AFrican American equality Essay

From the time our country was founded, many African Americans lived a life of hardship merely because the color of their skin. In many instances they were treated as animals, being sold and traded in shackles and chains. At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence when the country was founded, most African Americans worked as slaves. Working conditions for slaves were inhumane, who were often forced to work long hours in the sweltering summer heat. In 1865, the ratification of the 13th amendment made slavery illegal everywhere in the United States. However, this was not the end of inequality and segregation for African Americans. The racism in the south did not stop just because slavery ended. For decades after the end of slavery, laws such as the Jim Crow laws significantly limited African American’s rights and freedoms. In addition, share-cropping allowed servitude to continue only in a different form. Former slaves were now financially bound to their land. These laws significantly disheartened American Americans right and fight for equality – a battle that did not really get started until the civil rights era. In one of the greatest moments in American history when MLK gave his speech on the inequality of races. In one line he said â€Å"the negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of prosperity†. This meant that even though there was a great economic boom the blacks were not sharing the wealth. Instead of blacks sharing the great wealth of this time they were left out of the boat by being ineligible force retain perks that the white man had been innate to. In an truly inspiring line of his speech MLK says â€Å"the negro community must not lead to distrust all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny†. This says that not all the white men are prejudice which would be just as stereotypical as anything else done against blacks at the time. This is truly encouraging saying that blacks have been persecuted for hundreds of years and some still find ways to show some remorse toward them. In one of the most famous lines of the speech MLK says â€Å"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident:that all men are created equal†. He means that he hopes one day that all men with see each other not on the basis of skin color but by the content of the character which is perfectly expressed in â€Å"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. † Martin Luther king speech expresses the inequality blacks felt. The civil rights movement took time and many brave people. However even after all the protest and laws passed to help equal the races the blacks still do not have the same freedoms as whites. Most blacks live inner cities and are not treated with dignity that they deserve in humans. They are constantly unfairly prosecuted by law enforcements and are scapegoated by many people of the root of the problem. However there has been a major increase in freedoms they have gained over time. Since MLK speech they have gained equality and it should be so far in the future that they are looked at as complete equals.