The Post Civil Right Era (1970s-Present)

Primarily, I deduce Margaret Walker’s quote in several ways. To begin with, I think she points out the many struggles of African Americans in a unique manner. The dehumanizing act of bondage and isolation is something that happened many times yet we so easily study this subject and become emotionless to the fact that real people had to endure those conditions. It is thus imperative that we engage our emotions when studying or thinking about anyone who has been through racist persecution. Secondly, Walker applauds African Americans for being able to hold on to the vital cultural and divine gifts from the past. In essence, the Post-Civil Rights era is the period after the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts that ended the legal discrimination practices in America (MacLean, 2009). However, despite the passage of the Acts, African Americans continue to suffer from racial discrimination.

Racial discrimination continued after the Civil Rights era in various contexts. First, the most common form of discrimination occurs in the ordinary daily interactions. For instance, in stores, African Americans are more likely to be monitored and treated with suspicion by white store employees who are concerned about shoplifting (Smith, 1995). Secondly, African Americans experience discrimination in the housing sector. For instance, most American cities remain highly segregated along racial lines (Taylor, n.d.). Another form of segregation that African Americans have suffered is in the employment sector shown by the development of entrenched occupational segregation. However, despite suffering this discrimination, the activism finally bore fruit with the election of President Barrack Obama in 2008 who is an African America (MacLean, 2009). Seemingly, the African American efforts to transform America had eventually opened a conduit for Barrack Obama to reach the apex of power in America.

In summary, the African Americans have been discriminated for a long time in America. However, the end of the Civil Rights era in the 1970s was the beginning of their long fight against oppression. With time, they have gradually edged closer to end the segregation with the election of President Barrack Obama, who is an African American, to be president of the United States being a breakthrough. However, despite the numerous steps they have made, racial discrimination remains a pertinent issue in America.

Works Cited

MacLean, N. (2009). The Civil Rights Movement: 1968-2008, Freedom’s Story, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center. Nationalhumanitiescenter.org. Retrieved 30 April 2015, from http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1917beyond/essays/crm2008.htm

Smith, R. (1995). Racism in the post-civil rights era. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Taylor, K. International Socialist Review. Isreview.org. Retrieved 30 April 2015, from http://www.isreview.org/issues/32/racism.shtml