Journal_Entry_of_a_Subordniate_Group

Journal Entry of a Subordinate Group Member Nina Sloan ETH/125 11/20/11 Journal Entry of a Subordinate Group Member Today I watched as the 44th president was sworn in; I insisted that all my children and grandchildren gather at my home to watch also. Some of my younger grandchildren didn’t understand why this was so important to me, so before the ceremony began I told them the story of how our family began. Our ancestors derive from Sierra Leon, Africa, a country off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean; our ancestors were brought to the United States by force during the slave trades. My great- great grandmother was born a slave on a plantation in South Carolina and lived most of her life as the property of another human being. My great grandmother was born in the south in 1873 during what was called the reconstruction period shortly after the abolishment of slavery, although slavery had been abolished the future still seemed very bleak for a black woman with no education, property or money. By 1893 when my grandmother was born our family still resided in the south were the living conditions for blacks seemed to get direr by the year. Our family was determined and remained in the south another 30 years, partly because we had never ventured out anywhere else and all our relatives lived in the south. During the early 1900s around the time my mother was born, blacks were afraid to walk the streets after dark for fear of being terrorized or even murdered, lynching and false accusations had become a very real reality for blacks in the south. In 1931 our home along with 6 other families was burned to the ground by the klu klux clan, rather than rebuild our family left the south along with a large number of blacks and headed north. My father had heard rumors that things were different for blacks in the north and had hopes of securing a job in one of the automotive factories. My family joined relatives in Detroit, where we eventually settled and began rebuilding our lives, others traveled as far as Chicago and New York. This mass movement of African Americans from the South became known as the Great Migration, although to African Americans it seemed more like banishment than free will. In Detroit blacks were met with more violence and racial discrimination, and like most cities across the country Detroit was segregated. Blacks were not allowed to use the same restrooms, attend the same schools or even use the same entrances as white people. The problem with separate but equal laws were the facility’s designated for blacks were of poor quality and the quality of education for black students was considerably lower than that of white students. With the civil rights movement came change, African Americans used the only tool they had to fight racial injustice; we used our voices to let the world know we would no longer tolerate the wrongs that had been done to us for so long. We protested in the streets and rallied together to bring down the laws that were put in place to keep our race inferior. African Americans are a race of people whom were brought to the United States by force under despicable conditions with the sole purpose of being enslaved, we have had our families torn apart, our culture ripped from us and our rights as human beings denied, yet we survived. Our race produced some of the greatest leaders the world has ever known, we have proven that we have the power to overcome some of the worst atrocities known to man all while maintaining our faith in the government and our fellow man. I wanted my grandchildren to understand that this was not just a giant step for African Americans but a giant step for all of America considering our history, to watch as people of all races and ages gathered to celebrate one occasion was simply a magical and inspiring moment. It gave me a renewed faith in human beings and a great sense of pride to know that I am a part of a group that has accomplished so much in a country that was so adamant and ruthless in its attempts to dismantle our race. References Mathieu, S. (2009). The African American Great Migration Reconsidered. OAH Magazine of History, 23(4), 19 U.S Department of State. (2011) Bureau of African Affairs From http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5475.htm