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J’La Herring
Rebecca Morean
ENG 1201
24 March 2020
Literature Review
For years African Americans and minorities have been oppressed and treated lesser than by their
peers. Beginning with slavery, then a fight for civil rights which over the years became a never-
ending fight. From this there has been many activist groups to fight for those rights. For
example, the most recent Black Lives Matter. This activist group began in order to fight for equal
rights following an increase in police brutality. Why over the years has the Black Lives Matter
movement become such a negative thing?
Starting in the 15th century the British began to trade African slaves to the Americas, starting
what is known as the slave trade. Africans were transported on ships for up to six months at a
time. During this travel they endured poor food, cold weather, and new sickness they had not
been exposed to. Furthermore, those that were sick due to the new disease or slower than the rest
were disposed of during the trip to the mainland. These conditions continued even when they
arrived in their new world. Moreover, they were sold and traded for money when they arrived at
the Americas, those that purchased them became their masters and they were their slaves. These
African Americans were to do what they were told and when they disobeyed, they were
disciplined and treated like animals. With the adoption of the 13th amendment in 1865, slavery
was abolished but this didn’t mean African Americans were treated like their Europeans peers.
For example, black men could not vote until the adoption of the 14th and 15th amendment that
white men didn’t need (Schneider & Schneider 2007). Later on, the fight for civil rights began in
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1954 as a result of segregation, poor treatment, and police brutality. This movement involved
activist such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, and many more. Even though this movement
led to great outcomes when it ended in 1968, such as desegregation of schools and public places,
unfair treatment for African Americans didn’t end here. In 2016 the Black Lives Matter
Movement began in order to bring awareness to the violence inflicted on black men and women
by both civilians and the police. Over the years this has been used to say that African Americans
ignore other lives and police lives (Black Lives Matter).
Many agree that both civil rights and slavery were tactics used to keep African Americans below
their peers. It has been expressed that during these times black Southerners had to make a choice
to either let It happen to their communities or take a stance and fight (Liberato et al. 2008). Also,
since these have happened it has become a big part of both American history and specifically
African American history causing rage and very prominent emotions. It can be concluded that
the Black Lives Matter movement began by black men and women that were outraged by the
killing of Trayvon Martin by a white male (Joseph 2017). Also, the movement took aspects from
an earlier movement, Black Panthers.
Although many agree on many outcomes and effects of civil rights and slavery vast differences
can also be found. Many ask for a simple recognition of the wrong behavior from America and
its leaders as reparations (Bunch 2016). While others ask for much more, the end of unfair
treatment, police brutality and what is deemed modern day Jim Crow (Black Lives Matter).
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Works Cited
Bunch, Lonnie. “America's Moral Debt to African Americans.” The Journal of Pan African
Studies, vol. 9, Aug. 2016.
Joseph, Peniel E. “Why Black Lives Still Matter.” Sinclair College Off-Campus Authentication
Form, May 2017, web-b-ebscohost-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=1&sid=4212003c-ac09-4888-8906-f9dcf792fc65%40sessionmgr103.
“Home.” Black Lives Matter, 6 Feb. 2020, blacklivesmatter.com/.
Liberato, Ana S. Q., et al. “I Still Remember America: Senior African Americans Talk About
Segregation.” Journal of African American Studies, 28 May 2008, pp. 229–242.
Schneider, Dorothy, and Carl J. Schneider. Slavery in America. Facts On File, 2007.
Larson, Elaine. “A History of Slavery in the United States.” National Geographic Society, 16
Jan. 2020, www.nationalgeographic.org/interactive/slavery-united-states/.
