In America, before 1776 Slavery was legal in all 13 colonies. Combined these colonies consisted of at least 500,000 slaves. Slavery which lasted for 400 years consisted of repetitive tasks such as picking cotton for long periods of time which could have lasted up to 12 hours. About 200 years later, on April 8, 1864, the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery was ratified. Following was the 14th Amendment which promised black people citizenship, civil rights, and equal protection of laws. Even though these amendments were passed segregation, lynching, and many other injustices still happened in America. The White American people felt that their superiority and power were being threatened by freed Black people. Of course during the time if you asked someone what is the reason for lynching they would give you a whole bunch of different answers just to hide the truth.

This Meme is a prime example of what lynching looked like. A black freedman whose life was guaranteed protection of The law and equality ended early at the hands of White men. The worst part of it all is that the people surrounding a dead body hanging from a tree have smiles on their faces. There is no sign of remorse at all. In the 19th century, there were many justifications for Lynching’s and Injustices Black people faced. For example, in 1955 Emmett Till a 14-year-old boy was brutally murdered because he was falsely accused of flirting with a white woman. As stated in an article posted by History.com …“ the white woman’s husband and her brother—made Emmett carry a 75-pound cotton-gin fan to the bank of the Tallahatchie River and ordered him to take off his clothes. The two men then beat him nearly to death, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, and then threw his body, tied to the cotton-gin fan with barbed wire, into the river.’’ Even though black people were promised the basic liberties of human rights any chance given those liberties was taken away. In Emmett Till’s case, the justification for murdering him was “ flirting ’’. Imagine living in a world where a 14-year-old dies because of flirting. False Accusations like this are one of the many reasons why Black Men get a bad reputation. Situations like this still affect today’s America. Brent Staples a journalist wrote an essay called “ Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space ” Staples explain how he experienced that his mere presence of being a Black Man frightens people. “ Over the years, I learned to smother the rage I felt at so often being taken for a criminal…. I now take precautions to make myself less threatening. I move about with care, particularly late in the evening.”  This quote supports my claim that since the American Government was built on the inequality of people, everyone to this day is affected by it, especially Black Men.

                                                                  Citation 

Feb. 9, 2010, Emmett Till Article https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-death-of-emmett-till

Brent Staples, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” https://www.ohlone.edu/sites/default/files/documents/imported/justwalkonbyblackmenandpublicspace.pdf