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Some of you are acting like the BLM movement is new or that the people fighting for justice are âtaking things to farâ or âcould be protesting differentlyâ. Why donât you read a fucking book and educate yourself. This shit aint new, and they want change.
The racism and oppression has been going on for as long as any of us can know or even remember. This country was built on slavery and using the black people and community to develop and grow this country while treating them like they are less than human, and only property.
They kidnapped and killed people from Africa and forced them to come here and used these people to do the jobs they couldnât. Many of the people they transferred to America died during travel and didnât even make it. They died from lack of nutrition and disease.
Slaves were raped and beat by their âownersâ. Many women even had babies from their slave owners but were told to either terminate the child or saw it as an opportunity to have a future slave for the household. The child was never recognized as their own though.
Not to mention many of the slaves they brought over from Africa were actually kings or wealthy in their country. They were not these uneducated and uncivilized people that Americans sought them out to be.
During the civil war and even prior they let slaves fight knowing that if seen or caught by the enemy they would executed or even kidnapped on sight. Some were used as bait or even distraction during battles. Again not seeing them as humans but as pawns.
Even after slavery was abolished they ensured that the black community would struggle. They made it impossible for them to vote, own land or live peacefully as people. And many still kept slaves in their home but paid them a small wage so that it was a âjobâ and not slavery.
Also while enslaved, lets not forget how they had rules and laws that slaves could not educate themselves or learn. And their behavior or even the they WALK was restricted. Many werenât allowed to sing as owners knew it was a way to communicate to other slaves who could not read.
After slavery was abolished the Ku Klux Klan performed many violent acts on government leadership who were trying to implement change and members of the black legislature were targeted and killed during reconstruction.
During and after reconstruction the KKK burned down black churches, homes and schools. The Ku Klux Klan had millions of members during these times, MILLIONS, to complete these hateful acts and tried to restore white supremacy in the south.
During and after the Great Depression, many lost their jobs but the black community was hit the hardest and their unemployment rates were several points higher than those for whites and Asians. They were the first to be laid off from jobs.
During the Great Depression some charitable organizations excluded African Americans from their soup kitchens. And African Americans received less aid than whites from public aid programs even though they were first to be laid off and needing assistance.
After the Great Depression and when jobs started to rise, African Americans were LAST to get a job. And they were only to work blue collar and or service jobs. Therefore making a lower wage than others even though they had gone the longest without pay.
Before and during the 1940s segregation was alive, predominantly in the South. The black community was not allowed in many businesses, restaurants or even schools. As well as certain neighborhoods.
Black people and the black community were seen as a second class citizen or a âlesserâ people than whites. Therefore they wanted to segregate them and ensure that blacks lived lesser lives and could not progress in society as easily.
Segregation meant the segregation of schools also. Therefore effecting the education of the black community. They had and were subject to second hand supplies, worn down facilities and lower paid teachers and overall under funded by the government.
Even though schools were intergrated in 1954, African Americans still faced harassment and racism while attending school and many feared for their lives regularly.
In 1955 Emmett Till was murdered allegedly flirting with a white woman and asking her out on a date. He was 14. Murders like this commonly occurred in the south and some blacks were still being lynched, suspectedly by members of the KKK and white supremacists.
During the civil right movement black churches, homes and schools were being burned down to scare the black community to end their fight for civil rights. Some of these murders were actually done by LAW ENFORCEMENT, not just by civilians.
KKK memebers would bomb churches im black communities, and in 1963 4 young girls lost their lives during one of these bombings.
During the civil right movement in the 1960s there were many marches and protests fighting for equality and children did attend. Children were attacked by police dogs, fire hoses and were arrested. CHILDREN.
Activists during the civil rights movement who encouraged people to vote for change were murdered. Both black and white. Again attempting to stop this movement and put fear into the people wanting change.
https://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/civil-rights-memorial/civil-rights-martyrs">https://www.splcenter.org/what-we-d...
Black people have always been dying and fighting to be seen as equal. They died walking home from school, theh died because they loved people outside their race, they died fighting for justice, they died in their own homes. Theyre dying by the hands of law enforcement today.
Black women and men are dying everyday and their lives matter just like mine and yours do. Theyâve faced oppression like some of us will never even know or understand. They are fighting for change like they always have, weâve just got more ways than before to see it and document.
Many of the examples in this thread can be described as systemic/institutional racism. Institutional racism is a form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions.
