Phil Caris

Caris 1

Dr. K.R. Parker

ENGL 113-02
10/3/15
The Development of the treatment of African Americans in America
Over the last century or two, African American culture and treatment has changed drastically.
Black people have been persecuted, segregated, and have been the subject of racism and hatred
for a very long time. Yet they continue to make strides towards social and cultural equalities.
This evolution and development is outlined in four articles by: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Alain
Locke, Eldridge Cleaver, and Jared Hunter. The treatment of African Americans has changed
very much over the last century, from lynching to their evolution in the minds of white people, to
ultimately fitting in with the culture of whites, the majority of African Americans have tried to
get along with whites.
The act of lynching people, especially black people, was a major problem leading up to
and following the civil war. Lynching first started as a time saving way to punish and condemn
criminals without having to wait for the long drawn-out process of the legal trial system. After a
while in the West, it next appeared in the south, where it asserted its sway in defiance of law
and in favor of anarchy. (Barnett, 1). Lynching moved from the West to the South where it
became even more uncivilized, lawless, and gruesome. Especially towards the recently freed
black people of the south. As Barnett says, the [N]egro has suffered far more from the
commission of this crime, (4). The evolution of Lynching went from a speedy way to punish a
criminal, to a terrible hate crime towards people of another race. Barnetts negative language
towards the act of lynching shows just how terrible she believes it is, and how terrible it actually
was. I completely agree with her view on how bad the act is and how bad the problem got.

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Lynching is an awful act, but it was the start of the treatment of African Americans after the
freeing of the slaves in the late of the 19th century.
After and during the lynching years, African Americans began to evolve, and start to
integrate into the white culture, while keeping factors of their own culture alive and well. Those
who did this phenomenon are referred to as the new negro. According to Alain Locke, the
white race are not unaware of the New Negro, but they are at a loss to account for him. (513)
This is saying that African Americans are evolving/ changing so fast, that white people dont
know what to do. African Americans have a renewed self- respect and self- dependence (Locke
514), and they are also shifting from countryside to city (Locke 514). These are a few of the
ways that Locke describes the African American community are changing. The white community
have no idea what to do about the evolution of the black community. The treatment of African
Americans is changing along with the thinking and culture of the African American community.
The evolution of Black culture further evolves after the New Negro as many African
Americans try to integrate their own culture into the culture of whites, and try to be treated
equally without racism. Some black people have adopted the white culture by how they dress,
where they go to school, or how they talk and make friends with. However, the other members of
the African American race who do not want to become too white, very much disagree and as
Locke put it, they are almost as much of a problem to ourselves as we are to others. The article
by Jared Hunter says that because he went to a predominately white school, he dresses and is
culturally too white. According to those who want to integrate black and white culture,
African Americans tend to have a very linear idea of what is the Black Man. Think imposing,
hardened and sometimes even angry. (Hunter). This is saying that, while some black people
want to live alongside and equal with white people culturally, as well as socially and politically,

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there are others who want nothing to do with white people. Hunter is saying that these people are
holding the African American race back from being treated the way they should be treated. One
of these people who want nothing to do with white people is a man by the name of Eldridge
Cleaver. This man went to prison and met people who hated white people so much, this man
stated My grandma is a white woman and I dont even like her! (Cleaver 28). Cleaver is one
of the black men who dont want to integrate black and white culture. These people are the ones
who are holding back the African American race from being treated the way the deserve to be.
The few people who make up the stereotypes of African Americans keep the treatment of Blacks
from evolving fully into equal treatment.
Treatment of blacks has come a long way since the civil war. At first they were Lynched,
and while this Lynching was happening, they continued to evolve culturally and start top be
treated equally, then today, there are people who are trying to bridge the culture and treatment
gap that exists. Eventually the gap between white and black culture will be no more, but for that
to happen, all people, black and white, need to chip in and buy into treating each other as equals.

Works cited

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Cleaver, Eldridge. "On Becoming." Soul on Ice. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967. 21-36. Print.
Hunter, Jared. "Yes, You Can Be Black And Wear Sperrys." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 June 2015. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.
Locke, Alain. "The New Negro." Black Voices. New York: New American Library, 1968. 512-23.
Print.
Wells-Barnett, Ida B. "Lynch Law in America." (1900): n. pag. Print.