The Black Codes and Why They Matter Today

The Black Codes and Why They Matter Today It’s hard to understand why African Americans are incarcerated at higher rates than other groups without knowing what the black codes were. These restrictive and discriminatory laws criminalized blacks after slavery and set the stage for Jim Crow. They are also directly linked to today’s prison industrial complex. Given this, a better grasp of the Black Codes and their relationship to the 13th Amendment provides a historical context for racial profiling, police brutality, and uneven criminal sentencing. For far too long, blacks have been dogged by the stereotype that they’re inherently prone to criminality. The institution of slavery and the Black Codes that followed reveal how the state essentially penalized African Americans just for existing. Slavery Ended, but Blacks Weren’t Truly Free During Reconstruction, the period that followed the Civil War, African Americans in the South continued to have work arrangements and living conditions nearly indistinguishable from those they had during slavery. Because the cost of cotton was so high at this time, planters decided to develop a labor system that mirrored servitude. According to America’s History to 1877, Vol. 1: â€Å"On paper, emancipation had cost the slave owners about $3 billion - the value of their capital investment in former slaves - a sum that equaled nearly three-fourths of the nation’s economic production in 1860. The real losses of planters, however, depended on whether they lost control of their former slaves. Planters attempted to reestablish that control and to substitute low wages for the food, clothing, and shelter that their slaves had previously received. They also refused to sell or rent land to blacks, hoping to force them to work for low wages.† The enactment of the 13th Amendment only amplified the challenges of African Americans during Reconstruction. Passed in 1865, this amendment ended the slave economy, but it also included a provision that would make it in the South’s best interest to arrest and imprison blacks. That’s because the amendment prohibited slavery and servitude, â€Å"except as a punishment for crime.† This provision gave way to the Black Codes, which replaced the Slave Codes, and were passed throughout the South the same year as the 13th Amendment. The codes heavily infringed on the rights of blacks and, like low wages, functioned to trap them in a slave-like existence. The codes were not the same in every state but overlapped in a number of ways. For one, they all mandated that blacks without jobs could be arrested for vagrancy. The Mississippi Black Codes in particular penalized blacks for being â€Å"wanton in conduct or speech, neglect[ing] job or family, handl[ing] money carelessly, and ...all other idle and disorderly persons.† How exactly does a police officer decide how well a person handles money or if he’s wanton in conduct? Clearly, many of the behaviors punishable under the Black Codes were completely subjective. But their subjective nature made it easier to arrest and round up African Americans. In fact, a variety of states concluded that there were certain crimes for which only blacks could be â€Å"duly convicted,† according to The Angela Y. Davis Reader. Therefore, the argument that the criminal justice system works differently for whites and blacks can be traced back to the 1860s. And before the Black Codes criminalized African Americans, the legal system deemed runaway slaves fugitives for stealing property - themselves!   Fines, Forced Labor, and the Black Codes Violating one of the Black Codes required offenders to pay fines. Since many African Americans were paid low wages during Reconstruction or denied employment at all, coming up with the money for these fees all too often proved impossible. Inability to pay meant that the county court could hire out African Americans to employers until they worked off their balances. Blacks who found themselves in this unfortunate predicament usually did such labor in a slavery-like environment. The state determined when offenders worked, for how long and what kind of work was performed. More often than not, African Americans were required to perform agricultural labor, just as they had during slavery. Because licenses were required for offenders to perform skilled labor, few did. With these restrictions, blacks had little chance to learn a trade and move up the economic ladder once their fines were settled. And they could not simply refuse to work off their debts, as that would lead to a vagrancy charge, resulting in more fees and forced labor. Under the Black Codes, all African Americans, convicts or not, were subject to curfews set by their local governments. Even their day-to-day movements were heavily dictated by the state. Black farm workers were required to carry passes from their employers, and meetings blacks took part in were overseen by local officials. This even applied to worship services. In addition, if a black person wanted to live in town, they had to have a white sponsor. Any African Americans who skirted the Black Codes would be subject to fines and labor. In short, in all areas of life, blacks lived as second class citizens. They were emancipated on paper but certainly not in real life. A civil rights bill passed by Congress in 1866 sought to give African Americans more rights. The bill, for example, permitted them to own or rent property, but it stopped short of giving blacks the right to vote. It did, however, allow them to make contracts and bring their cases before courts. It also enabled federal officials to sue those who violated the civil rights of African Americans. But blacks never reaped the benefits of the bill because President Andrew Johnson vetoed it.   While the president’s decision dashed the hopes of African Americans, their hopes were renewed when the 14th Amendment was enacted. This legislation gave blacks even more rights than the Civil Rights Act of 1966 did. It declared them and anyone born in the United States to be citizens. Although it did not guarantee blacks the right to vote, it  gave them â€Å"equal protection of the laws.† The 15th Amendment, passed in 1870, would give blacks suffrage. The End of the Black Codes By the end of the 1860s, many Southern states repealed the Black Codes and shifted their economic focus away from cotton farming and onto manufacturing. They built schools, hospitals, infrastructure and asylums for orphans and the mentally ill. Although the lives of African Americans were no longer dictated by the Black Codes, they lived separately from whites, with fewer resources for their schools and communities. They also faced intimidation by white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan when they exercised their right to vote. The economic woes blacks faced led to an increasing number of them to be incarcerated. That’s because more penitentiaries in the South were built along with all of the hospitals, roads, and schools. Strapped for cash and unable to get loans from banks, former slaves worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers. This involved working other people’s farmland in exchange for a small cut of the value of the crops grown. Sharecroppers frequently fell prey to shopkeepers who offered them credit but charged exorbitant interest rates on farm supplies and other goods. Democrats at the time made matters worse by passing laws that allowed merchants to prosecute sharecroppers who couldn’t pay their debts. â€Å"Indebted African American farmers faced imprisonment and forced labor unless they toiled on the land according to the instructions of the merchant-creditor,† states America’s History. â€Å"Increasingly, merchants and landlords cooperated to maintain this lucrative system, and many landlords became merchants. The former slaves had become trapped in the vicious circle of debt peonage, which tied them to the land and robbed them of their earnings.† Angela Davis laments the fact that black leaders of the time, such as Frederick Douglass, did not campaign to end forced labor and debt peonage. Douglass primarily focused his energies on bringing an end to lynching. He also advocated for black suffrage. Davis asserts that he may not have considered forced labor a priority due to the widespread belief that incarcerated blacks must have deserved their punishments. But African Americans complained that they were frequently jailed for offenses for which whites were not. In fact, whites usually eluded prison for all but the most egregious crimes. This resulted in blacks jailed for petty offenses being incarcerated with dangerous white convicts. Black women and children were not spared from prison labor. Children as young as 6 years old were  forced to work, and incredibly women in such predicaments were not segregated from male inmates, making them vulnerable to sexual abuse and physical violence at the hands of both convicts and guards. After taking a trip to the South in 1888, Douglass witnessed firsthand the effects of forced labor on the African Americans there. It kept blacks â€Å"firmly bound in a strong, remorseless and deadly grasp, a grasp from which only death can free [them],† he noted. But by the time Douglass made this conclusion, peonage and convict leasing had been in effect for more than 20 years in certain places. And in a short stretch of time, the number of black prisoners grew rapidly. From 1874 to 1877, Alabama’s prison population tripled, for example. Ninety percent of new convicts were African American. Crimes formerly considered low-level offenses, such as cattle theft, were reclassified as felonies, ensuring that impoverished blacks found guilty of such crimes would be sentenced to longer prison terms. African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois was disturbed by these developments in the prison system. In his work, Black Reconstruction, he observed, â€Å"The whole criminal system came to be used as a method of keeping Negroes at work and intimidating them. Consequently there began to be a demand for jails and penitentiaries beyond the natural demand due to the rise of crime.† Legacy of the Black Codes Lives On Today a disproportionate amount of black men are behind bars. In 2016, the Washington Post reported that 7.7 percent of black men between the ages of 25 to 54 are institutionalized compared to 1.6 percent of white men. The newspaper also stated that the prison population has quintupled over the past four decades and that one out of nine black children has a parent in prison. Many ex-convicts can’t vote or get jobs after their release, increasing their chances of recidivism and trapping them in a cycle as relentless as debt peonage. A number of social ills have been blamed for the large numbers of blacks in prison - poverty, single-parent homes and gangs. While these issues may be factors, the Black Codes reveal that since slavery ended those in power have used the criminal justice system as a vehicle to strip African Americans of their liberty. This includes the glaring sentencing disparities between crack and cocaine, a higher police presence in black neighborhoods, and a bail system that requires those  arrested to pay for their release from jail or remain incarcerated if they’re unable to. From slavery onward, the criminal justice system has all too often created insurmountable hurdles for African Americans.

Term Paper on Leadership

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Venus Flytrap Facts (Dionaea muscipula)

Venus Flytrap Facts (Dionaea muscipula) The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is a rare carnivorous plant that captures and digests its prey with fleshy, hinged jaws. These jaws are actually modified portions of the plants leaves. The plant gets its common name for Venus, the Roman goddess of love. This refers either to the plant traps supposed resemblance to female genitalia or to the sweet nectar it uses to lure its victims. The scientific name comes from Dionaea (daughter of Dione or Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love) and muscipula (Latin for mousetrap). Fast Facts: Venus Flytrap Scientific Name: Dionaea muscipulaCommon Names: Venus flytrap, tippity twitchetBasic Plant Group: Flowering plant (angiosperm)Size: 5 inchesLifespan: 20-30 yearsDiet: Crawling insectsHabitat: North and South Carolina coastal wetlandsPopulation: 33,000 (2014)Conservation Status: Vulnerable Description The Venus flytrap is a small, compact flowering plant. A mature rosette has between 4 and seven leaves and reaches a size up to 5 inches. Each leaf blade has a petiole capable of photosynthesis and a hinged trap. The trap contains cells that produce the red pigment anthocyanin. Within each trap are trigger hairs that sense touch. The edges of the trap lobes are lined with stiff protrusions which lock together when the trap closes to prevent prey from escaping. Habitat The Venus flytrap lives in damp sandy and peaty soil. It is native only to the coastal bogs of North and South Carolina. The soil is poor in nitrogen and phosphorus, so the plant needs to supplement photosynthesis with nutrients from insects. North and South Carolina get mild winters, so the plant is adapted to cold. Plants that do not undergo winter dormancy eventually weaken and die. Northern Florida and western Washington host successful naturalized populations. Diet and Behavior While the Venus flytrap relies on photosynthesis for most of its food production, it requires supplementation from proteins in prey to meet its nitrogen requirements. Despite its name, the plant primarily catches crawling insects (ants, beetles, spiders) rather than flies. In order for prey to be captured, it must touch the trigger hairs inside the trap more than once. Once triggered, it only takes about a tenth of a second for the trap lobes to snap shut. Initially the fringes of the trap loosely hold the prey. This allows very small prey to escape, as they arent worth the energy expenditure of digestion. If the prey is large enough, the trap fully closes to become a stomach. Digestive hydrolase enzymes are released into the trap, nutrients are absorbed through the leafs interior surface, and 5 to 12 days later the trap opens to release the remaining chitin shell of the insect. Large insects can damage the traps. Otherwise, each trap can only function a few times before the leaf dies and must be replaced. Suitable prey must be small enough to fit within the trap but large enough to supply enough nutrients. de-kay / Getty Images Reproduction Venus flytraps are capable of self-pollination, which occurs when pollen from the plants anthers fertilize a flowers pistil. However, cross-pollination is common. The Venus flytrap does not capture and eat insects that pollinate its flowers, such as sweat bees, checkered beetles, and long-horned beetles. Scientists arent entirely certain how the pollinators avoid being trapped. It could be that the color of the flowers (white) attracts pollinators, while the color of the traps (red and green) attracts prey. Other possibilities include scent differences between the flower and trap, and flower placement above the traps. After pollination, the Venus flytrap produces black seeds. The plant also reproduces by dividing into colonies from rosettes that form beneath mature plants. Conservation Status The IUCN lists the Venus flytraps conservation status as vulnerable. The population of plants in the species natural habitat is decreasing. As of 2014, an estimated 33,000 plants remained, all within a 75 mile radius of Wilmington, NC. Threats include poaching, fire prevention (the plant is fire resistant and relies on periodic burning to control competition), and habitat loss. In 2014, North Carolina Senate Bill 734 made collecting wild Venus flytrap plants a felony. Care and Cultivation The Venus flytrap is a popular houseplant. While its an easy plant to keep, it has certain requirements. It must be planted in acidic soil with good drainage. Usually, it is potted in a mixture of sphagnum peat moss and sand. Its important to water the plant with rainwater or distilled water to provide the proper pH. The plant needs 12 hours of direct sunlight per day. It should not be fertilized and should only be offered an insect if it appears unhealthy. In order to survive, a Venus flytrap requires exposure to a period of cooler temperatures to simulate winter. While the Venus flytrap will grow from seed, it is usually cultivated by dividing the rosettes in the spring or summer. Commercial propagation for nurseries occurs in vitro from plant tissue culture. Many interesting mutations for size and color are available from nurseries. Uses In addition to cultivation as a houseplant, Venus flytrap extract is sold as a patent medicine named Carnivora. The American Cancer Society states that Carnivora is sold as an alternative treatment for skin cancer, HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, herpes, and Crohns disease. However, the health claims have not been supported by scientific evidence. The purified active ingredient in the plant extract, plumbagin, does show antitumor activity. Sources DAmato, Peter (1998). The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-0-89815-915-8.Hsu YL, Cho CY, Kuo PL, Huang YT, Lin CC (Aug 2006). Plumbagin (5-Hydroxy-2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) Induces Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest in A549 Cells through p53 Accumulation via c-Jun NH2-Terminal Kinase-Mediated Phosphorylation at Serine 15 in Vitro and in Vivo. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 318 (2): 484–94. doi:10.1124/jpet.105.098863Jang, Gi-Won; Kim, Kwang-Soo; Park, Ro-Dong (2003). Micropropagation of Venus fly trap by shoot culture. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture. 72 (1): 95–98. doi:10.1023/A:1021203811457Leege, Lissa (2002) How Does the Venus Flytrap Digest Flies? Scientific American.Schnell, D.; Catling, P.; Folkerts, G.; Frost, C.; Gardner, R.; et al. (2000). Dionaea muscipula. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2000: e.T39636A10253384. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2000.RLTS.T39636A10253384.en

Painted History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Painted History - Essay Example With regard to the historical context of the painting, the Death of Socrates painting was completed just a few years before the French revolution. It is arguable that the iconic piece of art may have been particularly inspired by the socio-political climate that existed in France at the time of its commission. For example, this was the period when the calls for reforms were increasingly heating up and, therefore, David may have chosen the neoclassical subject as a means advancing the call for self sacrifice and commitment to ideals in the face of oppression and death just like Socrates did (Vidal 596). The painting also portrays the message of martyrdom as Socrates was considered to be a martyr for his ideals and beliefs. However, for the contemporaries of the time, the painting could have been a reflection of the number of political prisoners who were faced with execution of exile. The corrupt French monarchy of the time had also just crushed the earlier attempts to reforms before eventually dissolving the Assembly of Notables in 1787. Additionally, during the painting of â€Å"The death of Socrates†, the artist Jacques-Louis David may also have wanted to reflect the Enlightenment values of the late 18th century that particularly emphasized on the importance of human freedom from religion and corrupt regimes as well as the value of standing up for ideals, rights and principles. Most of these concepts were clearly illustrated in the story of the death of Socrates. David was a strong supporter of reforms and revolutionary principles. Consequently, on the eve of the French revolution, the painting served a call for resistance and duty in the face of unjust authority. This is a picture of people viewing another picture. The painting particularly shows people viewing an enormous picture of Napoleon during the crowning of Empress Josephine. The picture â€Å"David’s Coronation at the Louvre† was exhibited on several occasions at the

Consumer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 5

Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example And some of these external factors include social influences such as lifestyles, households, sub-cultures, social class, and reference groups. While these influences are often remain undistinguished and mixed by laypeople, the distinction between each group is important in order to know up to what extent these groups influence an individual as regards her purchase decisions. One of these influences include sub-cultures. A culture usually pertains to a set of norms among a larger group, usually a country or a geographical region that has been shared and strengthened through traditions. It is the same for sub-cultures, a set of norms or a set of behaviours and beliefs that are acceptable within a given group, only that the group is a smaller one than a country or a geographical territory. Regions, organisations, clubs, and other smaller groups within the society have their own set of norms, their own cultures. These norms comprise what are called the sub-culture. A sub-culture is said to be more relevant to culture because these norms have more immediate effect to an individual. In terms of reference to an individuals identity, sub-cultures are also closer for them to associate their identity with. Therefore, a sub-culture, when an individual feels strongly being a member of a certain social group is a potent social influencer in terms of the individuals decision, including consumer purchase decisions. Another social influence is lifestyle. In contrast to sub-culture which is dependent on a larger groups norms and beliefs where the individual is a member of, lifestyle is the sum of the activities that define how an individual lives her life; a lifestyle is a certain way of living. Some examples of an active lifestyle include active lifestyles, where an individual pursues more engaging physical activities such as sport and other recreation, or passive lifestyle where activities include less physical activities such as music, etc. These lifestyles

Multiculturalism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Multiculturalism - Term Paper Example The political and demographic aspect of Multiculturalism has received a considerably high level of importance in society today. This refers to the diversity of two or more cultures in the same region or country (Kymlicka, 2012). A comparative analysis and evaluation of various countries policies on immigration shows a clear disparity in terms of level of acceptance and recognition of the minority immigrant community by the natives. Europe still lags behind in terms of adjusting their rules to accommodate immigrants among themselves and treat them as equal in terms of socio-cultural and political rights and privileges. United States has been promoting a similar cultural diversification campaign but is yet to fully realize its efforts. Canada is at the center of multiculturalism debate due to its popular positive approach that stands out in terms of global cultural tolerance rating. Today, the world experiences the highest level of globalization, thus people from different cultures hav e been forced to interact and live together. For this reason, multiculturalism remains an important aspect in the 21st Century. This proposal explores the aspect of multiculturalism and its importance in society today. It takes a particular look at the case of Canada where this social concept has gained much prominence and highest comparative unity. The political input into the issue within urban centers in Canada gives an insight into the positive contribution of multiculturalism in the society. Although there are four aspects of multiculturalism i.e. demographic, prescriptive, holistic, and political, we narrow it down to a specific case to exhaust the factors surrounding its applicability. This proposal will first explore the meaning of multiculturalism in broad terms. This is important, as different people have assigned meaning to this term, based on different principles. However, it will be core to understand multiculturalism as being grounded in

VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER - Essay Example Furthermore, the different levels of art form as a function of the influences that spurred such levels of development will be manifested through this analysis. The first such piece of art that will be discussed is the Heron Class Olla (c. 750 BCE) pictured first in Appendix to this assignment. This particular urn was used as a funerary vessel in which the ashes of the deceased would be placed. Contextually, this piece will also be the oldest which this analysis will consider; therefore, it represents Greek antiquity in a way that the other art pieces do not (Osbourne 278). This geometric period, of which this particular art piece is representative, was a time of cultural and political upheaval. Due to the fact that Mycenae had recently disintegrated, many elements of writing, masonry, as well as distinct elements of reading and writing were all but forgotten. Such a political upheaval meant that the representative art forms of this time would likely be highly simplistic in both desig n and function. This is evidenced in the fact that smooth lines and simple construction typifies this particular piece. Similarly, it should be noted that the art form that is exhibited in the form of birds is also highly simplistic and not indicative of a high degree of professionalism. Additionally, the function over form aspect of this particular piece is striking (Carpenter 81). Whereas later pieces exhibited variance in the way that the handles were created, formed, and utilized, this particular piece utilizes its handles in the most simplistic of ways. The handles are provided to the user at the area of greatest circumference due to the fact that this is the region that is most amenable to carrying the urn. In this way, the function over form aspects of this particular preliminary art form is duly exhibited. Likewise, as one might expect, such a preliminary art form did not handle as many motifs and various nuances that one has oftentimes come to expect within Greek pottery pa inting. At least in this case, this is a result of the fact that the art form was not highly developed and/or function took a primary position to form at such an early juncture. The secondary piece of artwork that this author has chosen to examine is that of Orientalizing Period - Skyphos (Drinking Vesel) c. 600 BCE. This vessel naturally represents the second distinct and recognizable phase of Greek pottery and art form in that the recognizable incorporation of previously â€Å"non-Greek† themes and motifs at first strikes the viewer as somewhat incongruous. Due to the fact that Greek trade and colonization within the Mediterranean had reached a new height during this period, the level of intercultural exchange as well as the introduction to new art forms, ways of thinking, new gods, and new trading partners served to highly vary the type and structure of Greek art form during this period. This cultural exchange can be specifically noted in the piece (referenced as exhibit 2 in the Appendix) by the fact that the pottery exhibits decidedly Assyrian and/or Egyptian influence with reference the displays which are etched into the pottery. Whereas the common interpretation of the Greek panoply is manifest in a host of different artistries, this incorporation of winged gods and goddesses is a definite departure from the traditional images of Zeus and