culprits for the inequality that African Americans faced in their lives. Many American whites felt

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1 African Americans endured great struggle throughout their lives over a long period of time. This struggle spanned from the time of slavery up until the 1970 s and it can even be argued that it spans throughout present day as well. White supremacy is one of the main culprits for the inequality that African Americans faced in their lives. Many American whites felt as though they were entitled to whatever they wanted, because of the color of their skin. This white supremacy is what made African Americans who they were. It created a community between blacks, and brought them together under one commonality: they all were discriminated against due to the color of their skin. African Americans began to resist this white supremacy in more than one way. They resisted through institution building, self-help, migration, culture, economic independence, civil disobedience, education, and most importantly through faith and religion. African Americans were essentially controlled by white supremacy and were subject to the white man s rules due to skin color, but African Americans were able to resist, even with the risk of failure. Resisting was all that mattered, even if they did not win in the end; resistance meant that they still had their pride and their dignity. Trouble In Mind by Leon Litwack is a book which exemplifies the struggle that African Americans fought and lived through. Its thesis describes the strong community that African Americans formed, as well as how African Americans endured through the suffering of white supremacy. It focuses on the injustices and inequalities as well as the perseverance of African 1

2 Americans. Litwack states every black child would come to appreciate the terrible unfairness and narrowness of the world-the limited options, the need to curb ambitions, to contain feelings, and to weigh carefully every word, gesture, and movement when in the presence of whites (7). These oppressed people were forced to assimilate to white superiority and change their lifestyles due to the inequality they faced. Yet, blacks found a way to maintain their humanity while being under white rule, and dealing with the injustices of segregated societies. Leon Litwack provides primary sources to support his thesis of white supremacy and African Americans perseverance and resistance. He even uses the white perspectives to provide insight on what the opposing side was feeling. His thesis was able to convince me of the severity of inequality which existed day to day in American societies. The white supremacy towards African Americans became real to me through first hand stories, examples, blatant truth, and extreme brutality of events in blacks lives. Going forth, mob violence was not only normal as well as common, but it was carried out by a large amount of Southern white societies. This served a purpose for white Americans; to keep blacks in their place. Whites believed in solidarity and a public celebration of their whiteness. This celebration of whiteness cut off any possibility of white sympathy or empathy for blacks in America. The continuing white supremacy was also a way to nip black resistance in the bud. Litwack explains how these black outcasts in a white society endured racism. He says Spiritual guide, moral leader, teacher, and disciplinarian, the 2

3 preacher emerged as the most visible, the most influential, and often the most powerful leader in virtually any black community in the New South (380). Religion was one of the most extreme and most important ways to resist racism. Oppressed blacks had their religion no matter how much white supremacy existed in their lives. They created a community with one another and began to see how their lives could go on even in a white man s world. But, it seems as though it is an endless cycle of white supremacy and black resistance. Whites believe in supremacy over blacks, and blacks resist to this supremacy, causing whites to exert more supremacy to keep blacks in their place. This extreme hatred and cruelty from whites towards African Americans is inexplicable. I believe that it is a question which may never be answered, and that Americans nowadays still ask why this hatred existed so blatantly. The only reason which comes to mind as to why whites could have felt the need to be so much more superior is to exert a projection of their own shortcomings and insecurities onto African Americans. Harlem Renaissance by Nathan Irvin Huggins is another book which provides information regarding white supremacy and black resistance, but from another pedagogical view. The period of the Harlem Renaissance focuses on the work of African Americans through an art, music, and theatre perspective. It was a time for African Americans to be able to be themselves and express their blackness to America. Harlem Renaissance presented a thesis which expressed how the period of the Harlem Renaissance influenced African Americans lives, 3

4 influenced their independence, showed their true emotion and self expression, and surprisingly exhibited how whites felt an exotic attraction to the work of African Americans. But, this also brought along difficulty attached to the self definition and self worth that came along with the Harlem Renaissance. Whites began to participate without even knowing they were contributing to what may have been seen as the anti-white way of life. African Americans posed as white performers with extensive make-up, while whites thought that these performers were truly white, making fin of African Americans. It is amazing to see how whites could have been so enthralled by African American performances, because they thought that they were white. These performers even went into places where blacks were not allowed, Harlem meant opportunity and promise for all kinds (26). It was an opportunity for African Americans to resist the inequality and prove that if race was not a factor, that there may be aspects of African Americans that are appealing to whites. I think that Renaissance artists were very successful at achieving self definition, and changed how they viewed themselves. Blacks were able to have more self dignity which in my opinion is a form of resistance in itself. The goal of white supremacy is for the oppressed blacks to feel lessened and weak, but if the people of color begin to see themselves and their worth in what they do, they are fighting against this supremacy and creating a way to rise from what has hurt them for so long. This self worth and 4

5 self definition which became so prominent during the Harlem Renaissance created a way for people of color to be their own person. Bubber Miley, Jelly Roll Morton, Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, and so on were too engaged in essential artistic definition t think much about civilization. And their art came from their own ethnic context. Everywhere they looked they found white men mimicking them, trying to master their blue notes, their slurs, their swing, their darting arpeggios, their artistic concept. It was as if black jazz men, from the very beginning, sensed that they were creating an art, and the whole world would have to find them the reference point for critical judgment (198). This exemplifies how African American men and women began to resist the stereotypes and categories that they were pushed in to by white men and women. Jazz was one of the first forms of music that could be coined by African Americans. It is something which helps define the Harlem Renaissance and gives it its character. Whites have come to try and mimic the jazz music, which shows how African Americans rose above the white supremacy and gave themselves a form of superiority over whites. Even if it was an internal sense of superiority, it was something for colored people to be able to call their own. Langston Hughes exemplified a huge form of black resistance while writing during the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes was able to rise above and cut ties with a fellow white patron because he was told he wasn t writing with an authentic voice (134). The Harlem Renaissance was a shift from pure hatred towards blacks from whites, to hatred of blacks while still being entertained by them. In a twisted way, it was a moral boost for African Americans because they 5

6 were now able to use something that they had come up with to entertain others, more so whites, and call it their own, and be able to receive credit or acknowledgement for their work. So, white supremacy still exited in the time of Harlem Renaissance because blacks were not free to do whatever they wanted and were still subject to the entertainment of the white man, but they resisted this supremacy by giving themselves self-worth, and a purpose in life with enjoyment rather than self-hatred and regret. Abiding Courage is an interesting way to provide information about the women who faced racism and discrimination while migrating out of the south. Many women left the south to escape the white supremacy they faced in their everyday lives. Networking played a large role in migration of women, men, and families to the east bay. Word of Mouth was one of the largest means of getting families out of the south and into the east bay as well as other places around the country. Usually, the men migrated first while the women stayed behind to sell homes, pack belongings, and ready their children for the journey out of the south and away from severe and blatant white supremacy. Women were the driving force of the family, by getting them set up for a new life. The men usually went first to begin to bring in an income, but the women made connections and became part of communities in order to assimilate to the new society they would live in. Especially during wartime women stepped up and helped provide for their families, sometimes going out to get a job while they also began their life in a 6

7 new place. Women and families faced many obstacles when migrating to the east bay. They had to begin a new life, with new people, new places, and a lot of unfamiliarity. Along with this new life, they still faced the issue of white supremacy, although it was much less clear and straight forward as it was in the south. African Americans still felt and were considered inferior to whites although they may not have been subject to such deliberate and brutal killings and treatment, they were still ostracized and left out by the white society in the east bay. The author states thus, working-class migrants saw their cultural inheritance as uniquely southern and carefully transplanted it out West. In the process, East Bay culture-black and white-took on a new southern character (131). This may have caused some tension between whites and blacks in the west because, not all whites were as willing as others were to accept this new southern like character in their community. Women resisted the white supremacy and stereotypes of whites by balancing their home lives along with working. They just seemed to make life fit. It didn t matter how they did it, but they were going to make life in the east bay good for their family. It was part of their black culture to simply take on the grunt of the work and let the man attempt to be the breadwinner in a white man s economy. On the other hand, since the outcasted blacks had little resources to try and assimilate to the new society, it was much more difficult than African American women made it appear to survive in this new place. Black women made it look easy, 7

8 as if there were no setbacks which caused them to struggle. Lemke-Santangelo writes, Of all the East Bay cities, Richmond was most successful at containing black migrants within separate, temporary housing developments. By the end of the war, white migrants either secured permanent housing in Richmond, returned home, or relocated within the Bay area (87). This means that whites clearly had more opportunities in the East Bay than black migrants did. Black migrants were forced into a specific section of the East Bay and had little choice but to stay in essentially a segregated housing community. This is the kind of underhanded racism I mentioned earlier, which black migrants had to go through. But, the women most of all, made this housing arrangement work. They resisted white supremacy by showing that nothing would stop them or keep them down. Especially when faced with racism and inequality, white migrants and black migrants were treated very differently. White migrants had more of a chance to get out of the south and create a new life and could assimilate to western white society better than his black counterparts. Black migrants had one thing against them which could not be changed: the color of their skin. Wherever they went, even to the west, blacks could not escape the treatment and inequality due to the color of their skin. It may have been more subtle racism, and less out in the open hatred, but it was a part of white supremacy that could not be avoided. White migrants had white privilege, meaning that even if they were poor in the south, they could start fresh in the west because of their white privilege. So, to overcome 8

9 this privilege and supremacy, black migrants made do with what they were given, because to them, anything was better than the severe and dangerous racism which existed in the south. One of the most interesting books I ve read, and learned from is African Americans by Darlene and William Hine, and Stanley Harrold. This book provided a deep understanding of racism, white supremacy, and black resistance. Specifically, in pages , the book focuses on the civil rights movement and its take on white supremacy and black resistance. These pages cover a period where Blacks took charge and decided that they would stand up to the white supremacy and try to make a much deserved change in our country. The brown versus board of education Supreme Court trial was one of the first big events in the civil rights movement. It argued the segregated schools were unequal regardless of the separate but equal clause. The simple fact that schools were separated by race, made them unequal because blacks were not equal enough to whites to even attend the same school. Rosa Parks was another woman who stood up to the white supremacy which controlled her community. She was asked to move seats on a city bus, so a white person could sit down, and she refused. She was arrested. This was her way of resisting white supremacy and showing that she would not back down the the word of the white man. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a way for the community to stand together and say no to the white supremacy which forced them to sit in the back of the bus for so long. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two great men who set examples to society and used their voice to go against and stand up against white superiority. Another way for people to come together against white supremacy, superiority, and violence, was to join 9

10 organizations like the SCLC, SNCC, and CORE. Each group had a different standpoint or approach to gaining freedom, but they all had the same goal in the end; equality. One of the biggest movements along with the bus boycott was the sit-ins across America. It was a way for African Americans to outwardly show their opinions and come together in a movement against inequality. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a culmination f the civil rights movement to that time. The act banned discrimination in places of public accommodation, including restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and entertainment facilities, as well as schools, parks, playgrounds, libraries, and swimming pools (525). This step towards equality was a way for African Americans to say no more and resist the white supremacy. By no means did this cure all of their societal problems and issues. Blacks were still treated as less than whites, and were not always able to do what they pleased. Even if it was a simple and small remark made by a white man, racism still existed. But, the civil rights act gave African Americans a sense of self worth and a reason to believe change could and would happen. Overall, African Americans faced great problems when it came to the world of a white man. They were never considered one hundred percent equal and it can be argued that this is even true today. African Americans had to constantly resist white supremacy through various ways. They resisted through community building, religion and faith, organizations, and physical action, along with much more. Some resistance methods worked better than others, but they all got across the point that African Americans were never going to quit fighting white supremacy until they reached equality. 10