New Freedom
After the end of the American Civil War and the failures of Reconstruction African-Americans had finally been granted the freedom of which they had long dreamed. There was great optimism and hope amongst the former slaves as they had long been ready for independence. But the euphoria was short lived as Booker T. Washington wrote, "The great responsibility of being free, or having charge of themselves, of having to think and plan for themselves and their children, seemed to take possession of them" (Bailey, 6). African-Americans were quick to realize that "freedom was a more serious thing than they had expected to find it" (Bailey, 6). Freedom had not come with instructions and most white Americans were unwilling to help ease the growing pains these new citizens were about to experience. In fact many whites would do everything they could, including murder and terrorism, to knock the African-Americans back down every time they tried to stretch their wings. From local lynchings to segregationist rulings by the Supreme Court almost every attempt by blacks to exercise their liberty was hindered and fought. Frederick Douglass wrote "since poverty has, and can have, no chance against wealth, the landless against th
Thomas Fortune formed the Afro-American League as a black only organization to "fight fire with fire" (Fairclough, 18). Segregation, or separation was the third option available to blacks in the early 20th century. Many African-American leaders felt they had been quiet too long already and now that they had the freedom to speak out they were going to use it. e landowner, the ignorant against the intelligent, the freedman was powerless" (Bailey, 25). His Tuskegee Institute was an all black run school in the heart of the white dominated American south. DuBois had never known slavery the way Washington did, and where Washington was a scientist DuBois was a philosopher. This time the organization accepted both blacks and whites, in fact whites held the three highest positions in the organization causing many blacks to initially distrust the NAACP. Opposition from other African-American leaders along with Garvey's poor business sense caused his movement to be short lived. This view was championed by Booker T. Only the NAACP with the support of women and whites was able to continuously win victories for African-Americans in the early years of the struggle for civil rights. With little or no help coming from white America, including the Federal government, blacks would have to develop their own communities, institutions, and strategies to help themselves. Wells, the anti- lynching advocate, and other prominent blacks formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Bailey, 70).
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Acceptance Essays
