Being Black in America Paper

BLACK IN AMERICA Jain, �1

Black in America

Pranav Jain

Mission San Jose High School

English 11A

Mr. António Gómez


Table of Contents:

Introduction———————————————————————————————— 3

Body Paragraphs:

History of The Black Experience in America——————————————— 3

Literary, Cinematic and Musical works pertaining to The Black Experience in America——————————- 8

The Math & Science of The Black Experience in America———————— - 11

Survey Q&A Table A1———————————————————————— 13

Conclusion———————————————————————————————- 12

Appendix A with Table A1 to A4 & Graph A1 to A4—————————————— - 13

APA & MLA Reference List for Novels, Text Books, Movies, etc.————————- 17

Annotated Bibliography for Novels and Expository Readings——————————19


This paper pertains to a topic that has long been discussed in American History;

life as a African American in America. In this paper, I use references from books like, A

Raisin in the Sun, Tituba’s Story, “Black Women and Identity: What’s hair got to do with

it?”, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates Jr., and

more. In Loranne Hansberry’s award winning play novel and film, A Rasin in the Sun

(1959; Susskind, 1961), the African American family faced many hardships that they

had to live with. In the expository essay by Cheryl Thompson (2009), “Black Women

and Identity: What’s hair got to do with it.”, the writer talks about the discrimination Black

Americans face which regards to their hairstyle. In the essay “Tituba’s Story”, Robynne

Rogers Healey talks about an Native American woman named Tituba. This woman, who

was a slave to Samuel Parris, was an integral part of the Salem witch craze because of

her confession and then reappraisal of the confession (Healey, 1998). In the television

show, Many Rivers to Cross, Henry Louis Gates Jr. brings us closer to the history of

African Americans in American history; and deals with the many unknown victories and

struggles they faced while under captivity and free. In all these works, the authors

describe in detail, the type and style of life that African Americans have lived in, how

they have affected our culture, what problems have been solved, and has yet to be

finished.

To be black in America, you should know about the history behind African

Americans. The first African came to the Americas with the Spanish Explorers as a free

man in 1513 (Gates, Kunhardt, P.; 2013). He traveled with them all the way to

California. This is important to know because the first African Americans were free men.

In 1619, when the first British Colony was founded in Jamestown, Virginia, they had


African Slaves toiling on the ground with the pioneers (Gates, 2013). One slave, called

Antonio the Negro, worked with his master and eventually was freed (Gates, 2013). He

even got his own farm and he worked on it. The fact that he could get such a deal was

amazing and astounding to some people. Eventually he lost the land after it was taken

away by White pioneers who believed that Blacks should always be slaves (Gates,

2013). By this time, almost 500,000 African slaves have made it to the Americas. From

Chile all the way to the French Colonies in North America, slaves came and toiled on

the fertile soil of the New World.

From the 1780s to the 1860s, Slavery in America slowly became more solidified.

By the time the U.S.A gets independence from Great Britain, they have already become

a core part of our culture (Gates, 2013). During the American Revolution, many Blacks

heard the cries of freedom for all, and also believed that they would be freed from

slavery. One woman named Mum Bet, heard talks of a constitution that said that all men

were created equal (Gates, 2013). She took this to a layer and the proceedings went all

the way to the Supreme Court. Eventually, she won the case and received her freedom.

After this, many states in the North started to abolish slavery. The Southern states didn’t

because their economy was dependent on them. Eventually, debate over the freedom of

slaves ended with a compromise by ending the slave trade (Gates, 2013). This created

a Second Middle Passage where many Black families were split up by the white

slaveowners who were looking to profit from this sudden lack of slaves (Gates, 2013).

They had to remember their sons and daughters names so that they could remember

their lineage. Eventually, slavery seemed to die down, until the Cotton Gin reinvigorated


the Southern economy. Slaves were needed to plant all of the cotton and worked in the

Cotton Gin. This would only stop when the Civil War starts.

As the Civil War progressed, we see how many African American slaves went

through extreme conditions to gain freedom. This could be seen by the men such as

Robert Smalls who hijacked a confederate ship and sailed it to the Union Army in

1860(Gates, 2013). Such acts of bravery have shown black Americans’ utmost bravery

and struggles. Such nerve-racking stories are one of the 500,000 stories of African

Americans who crossed the border between the Union and Confederacy during the Civil

War. Initially, the Union was able to recognise the freedom of the runaway slaves by

using the Contraband Act (Gates, 2013). Slaves ran away in hordes to one location,

Fort Monroe Doctrine. Over here, the slaves lived as refugees and waited out the war.

Many soldiers, though required to do so, did not like to accommodate such a large

quantity of civilians. These caused many problems between the newly freed slaves and

soldiers. Over time, the African Americans were able to hold for themselves. One

person named Mary Peak make a contraband school where her goal was to prepare the

others in the fort to become full citizens in the future (Gates, 2013). She taught them

how to read and write; one of the fundamental rights that have been denied to slaves.

This gave many of the African Americans, something to look forward to in the future.

Eventually, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, where the slaves in the

rebellious states would be deemed free (Gates, 2013). Yet their troubles were not over

yet.

As we moved on to the 20th Century, we see what many black people went

through to live a better or more normal life. Many people who were being suppressed by


the Jim Crow Laws, moved to the North (Gates, 2013). They took everything they could

to run away from the lynchings (Gates, 2013). These effects made Black people feel

inferior; and by some respects, the laws seemed silly. Yet, even then, the Jim Crow

Laws were effectively kept the African Americans in place. Some black people followed

Booker T. Washington, who believed that the white americans will eventually find that

black americans are necessary in their economy (Gates, 2013). If you were useful in the

economy, you will gain respect. African Americans had to make a way out of no way

because segregation caused them to have to innovate to survive. On the other hand,

black people also followed W.E.B Dubois, who was the first black american to get a PhD

from Harvard (Gates, 2013). Dubois told the African Americans that the time to act is

now. He founded the NAACP, which is the national association for African Americans

(Gates, 2013). Starting his attack in the North, and then moved down South when the

association became more solidified. One of the biggest changes in black quality of life

happened in a part of New York called Harlem; many African Americans moved here to

get better jobs that opened up when others were fighting in WWI (Gates, 2013). Harlem

represented a shift in culture, expanding the black culture and music to great lengths.

Jazz was one of the biggest spins that came off of the “Harlem Renaissance”. This was

one of the many contributions black culture and people had on American culture.

During World War II, the availability of jobs in the north accelerated the Civil

Rights movement (Gates & Streeter, 2013). For example, Ford Motor Co. during World

War II switched from making cars to making bombers (Gates & Streeter, 2013). The lack

of workforce created by many Americans going to war, caused many jobs that Black

Americans couldn’t have, suddenly available. Even there, many Black Americans faced


segregation, discrimination and hatred. The difference this time was that now, African

Americans refused to return to the status quo (Gates & Streeter, 2013). They demanded

a double victory, one against Hitler overseas, and one against segregation at home.

When the war ended, all of the soldiers came back home; many of them were black

americans who hoped that serving in the war will bring respect to them (Gates &

Streeter, 2013). The Black Americans who served in World War II were called “New

Negroes” because they came back with a new attitude about freedom and segregation

(Gates & Streeter, 2013). One veteran named Sergeant Wooder, came back from the

war only to find that he still did not have any respect at home. He was riding on a bus

when he was forced out and brought into the police station (Gates & Streeter, 2013).

Over there, he was blinded by two cops who beat him mercilessly. Many of this

prompted legislative change by the government. Martin Luther King Jr., a minister from

Alabama, led the battle for Civil Rights (Gates & Streeter, 2013). They held nonviolent

sit-ins, where they demanded to be served equally on the lunch counter (Gates &

Streeter, 2013). One of the biggest victories to the Civil Rights movement was the

Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education (Gates & Streeter, 2013). They

ruled that segregation was unconstitutional, and ended the Jim Crow Laws. Even then,

many southern states refused to change their ways. This prompted President

Eisenhower to force the reintegration by sending troops in all over the south to protect

the students going to school (Gates & Streeter, 2013). One 6 year-old student named

Ruby Bridges, was escorted by hundreds of Federal Marshals just so she could go to

school (Gates & Streeter, 2013). Here you could see the conditions African Americans


had to face and troubles they had to endure to gain equal rights and opportunity in

America.

As we moved on to the late 20th Century and early 21st Century, we can witness

the changes in the kind of racism and the type of situations that Black americans had to

face. For example, they had to deal with the racist war on drugs (Gates, 2013). The fact

that most drug users of crack were white and 90% of the arrests were black men shows

the major problem that persisted in this war. This isolated and subjected these “free”

men to a situation that is unbearable. The kinds of opportunity that they would get were

minimized and the mandatory minimums were excessive (Gates, 2013). Yet, like the Jim

Crow Laws they kept the African Americans in place. Some of the situations caused

Black Leaders to unite and fight against such racism (Gates, 2013). One man after

being in jail for 8.5 years, made a foundation to help out young African Americans who

became orphans because their parents were in jail for one reason or another. African

Americans had to make a way out of no way because segregation caused them to have

to innovate to survive. The civil rights movement allowed for a great amount of people

to get their basic voting and segregation rights (Gates, 2013). The fact that we now

have a black president does not change the fact that there is still a general racism

against black americans. Some black americans have been able to bridge that gap. But

for most of them, they are still stuck behind everyone else.

Black individuals living in America had to face racial discrimination on a daily

basis while living a separate life in the ghettos where the rest of the African Americans

lived. In the film, A Raisin in the Sun (1961), one can see in the first scene how the

family is packed closely together in one tenement. They even have to share the


bathroom with other floors. This lifestyle seems very uncomfortable, living in such short

proximity. In the expository essay by Cheryl Thompson (2009), Thompson states that

many African American women damage and break their hair in order to conform with

societies belief that straight hair is better than natural hair. Black women in America go

out of their way to try to stay respected and popular in society. Some people even

damaged their hair just so they could have a chance at getting a job here (Thompson,

2009). As Thompson claims that the biggest problem with African American women hair

is the fact that they are being told by the media, what is appropriate and what is not

(Banks, 2000; P. 147). It also shows how they were venerable to problems such as

Traction Alopecia. Being a Black Woman in these times requires you to either live with

diseases such as Traction Alopecia or face criticism on your hair style, natural hair. It

seems that many choose to deal with the diseases rather than work with natural hair.

Though the expository essay (2009) and the play focus on different topics and ideas, A

Raisin in the Sun (1959) and Thompson (2009) both talk about what it is to be Black in

America.

Another essay by Robynne Rogers talks about an Native American woman

named Tituba. This woman was a slave to Samuel Paris, who was living in Salem. She

was an integral part of the Salem witch craze because of her confession and then

reappraisal of the confession (Healey, 1998). This connected with the fact that she was

considered an outsider, since she is not European, made the accusations of being a

witch easier to believe (Healey, 1998). Even though she was a Native American, she

was treated as an African American, because the Puritans did not differentiate between

the two (Healey, 1998). This woman was important because she had been all around


the world and had many world culture experiences (Healey, 1998). This shows another

reason why the residents of Salem believed she was a witch. The ignorance of their

understanding of other cultures allowed them to believe in the accusations of many

people. Even though she did not wish to confess to being a witch, the situation made

people believe, without the slightest of evidence that Tituba was one (Healey, 1998). So

to save her own skin, she confessed and accused innocent people at the same time.

Because Tituba seems mysterious to the people of Salem, she was also was able to

challenge the traditional notion of hierarchy (Healey, 1998). This increased the

vulnerability of people in higher status to be accused. In the end, 24 people were

murdered, and many more hanged (Healey, 1998). Tituba had to shift the blame to save

her own skin; another example of what kind of difficult decisions black Americans had to

make.

Loranne Hansberry’s, A Raisin in the Sun (1959), and Cheryl Thompson’s

expository essay, “Black Women & Identity: What’s Hair got to do with it?” (2009), show

how Black Americans used to live and what type of discrimination and problems they

had to face. I found that they lived in a thigh and uncomfortable life because of their

limited living space. They caused physical harm to themselves to fit with a different

group than themselves. Finally, we found out what choices they had, which one they

chose, and why they chose it.

Though, throughout American history, there have been several accomplished

African American individuals who have had a significant influence in math and science.

Some of these successful people include Elbert Frank Cox and Benjamin Banneker

(collegeboard.com, 2013). These mathematicians set a new standard for African


Americans to strive for. They went on after high school to further their educations.

Because of the newly set standards, the dropout rate of black high school students

decreased to 48% (collegeboard.com, 2013). This was indeed a significant

improvement from the rates beforehand. African Americans began rising to the top of

their classes, some of whom became famous mathematicians and achieved many

accomplishments. Well known figures such as Etta Zuba Falconer and Charles Reason

were joined by other distinguished intellectuals in multiple fields; Guy Bluford was the

first African American astronaut and Neil deGrasse Tyson is a renowned African

American astrophysicist (collegeboard.com, 2013). Looking back at these facts,

stereotypes about African Americans and education have been proved wrong with the

successes of these intellectuals. It eliminates the assumption that race makes an

individual different; instead, it strengthens the notion that African Americans have

accomplished much, in spite of the conditions laid forth from our nation.

Conclusion:

Through and through, I have discussed the life as a African American in America.

In this paper, I use references from books like, A Raisin in the Sun, Tituba’s Story, “Black

Women and Identity: What’s hair got to do with it?”, The African Americans: Many Rivers

to Cross with Henry Louis Gates Jr., and scientific studies done by us. In Loranne

Hansberry’s award winning play novel and film, A Rasin in the Sun (1959; Susskind,

1961), the African American family faced many hardships that they had to live with. In

the expository essay by Cheryl Thompson (2009), “Black Women and Identity: What’s

hair got to do with it.”, the writer talks about the discrimination Black Americans face


which regards to their hairstyle. In the essay “Tituba’s Story”, Robynne Rogers Healey

talks about an Native American woman named Tituba (Healey, 1998). In the television

show, Many Rivers to Cross, Henry Louis Gates Jr. brings us closer to the history of

African Americans in American history; and deals with the many unknown victories and

struggles they faced while under captivity and free. From all these works, we have been

able to see that while a few African Americans are extremely successful, most of them

still live in run down cities and communities. This shows not only that African Americans

have potential to become hardworking, successful, American citizens, but that they are

not being given an equal opportunity at the local level for them to be able to compete

with the rest of America. When 48% of African Americans drop out of high school, it

depicts a situation in desperate need of fixing. Many of these families used to live lives

similar to the Young Family; little hope and one chance to change it all (Hansberry,

1959). Sometimes this would lead them to make poor decisions like the one Walter

made in A Raisin in the Sun (Hansberry, 1959). Looking back at these facts, stereotypes

about African Americans and education have been proved wrong with the successes of

these intellectuals. It eliminates the assumption that race makes an individual different;

instead, it strengthens the purpose of the civil rights movement of putting forth the

message that we are all capable of fulfilling our dreams, and that we can push

ourselves to the best of our abilities.


Appendix A

Mission High Student Survey

Started at Mission San Jose High School in 2014, the Mission High Student Survey was

created to study the outlook that the Mission Student body has on the African American

experience. We asked 10 questions; 7 yes or no questions, 1 percentage question, and

2 comparing questions. We began this project because many people call our times the

end of racism and segregation. A survey of such a claim is worthy of extended study.

Mina Afnan, Ruchit Majmudar, Vincent Ding, Avi Bannerjee, Adithya

Jayachandran, Rahul Dayal, and Samir Panjwani were part of the survey group that

went to classes all around Mission High during read period, and got around 800

students to participate in our survey. We asked these students questions related to the

stereotypical African American; and we asked questions that are related to today’s racial

problems. Refer to Table A1 to A4 for detailed description of our findings.

Table A1:

Question# Yes No Abstain

1 545 39 4

2 505 70 13

3 334 203 51

5 310 269 9

6 424 155 9

7 179 382 27

10 330 225 33


Table A2:

Table A3:

Table A4:

Visual Displays of the data above:

Graph A1:

Question# 10% 25% 50% 75% 100% Abstain

4 33 163 212 170 2 8

Question# African American Senator

White Mayor Both Abstain

8 338 106 18 126

Question# White Black Other Both Abstain

9 149 144 166 42 75

Yes/No Question Results

# St

uden

t Res

pons

es

0

150

300

450

600

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 10

Yes No Abstain


Graph A2:

Graph A3:

Question 4 Results#

Stud

ent R

espo

nses

0

75

150

225

300

Question 4

82

170

212

163

33

10% 25% 50% 75% 100% Abstain

Question 8 Results

# St

uden

t Res

pons

es

0

100

200

300

400

8

126

18

106

338

African American Senator White Mayor Both Abstain


Graph A4:

Question 9 Results#

Stud

ent R

espo

nses

0

45

90

135

180

9

75

42

166

144149

White Black Other Both Abstain


APA & MLA Reference List:

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). The Black Atlantic [Television

series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The African Americans:

Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. New York, NY: PBS.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). The Age of Slavery [Television



Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). Into the fire [Television series

episode]. In Kunhardt, P.(Executive Producer), The African Americans: Many

Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. PBS.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). Making a Way Out of No Way

[Television series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The African

Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. New York, NY:

PBS.

Gilbert, R. H., Rose, P., & Susskind, D. (Producer), & Petrie, D. (Director). (1961). “A

Rasin in the Sun” [Motion Picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.

Hansberry, L. (1959). “A Rasin in the Sun”. New York, NY: Random House.


Healey, R.R. (1998). Tituba’s Story. [Review of the book Tituba Reluctant Witch of

Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies]. H-women. Retrieved from http://

www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1851

The College Board Home Page. (n.d.). The College Board. Retrieved June 4, 2014,

from http://www.collegeboard.com

Thompson, C. (2009). “Black Women and Identity: What’s hair got to do with it?”.

Politics and Preformity, Vol: 20 No: 1. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/

spo.ark5583.0022.105

http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1851

http://www.collegeboard.com

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/


Annotated Bibliography: Black in America

Gilbert, R.H., Rose, P., & Susskind, D. (Producer), & Petrie, D. (Director). (1961). A

Raisin in the Sun [Motion Picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.

This film was about the life of a black family living in the city in the 1960s. This is

important because since they did not have many opportunities, they had to struggle for

a very long time. The novel accurately depicts the kind of lifestyle African Americans

had to live in America at that time. Their need to get by was blocked by many

restrictions and assumptions made about them. The movie was based off of the novel

by Lorraine Hansberry, a great author who won many awards for this book.

Hansberry, L. (1959). “A Rasin in the Sun”. New York, NY: Random House.

This novel was about the life of a black family living in the city in the 1960s. This is

important because since they did not have many opportunities, they had to struggle for

a very long time. The novel accurately depicts the kind of lifestyle African Americans

had to live in America at that time. Their need to get by was blocked by many

restrictions and assumptions made about them. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, was a

great author who won many awards for this book.

Thompson, C. (2009). Black Women and Identity: What’s hair got to do with it? Politics

and Performativity, 22(1), 197-206

This article was about the hairstyles adopted by Black women throughout the 20th and

21st Century. This talked about their need to conform to the standards of style at that


time. African American women generally do not have the straight hair that Caucasian

females generally have. This supposedly made them less likely to get jobs and get

equal pay. To change their chances, they put many hair products on to match their hair

with the celebrities at the time. The author talks about some of the social and medical

problems that arose because of this.

For example, their hair became so full of hair products that it started to fall off.

Eventually these women would get traction alopecia, which gives you a scar on your

head. These examples are beneficial to show the kind of double standard held for Black

Americans in the United States. The author, Cheryl Thompson, is a historian that has a

Ph.D in historical subjects and got her degree based off of this dissertation.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). The Black Atlantic

[Television series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer),

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates,

Jr.. New York, NY: PBS.

The television show The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is a series about the

path that black americans took to reach the Americas. In this episode, they talk about

how africans were taken from their homeland and put onto a slave trade ship to travel

from Africa to the New World. The kind of problems that they had to face during the

journey created a connection between the slaves that would represent brothership.

Another account that they talked about was the different kind of relationship between

the slave and the slaveholder. One of the first African Americans that was brought here


as a slave was freed and given a large sum of land. This was because his slave holder

and he had a deep connection with each other from working on the fields together.

This kind of connection with african americans brought a different perspective to my

paper. Anybody can seemingly have the relationship that brothers have or what fathers

have with their sons. Gates is a renowned historian with a PhD from Cambridge and

named the MacArthur Fellow in 1981.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). The Age of Slavery [Television



This episode by Henry Louis Gates, is about the main age redefining slavery to more

than just a temporary situation. They talk about the changes that faced the new world,

starting with the Revolutionary War and the depth and meaning behind being, created

equal. They talk about the growth of slavery in America and the growth in resistance of it

too. This episode is greatly supports the details for what it was like to be living in

America. It shows the determination that they had to undermine slavery in America. It

especially shows how being black in America was like from the beginning of America.

The kind of story behind every single one of these men and their stuggles are what

define America, and what we represent. Gates is a reputable source because he is a

renowned historian with a PhD from Cambridge and named the MacArthur Fellow in

1981.


Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). Into the Fire

[Television series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The

African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr..

New York, NY: PBS.

This episode, talks about the end of slavery in America and the beginning of a new age

of racism and undermining blacks in the US. This shows the many decisions that African

Americans had to face while under slavery in the Confederate South. Many dared risk

their lives for a chance to be free by defecting across borders, even though there was a

high chance of them getting shot. This story portrays a unique view on what african

americans faced after the civil war. They had “a moment in the sun” where freedom was

right across the corner, but many more problems were in the way. The massive amounts

of change that black americans had to face were daunting for many. This episode is

useful for bringing such challenges to light in my essay. The author, Gates, is a

renowned historian with a PhD from Cambridge and named the MacArthur Fellow in

1981.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). Making a Way Out of No Way

[Television series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The African

Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. New York, NY:

PBS.


This episode, is a heartfelt story about living as a black american in the Jim Crow era. In

the 20th century, a lot of African Americans left the South, fleeing the threat of lynchings,

and North or West. Such laws like Jim Crow made Black people feel inferior; and by

some respects, silly. Leaders like Ida B. Wells, Du Bois, Booker T. Washington and

Marcus Garvey popped up using different strategies to encourage black empowerment

and equality. This kind of movement is useful to talk about when dealing with the

lifestyle of black americans at this time. When African Americans were still barely

educated and with little rights, the kinds of people that rose up and fought of the people

exemplifies the struggle that they faced in America. Gates, is a renowned historian with

a PhD from Cambridge and named the MacArthur Fellow in 1981.

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Being Black in America Paper