Racism in the American Society in the 1920s Essay example

Racism in the American Society in the 1920s Black people have always been a part of Americas history. They were brought to America in the seventeenth century as slaves by white settlers. Slavery ended by the nineteenth century, and by this time there were more black Americans than white Americans in the southern states. However, Blacks always had a tough time, this is due to the stereotypical view that the people had of them. The whites believed that the Blacks were primitive, illiterate and criminals. However, this view was not true, a good example would be Paul Robeson who was the son of a former slave and passed his law exams with honours from Columbia University in 1923. White governments†¦show more content†¦It spread rapidly in the 1920s, managing to get Klansmen elected to positions of power. In some areas, whole towns were members of the Klan. The Klans favourite method of dealing with black men and women they considered troublesome was harassing, whipping, branding and lashing. Thousands of black Americans were hung by Klansmen without trial, while others were castrated. A good example of this is Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp who were immediately lynched on the mere suspicion of murdering someone. The flaming cross became the symbol of their terrorist activities, which the police and courts usually ignored. Faced by such intimidation, discrimination and poverty, many Blacks left the rural south and moved to the cities of northern USA. Through the 1920s the black population of both Chicago and New York more than doubled. Chicagos from 110,000 to 230,000 and New Yorks from 150,000 to 330,000. However, even in the northern states the racist feelings were still very visible. For example, Henry Ford attempted to only employ White Caucasians. The most famous example of discrimination was against Paul Robeson as shown in the previous paragraph. After passing his law exams with honours, as a Black, he found it almost impossible to find a job as a lawyer. He went into acting and singing and his big break was in the hit musical Showboat. He visitedShow MoreRelatedHow Did World War One Change American Society? Essay1601 Words   |  7 Pagesresulted in American society. Industries had started to realise that it was not as simple as it was before to abstract the immigrants. As the country developed and became more successful it attracted outsiders who were searching for chances. During the 1920 ¡Ã‚ ¯s the United States began to confine immigrants due to cultural and economical purposes. The immigrants faced several afflictions such as: racism and religious oppression. 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