getting more difficult for African Americans, but through perseverance and determination life eventually did get better. For example, in the 1940s, Texas allowed African Americans to participate in presidential primaries. In the 1960s, thanks to people like Martin Luther King Junior, segregation was ended. Finally, in 2008, the United States even elected an African American, Barack Obama, as president.
What is the new musical form called jazz and how is it changing american music Jazz is a mix of blues and ragtime that inspired people to do more and create their own genres of jazz, blues or ragtime, that originated from African American folk songs. Jazz is making more people move to harlem because, of the famous singers who lived there performing music such as Edward Ellington who was very famous for his jazz at one of Harlem’s most famous nightclubs, known as the Cotton Club. Harlem was the birthplace of jazz. Many famous singers lived there to perform because of many famous singers such as Duke Ellington who moved to New york from Washington d.c in order to learn about the about art. Jazz was becoming more popular in radio so more people were listening to the radio. Radio was invented in 1929 and people would always go to nightclubs and speakeasies to listen to the famous musicians that would play there music for all to hear.
Political cartoon
Is the (Back to Africa Movement) right way to go By:Hunter
I think the (Back to Africa Movement) was not good and at the same time I can see if they would want to go back. To start off they would want to go back because the violence. It maked african americans did not feel welcome in america and to not have freedom . Some did feel that it would be better to go buy tickets to go back on a boat then to stay and have to deal with the violence against them . That made it where they would have to fight for their freedom which should be avoided . Then there is some that feel that if they stay they can fight for their freedom or to go to the south and take their changes. I think that U.S should be able to get care or provide a good life with equal rights for everyone that lives here .There is reason why they should stay because of if they were to go to the north they would have freedom and the freedom to practice their own religion, which is protected in by the constitution. But in the south there is no freedom for them because of Jim Crow made it where they have no freedom and not to have the right to vote. It's understandable if they wanted to go back.
Political cartoon
North Free d
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South
No Freedom
No freed
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What Is The Harlem Renaissance? By Calvin R. Sickler
Right now, an important event is happening in one of our nation’s busiest cities. There is now an explosion of diversity and culture. There are tons of new citizens of New York. This big boom in cultural diversity is being caused by thousands of African Americans immigrating from the south up here to New York. This time is called the Harlem Renaissance. [A renaissance is a revival or rebirth of something.] There were some reasons that African Americans were swarming to New York. One of them was Racism. Lots of African Americans lived in fear of getting lynched [A lynching is when someone is executed in front of the public - not necessarily in a legal manner]. There was also cultural segregation in which blacks couldn’t ride the same parts of the bus as whites, blacks couldn’t drink from the same fountains as whites, blacks couldn’t even eat in the same restaurants as whites. Another factor was droughts and crop problems. Droughts were becoming pretty often and then there were weevil infestations that left farmers without a harvest for two years, which led to poverty. Some African Americans got together to write about the problems of being an African American. There were lots of poets, authors, and artists you got together to tell each other about the experience of discrimination and almost getting lynched. One of these stories is a book called Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man by
James Weldon Johnson. This book is a nonfiction story about James and him experiencing a lynching so he pretends to be a white man to avoid getting lynched. There were also people who wanted white people to know what it meant to be a black male in the United States so a few African Americans got together to write poems and stories about being an African American living in the United States. One of the poems is a poem called The Negro Speaks Of Rivers by Langston Hughes. Overall, the Harlem Renaissance is a good thing for this country. White people are becoming more accepting of African American culture and traditions. We’re also learning lots of new things. We meet new people on the street everyday because of it. So yeah, the Harlem Renaissance is a good thing
Advertisement By Calvin Sickler
In what ways are blacks achieving success in the United States in the 1920s, and in what ways are they still facing extreme hardship?
African Americans are doing very well in things like music and gaining equality, however, they still faced extreme hardship. In the north, African Americans created a beloved musical form known as jazz. People loved jazz so much that they moved to Harlem. Even today, jazz is listened to many people all over the world. African Americans did make progress through political movements such as the Back to Africa Movement where African Americans almost founded their own country in Africa. They also were able to express themselves in the Harlem Renaissance. But, in the south, they faced racism and bigotry at every turn. For example, in Texas, African Americans could not participate in presidential primaries until 1944. Sports were completely segregated, even in the north. The military remained segregated even after many African Americans fought and died for their country, yet the government wouldn’t treat them equally after that over something so arbitrary as race. African Americans also faced more serious threats. Lynchings were not uncommon. Every now and then, the KKK or someone with their ideals, would find a black person that they thought could have been guilty of a crime and publicly execute them in the street without a trial. Very rarely if ever were the lynchers convicted of anything, and it was also not uncommon for the lynching victim to be 100% innocent. In conclusion, African Americans are making progress, however they still have a long way to go to achieve equality.