Knox Adult Faith Formation

Race and Racism - History

Gayle Jackson, Israel Bonnell

Sunday, 1/19/20 and 1/26/20

10:10 – 10:50 AM

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What we cover in this series on race

Race and genetics (completed in fall 2019)

• Race and racism -- history to the 1960s (Jan 19 and 26)

• Race and racism – post civil rights to present (Feb 9,16)

• Achieving a just and inclusive society (Feb 23)

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Our objective for the Race series

• Understand the origins of race in the US and its effects on the African American population

• Use our understanding of race to guide our actions to create a just and inclusive society, in our own circle of influence

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Today’s class

Race and genetics

• Race and racism – history till 1960s

• Race and racism – post civil rights to present (Feb 9,16)

• Achieving a just and inclusive society – Feb 23

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Recap from Genetics and Race class

• Humans vary, but at genetic level, the differences among humans are about 0.1%

• 90% of the differences (of the 0.1%) are within groups. Only 0.01% of differences can be attributable to different groups

• Groups have been mixing and continue to mix even more

• Race cannot be considered a biological classification. It is mostly a social construct

• Physical differences are primarily ways in which humans adapted to environmental conditions – e.g., white skin for life in higher latitudes

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Origin of the idea of race

• Race did not exist in the ancient world, biblical times, and medieval times

• Slavery did exist. People were enslaved without the imposition of racial ideology

• Slaves were often conquered people. They were used as domestic help, indentured servants, laborers, military transcripts etc..

• They were never considered property

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Early slavery in the new world

• Most of the slaves on English plantations in Barbados and Jamaica were indentured servants who were Irish and Indians (native Americans). Neither made good slaves.

• The poor freed whites demanded lands and privileges and the Indians just slipped away.

• In the late1600's, the demand for labor grew enormously. Colonial leaders argued that Africans were good laborers and had nowhere to escape to once transplanted to the New World,

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Who were the Africans?

• Until the 1700's, the image of the Africans was generally positive. They were farmers and cattle-breeders. They had industries, arts and crafts, governments and commerce.

• The Portuguese started the Atlantic slave trade in the 1500's. There were over 173 city states and kingdoms affected by the slave trade between 1502 and 1853.

• At least 68 were nation states with political and military infrastructures.

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The human toll

• Over 12 million slaves entered the Atlantic trade between the 16th and19th centuries

• 350 to 600 slaves were packed into one ship

• About 1.5 million died on board ships

• The largest share went to Brazil and the Caribbean

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Slavery in the US

• In 1619, a Portuguese slave ship brought 20 Africans to a port near Jamestown to work in the tobacco fields and thus, began the importation of slaves to the U.S.

• The slave trade was rationalized by arguing that the Africans were heathens and it was a Christian duty to save their souls

• Slavery continued for over 150 years

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Humans as property

• Slaves were regarded as property to be bought and sold. The slaves were property for their lives

• In 1662, a law was enacted in Virginia which held that "All children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother"

• In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that "black people are not included and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights or privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States"

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Shifting western political philosophy

• In the late 1700's, the ideals of equality, justice, democracy and human rights became dominant features of western political philosophy. E.g., U.S. Constitution, 1788

• Congress passed law in 1807 to prohibit the importation of slaves

• Slavery was falling into disfavor in US and Europe. Slavery was prohibited in most British colonies in 1833

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The perfect storm – early 1800s

• Louisiana purchase

• Invention of the cotton gin

• Racial theories and science of Dr. Samuel Morton

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Louisiana purchase (1803)

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Cotton gin

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Pre-genome race science

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• Dr. Samuel Morton, first half of 19th century. Believed humans could be classified into 5 races, each created from a separate act of creation

• Believed in a divinely determined race hierarchy, with Negroes at the bottom• Used crude methods to measure cranial cavity size to associate it with intelligence

differences among the 5 races• Ideas were quickly picked up in US south to justify slavery• From his obituary in Charleston (SC) Medical Journal…..Dr. Morton was praised for

“giving to the Negro his true position as an inferior race”• Others, like in the eugenics movement also used faulty science to rationalize their beliefs

about racial superiority and inferiorities

From Dr. Morton’s collection of skulls

from 5 “races”

US Civil War – from April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865

• The Emancipation Proclamation. A presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln changed the legal status of 3.5 million enslaved African Americans. The order was limited to areas of insurrection where civil government was not respected and his military authority applied

• THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT FINALLY FREED THE SLAVES in1865

• Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction

• Reconstruction, 1866-1877. After 1877, the federal troops left. and left the southern states to fend for themselves

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Welcome Back (1/26/20)

From Race and Genetics Class

• From human genome project, at a genetic level, 99.99% of human genes are common across the population groups

• Race classifications based on older science is disproven

• Race is mostly a social construct

• Physical differences are primarily ways in which humans adapted to environmental conditions – e.g., white skin for life in higher latitudes

From Last Class

• Slavery in the new world started in the 1600s

• Laws were passed in 19th

century to ban slavery

• Slavery continued, becoming racism to continue the rationalization of slavery

• Slavery and racism were driven by money – i.e., need for labor and slaves as property

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Denial of political power and wealth building tools for Negroes

• Jim Crow laws

• Redlining

• The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 – GI Bill

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Jim Crow laws

• Slavery was abolished, but race and racism persisted

• Segregation and voter suppression were used to keep negroes in "their place" and prevent the accumulation of wealth and political power

• By 1913, segregation rights won under reconstruction were taken away

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Jim Crow laws (cont’d)

• The name is attributed to a song and dance caricature of blacks performed by a white actor, Thomas D. Rice in black face

• They were state and local laws in the southern US which were enforced until 1965. They mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the states of the confederacy.

• Voter suppression laws such as poll taxes and literary tests were widely used. In 1900, black voters were reduced to 5320 on the rolls in Louisiana and by 1910, down to 730

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Jim Crow laws (cont’d)

• The laws were upheld by the supreme court in 1896 by a “separate but equal” legal doctrine. The laws mandated segregation in public schools, public places, public transportation, rest rooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains

• In 1913, Woodrow Wilson segregated federal workplaces, cafeterias, and restrooms

• In the northern states, there was widespread discrimination in hiring, real estate, lodging and voter suppression

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Redlining

• In the late 1930's, the federal Home Owner' Loan Corporation (HOLC) "graded" neighborhoods into four categories based largely on their racial makeup

• Neighborhoods with minority occupants were marked in red and considered high-risk for mortgage lenders

• Neighborhoods where black people lived were redlined and thus ineligible for FHA-backed loans

• This spread to the entire mortgage industry. Black families had to turn to predatory and abusive lenders

• Black families couldn't avail themselves of personal wealth building via home ownership

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Comments attached o redlined maps to explain the grading of neighborhoods

• “Respectable people, but homes are too near Negro areas”, Richmond VA

• “The area is highly restricted”, meaning it enforces strict rules barring non-white people from buying houses there

D-grade neighborhood abuts an A-graded neighborhood. “it is 100% poor class Negroes practically all on relief – a wall will prevent their spread”. Camden, NJ

• “One house rule” – if one Negro family moved into a neighborhood, the entire area was redlined

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The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 – GI Bill

• Benefits included low-cost mortgages, low interest loans to start a business or farm, one year of unemployment compensation and dedicated payments of tuition and living expenses to attend high school, college or vocational school

• These benefits were available to all veterans who had been on active duty during the war years for at least 90 days and had not been dishonorably discharged. No income tax was paid on these benefits.

• The original bill ended in 1956. The programs were directed by local white officials and few black veterans received the benefits.

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Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation on the grounds of race, religion or national origin was banned at all places of public accommodation including courthouses, parks, restaurants, theaters, sports arenas and hotels. No longer could blacks and other minorities be denied service based on the color of their skin

• This act also barred race, religious, national origin and gender discrimination by employers and labor unions, and created an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with the power to file lawsuits on behalf of aggrieved workers

• Additionally, the act forbade the use of federal funds for any discriminatory program, authorized the Office of Education (now the Department of Education) to assist with school desegregation, gave extra clout to the Commission on Civil Rights and prohibited the unequal application of voting requirements.

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Legacy of the Civil Rights Act

• THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965. prohibited literacy tests and other discriminatory voting practices.

• FAIR HOUSING ACT of 1968 which banned discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of property

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Upcoming classes on Race

• 2/2/20 – No class, Congregation Meeting

• 2/9/20 and 2/16/20 – Post Civil Rights, Racism today by Donald Caster, Professor at UC College of Law and Member of the Ohio Innocence Project

• 2/23/20 – Round Table on Race – What can People of Faith do?

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Thank youCome back for the next class!

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References

• TBA

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Takeaways from this class – to be revised

• Race is not biological and humans cannot be classified on a genetic basis

• Humans are diverse – physical, personality, intelligence, talents, predisposition to diseases and more

• Diversity enriches the human species. Society is richer when the gifts of all humans are expressed and tapped

• Nature strongly favors diversity and cross breeding. Inbreeding is generally detrimental

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Redlining maps examples

• Putting a link to source… will get selected screen shots

• http://guides.osu.edu/maps-geospatial-data/maps/redlining/

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