Minorities - Blacks in America

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment gave blacks the rights of citizenship, and the Fifteenth Amendment gave them the right to vote. Hispanics and the elderly will account for an increasingly larger share of the population, and society will have to make adjustments to these changing demographics. Racial prejudice was rationalized and institutionalized in the South. However, laws alone cannot eliminate discrimination.

Despite these Constitutional provisions, Southern whites found ways to circumvent the intention of amendments. ity demands, many new laws were passed to outlaw and compensate for inequalities. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that maintaining separate but equal schools for blacks and whites was unconstitutional because separate schools can never provide the same. There were separate facilities educational opportunities.

For America’s blacks, the struggle for equal rights has been long and often bitterly opposed. For example, despite the existence of laws that prohibit housing discrimination, many people still refuse to rent to blacks and Hispanics. Not until after the Civil War ended in 1865 did blacks begin to share in the most basic rights of citizenship. Minority demands are sure to continue, and new solutions will be essential as the composition of American society continues to change rapidly.