BLACK IN AMERICA

Jain, 1

Black in America
Pranav Jain
Mission San Jose High School
English 11A
Mr. Antnio Gmez

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Table of Contents:
Introduction 3

Body Paragraphs:
History of The Black Experience in America 3

Literary, Cinematic and Musical works pertaining to

The Black Experience in America- 8
The Math & Science of The Black Experience in America - 11

Survey Q&A Table A1 13

Conclusion- 12

Appendix A with Table A1 to A4 & Graph A1 to A4 - 13

APA & MLA Reference List for Novels, Text Books, Movies, etc.- 17

Annotated Bibliography for Novels and Expository Readings19

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This paper pertains to a topic that has long been discussed in American History;
life as a African American in America. In this paper, I use references from books like, A
Raisin in the Sun, Titubas Story, Black Women and Identity: Whats hair got to do with
it?, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates Jr., and
more. In Loranne Hansberrys award winning play novel and film, A Rasin in the Sun
(1959; Susskind, 1961), the African American family faced many hardships that they
had to live with. In the expository essay by Cheryl Thompson (2009), Black Women
and Identity: Whats hair got to do with it., the writer talks about the discrimination Black
Americans face which regards to their hairstyle. In the essay Titubas Story, Robynne
Rogers Healey talks about an Native American woman named Tituba. This woman, who
was a slave to Samuel Parris, was an integral part of the Salem witch craze because of
her confession and then reappraisal of the confession (Healey, 1998). In the television
show, Many Rivers to Cross, Henry Louis Gates Jr. brings us closer to the history of
African Americans in American history; and deals with the many unknown victories and
struggles they faced while under captivity and free. In all these works, the authors
describe in detail, the type and style of life that African Americans have lived in, how
they have affected our culture, what problems have been solved, and has yet to be
finished.
To be black in America, you should know about the history behind African
Americans. The first African came to the Americas with the Spanish Explorers as a free
man in 1513 (Gates, Kunhardt, P.; 2013). He traveled with them all the way to
California. This is important to know because the first African Americans were free men.
In 1619, when the first British Colony was founded in Jamestown, Virginia, they had

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African Slaves toiling on the ground with the pioneers (Gates, 2013). One slave, called
Antonio the Negro, worked with his master and eventually was freed (Gates, 2013). He
even got his own farm and he worked on it. The fact that he could get such a deal was
amazing and astounding to some people. Eventually he lost the land after it was taken
away by White pioneers who believed that Blacks should always be slaves (Gates,
2013). By this time, almost 500,000 African slaves have made it to the Americas. From
Chile all the way to the French Colonies in North America, slaves came and toiled on
the fertile soil of the New World.
From the 1780s to the 1860s, Slavery in America slowly became more solidified.
By the time the U.S.A gets independence from Great Britain, they have already become
a core part of our culture (Gates, 2013). During the American Revolution, many Blacks
heard the cries of freedom for all, and also believed that they would be freed from
slavery. One woman named Mum Bet, heard talks of a constitution that said that all men
were created equal (Gates, 2013). She took this to a layer and the proceedings went all
the way to the Supreme Court. Eventually, she won the case and received her freedom.
After this, many states in the North started to abolish slavery. The Southern states didnt
because their economy was dependent on them. Eventually, debate over the freedom of
slaves ended with a compromise by ending the slave trade (Gates, 2013). This created
a Second Middle Passage where many Black families were split up by the white
slaveowners who were looking to profit from this sudden lack of slaves (Gates, 2013).
They had to remember their sons and daughters names so that they could remember
their lineage. Eventually, slavery seemed to die down, until the Cotton Gin reinvigorated

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the Southern economy. Slaves were needed to plant all of the cotton and worked in the
Cotton Gin. This would only stop when the Civil War starts.
As the Civil War progressed, we see how many African American slaves went
through extreme conditions to gain freedom. This could be seen by the men such as
Robert Smalls who hijacked a confederate ship and sailed it to the Union Army in
1860(Gates, 2013). Such acts of bravery have shown black Americans utmost bravery
and struggles. Such nerve-racking stories are one of the 500,000 stories of African
Americans who crossed the border between the Union and Confederacy during the Civil
War. Initially, the Union was able to recognise the freedom of the runaway slaves by
using the Contraband Act (Gates, 2013). Slaves ran away in hordes to one location,
Fort Monroe Doctrine. Over here, the slaves lived as refugees and waited out the war.
Many soldiers, though required to do so, did not like to accommodate such a large
quantity of civilians. These caused many problems between the newly freed slaves and
soldiers. Over time, the African Americans were able to hold for themselves. One
person named Mary Peak make a contraband school where her goal was to prepare the
others in the fort to become full citizens in the future (Gates, 2013). She taught them
how to read and write; one of the fundamental rights that have been denied to slaves.
This gave many of the African Americans, something to look forward to in the future.
Eventually, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, where the slaves in the
rebellious states would be deemed free (Gates, 2013). Yet their troubles were not over
yet.
As we moved on to the 20th Century, we see what many black people went
through to live a better or more normal life. Many people who were being suppressed by

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the Jim Crow Laws, moved to the North (Gates, 2013). They took everything they could
to run away from the lynchings (Gates, 2013). These effects made Black people feel
inferior; and by some respects, the laws seemed silly. Yet, even then, the Jim Crow
Laws were effectively kept the African Americans in place. Some black people followed
Booker T. Washington, who believed that the white americans will eventually find that
black americans are necessary in their economy (Gates, 2013). If you were useful in the
economy, you will gain respect. African Americans had to make a way out of no way
because segregation caused them to have to innovate to survive. On the other hand,
black people also followed W.E.B Dubois, who was the first black american to get a PhD
from Harvard (Gates, 2013). Dubois told the African Americans that the time to act is
now. He founded the NAACP, which is the national association for African Americans
(Gates, 2013). Starting his attack in the North, and then moved down South when the
association became more solidified. One of the biggest changes in black quality of life
happened in a part of New York called Harlem; many African Americans moved here to
get better jobs that opened up when others were fighting in WWI (Gates, 2013). Harlem
represented a shift in culture, expanding the black culture and music to great lengths.
Jazz was one of the biggest spins that came off of the Harlem Renaissance. This was
one of the many contributions black culture and people had on American culture.
During World War II, the availability of jobs in the north accelerated the Civil
Rights movement (Gates & Streeter, 2013). For example, Ford Motor Co. during World
War II switched from making cars to making bombers (Gates & Streeter, 2013). The lack
of workforce created by many Americans going to war, caused many jobs that Black
Americans couldnt have, suddenly available. Even there, many Black Americans faced

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segregation, discrimination and hatred. The difference this time was that now, African
Americans refused to return to the status quo (Gates & Streeter, 2013). They demanded
a double victory, one against Hitler overseas, and one against segregation at home.
When the war ended, all of the soldiers came back home; many of them were black
americans who hoped that serving in the war will bring respect to them (Gates &
Streeter, 2013). The Black Americans who served in World War II were called New
Negroes because they came back with a new attitude about freedom and segregation
(Gates & Streeter, 2013). One veteran named Sergeant Wooder, came back from the
war only to find that he still did not have any respect at home. He was riding on a bus
when he was forced out and brought into the police station (Gates & Streeter, 2013).
Over there, he was blinded by two cops who beat him mercilessly. Many of this
prompted legislative change by the government. Martin Luther King Jr., a minister from
Alabama, led the battle for Civil Rights (Gates & Streeter, 2013). They held nonviolent
sit-ins, where they demanded to be served equally on the lunch counter (Gates &
Streeter, 2013). One of the biggest victories to the Civil Rights movement was the
Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education (Gates & Streeter, 2013). They
ruled that segregation was unconstitutional, and ended the Jim Crow Laws. Even then,
many southern states refused to change their ways. This prompted President
Eisenhower to force the reintegration by sending troops in all over the south to protect
the students going to school (Gates & Streeter, 2013). One 6 year-old student named
Ruby Bridges, was escorted by hundreds of Federal Marshals just so she could go to
school (Gates & Streeter, 2013). Here you could see the conditions African Americans

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had to face and troubles they had to endure to gain equal rights and opportunity in
America.
As we moved on to the late 20th Century and early 21st Century, we can witness
the changes in the kind of racism and the type of situations that Black americans had to
face. For example, they had to deal with the racist war on drugs (Gates, 2013). The fact
that most drug users of crack were white and 90% of the arrests were black men shows
the major problem that persisted in this war. This isolated and subjected these free
men to a situation that is unbearable. The kinds of opportunity that they would get were
minimized and the mandatory minimums were excessive (Gates, 2013). Yet, like the Jim
Crow Laws they kept the African Americans in place. Some of the situations caused
Black Leaders to unite and fight against such racism (Gates, 2013). One man after
being in jail for 8.5 years, made a foundation to help out young African Americans who
became orphans because their parents were in jail for one reason or another. African
Americans had to make a way out of no way because segregation caused them to have
to innovate to survive. The civil rights movement allowed for a great amount of people
to get their basic voting and segregation rights (Gates, 2013). The fact that we now
have a black president does not change the fact that there is still a general racism
against black americans. Some black americans have been able to bridge that gap. But
for most of them, they are still stuck behind everyone else.
Black individuals living in America had to face racial discrimination on a daily
basis while living a separate life in the ghettos where the rest of the African Americans
lived. In the film, A Raisin in the Sun (1961), one can see in the first scene how the
family is packed closely together in one tenement. They even have to share the

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bathroom with other floors. This lifestyle seems very uncomfortable, living in such short
proximity. In the expository essay by Cheryl Thompson (2009), Thompson states that
many African American women damage and break their hair in order to conform with
societies belief that straight hair is better than natural hair. Black women in America go
out of their way to try to stay respected and popular in society. Some people even
damaged their hair just so they could have a chance at getting a job here (Thompson,
2009). As Thompson claims that the biggest problem with African American women hair
is the fact that they are being told by the media, what is appropriate and what is not
(Banks, 2000; P. 147). It also shows how they were venerable to problems such as
Traction Alopecia. Being a Black Woman in these times requires you to either live with
diseases such as Traction Alopecia or face criticism on your hair style, natural hair. It
seems that many choose to deal with the diseases rather than work with natural hair.
Though the expository essay (2009) and the play focus on different topics and ideas, A
Raisin in the Sun (1959) and Thompson (2009) both talk about what it is to be Black in
America.
Another essay by Robynne Rogers talks about an Native American woman
named Tituba. This woman was a slave to Samuel Paris, who was living in Salem. She
was an integral part of the Salem witch craze because of her confession and then
reappraisal of the confession (Healey, 1998). This connected with the fact that she was
considered an outsider, since she is not European, made the accusations of being a
witch easier to believe (Healey, 1998). Even though she was a Native American, she
was treated as an African American, because the Puritans did not differentiate between
the two (Healey, 1998). This woman was important because she had been all around

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the world and had many world culture experiences (Healey, 1998). This shows another
reason why the residents of Salem believed she was a witch. The ignorance of their
understanding of other cultures allowed them to believe in the accusations of many
people. Even though she did not wish to confess to being a witch, the situation made
people believe, without the slightest of evidence that Tituba was one (Healey, 1998). So
to save her own skin, she confessed and accused innocent people at the same time.
Because Tituba seems mysterious to the people of Salem, she was also was able to
challenge the traditional notion of hierarchy (Healey, 1998). This increased the
vulnerability of people in higher status to be accused. In the end, 24 people were
murdered, and many more hanged (Healey, 1998). Tituba had to shift the blame to save
her own skin; another example of what kind of difficult decisions black Americans had to
make.
Loranne Hansberrys, A Raisin in the Sun (1959), and Cheryl Thompsons
expository essay, Black Women & Identity: Whats Hair got to do with it? (2009), show
how Black Americans used to live and what type of discrimination and problems they
had to face. I found that they lived in a thigh and uncomfortable life because of their
limited living space. They caused physical harm to themselves to fit with a different
group than themselves. Finally, we found out what choices they had, which one they
chose, and why they chose it.
Though, throughout American history, there have been several accomplished
African American individuals who have had a significant influence in math and science.
Some of these successful people include Elbert Frank Cox and Benjamin Banneker
(collegeboard.com, 2013). These mathematicians set a new standard for African

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Americans to strive for. They went on after high school to further their educations.
Because of the newly set standards, the dropout rate of black high school students
decreased to 48% (collegeboard.com, 2013). This was indeed a significant
improvement from the rates beforehand. African Americans began rising to the top of
their classes, some of whom became famous mathematicians and achieved many
accomplishments. Well known figures such as Etta Zuba Falconer and Charles Reason
were joined by other distinguished intellectuals in multiple fields; Guy Bluford was the
first African American astronaut and Neil deGrasse Tyson is a renowned African
American astrophysicist (collegeboard.com, 2013). Looking back at these facts,
stereotypes about African Americans and education have been proved wrong with the
successes of these intellectuals. It eliminates the assumption that race makes an
individual different; instead, it strengthens the notion that African Americans have
accomplished much, in spite of the conditions laid forth from our nation.

Conclusion:
Through and through, I have discussed the life as a African American in America.
In this paper, I use references from books like, A Raisin in the Sun, Titubas Story, Black
Women and Identity: Whats hair got to do with it?, The African Americans: Many Rivers
to Cross with Henry Louis Gates Jr., and scientific studies done by us. In Loranne
Hansberrys award winning play novel and film, A Rasin in the Sun (1959; Susskind,
1961), the African American family faced many hardships that they had to live with. In
the expository essay by Cheryl Thompson (2009), Black Women and Identity: Whats
hair got to do with it., the writer talks about the discrimination Black Americans face

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which regards to their hairstyle. In the essay Titubas Story, Robynne Rogers Healey
talks about an Native American woman named Tituba (Healey, 1998). In the television
show, Many Rivers to Cross, Henry Louis Gates Jr. brings us closer to the history of
African Americans in American history; and deals with the many unknown victories and
struggles they faced while under captivity and free. From all these works, we have been
able to see that while a few African Americans are extremely successful, most of them
still live in run down cities and communities. This shows not only that African Americans
have potential to become hardworking, successful, American citizens, but that they are
not being given an equal opportunity at the local level for them to be able to compete
with the rest of America. When 48% of African Americans drop out of high school, it
depicts a situation in desperate need of fixing. Many of these families used to live lives
similar to the Young Family; little hope and one chance to change it all (Hansberry,
1959). Sometimes this would lead them to make poor decisions like the one Walter
made in A Raisin in the Sun (Hansberry, 1959). Looking back at these facts, stereotypes
about African Americans and education have been proved wrong with the successes of
these intellectuals. It eliminates the assumption that race makes an individual different;
instead, it strengthens the purpose of the civil rights movement of putting forth the
message that we are all capable of fulfilling our dreams, and that we can push
ourselves to the best of our abilities.

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Appendix A
Mission High Student Survey

Started at Mission San Jose High School in 2014, the Mission High Student Survey was
created to study the outlook that the Mission Student body has on the African American
experience. We asked 10 questions; 7 yes or no questions, 1 percentage question, and
2 comparing questions. We began this project because many people call our times the
end of racism and segregation. A survey of such a claim is worthy of extended study.
Mina Afnan, Ruchit Majmudar, Vincent Ding, Avi Bannerjee, Adithya
Jayachandran, Rahul Dayal, and Samir Panjwani were part of the survey group that
went to classes all around Mission High during read period, and got around 800
students to participate in our survey. We asked these students questions related to the
stereotypical African American; and we asked questions that are related to todays racial
problems. Refer to Table A1 to A4 for detailed description of our findings.

Table A1:
Question#

Yes

No

Abstain

545

39

505

70

13

334

203

51

310

269

424

155

179

382

27

10

330

225

33

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Table A2:
Question#

10%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Abstain

33

163

212

170

Table A3:
Question#

African American
Senator

White Mayor

Both

Abstain

338

106

18

126

Table A4:
Question#

White

Black

Other

Both

Abstain

149

144

166

42

75

Visual Displays of the data above:

Graph A1:
Yes/No Question Results
600

Yes

No

Abstain

# Student Responses

450

300

150

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 10

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Graph A2:
Question 4 Results

# Student Responses

300

10%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Abstain

225

212
170

163

150

75

33

Question 4

Graph A3:
Question 8 Results

# Student Responses

400

300

African American Senator

White Mayor

Both

Abstain

338

200

100

126

106
18
8

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Graph A4:
Question 9 Results
180

White

Black

Other

Both

Abstain

# Student Responses

166
135

149

144

90

75
45

42
0

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APA & MLA Reference List:

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). The Black Atlantic [Television
series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The African Americans:
Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. New York, NY: PBS.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). The Age of Slavery [Television
series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The African Americans:
Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. New York, NY: PBS.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). Into the fire [Television series
episode]. In Kunhardt, P.(Executive Producer), The African Americans: Many
Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. PBS.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). Making a Way Out of No Way
[Television series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The African
Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. New York, NY:
PBS.

Gilbert, R. H., Rose, P., & Susskind, D. (Producer), & Petrie, D. (Director). (1961). A
Rasin in the Sun [Motion Picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.

Hansberry, L. (1959). A Rasin in the Sun. New York, NY: Random House.

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Healey, R.R. (1998). Titubas Story. [Review of the book Tituba Reluctant Witch of
Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies]. H-women. Retrieved from http://
www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1851

The College Board Home Page. (n.d.). The College Board. Retrieved June 4, 2014,
from http://www.collegeboard.com

Thompson, C. (2009). Black Women and Identity: Whats hair got to do with it?.
Politics and Preformity, Vol: 20 No: 1. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/
spo.ark5583.0022.105

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Annotated Bibliography: Black in America

Gilbert, R.H., Rose, P., & Susskind, D. (Producer), & Petrie, D. (Director). (1961). A
Raisin in the Sun [Motion Picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.
This film was about the life of a black family living in the city in the 1960s. This is
important because since they did not have many opportunities, they had to struggle for
a very long time. The novel accurately depicts the kind of lifestyle African Americans
had to live in America at that time. Their need to get by was blocked by many
restrictions and assumptions made about them. The movie was based off of the novel
by Lorraine Hansberry, a great author who won many awards for this book.

Hansberry, L. (1959). A Rasin in the Sun. New York, NY: Random House.
This novel was about the life of a black family living in the city in the 1960s. This is
important because since they did not have many opportunities, they had to struggle for
a very long time. The novel accurately depicts the kind of lifestyle African Americans
had to live in America at that time. Their need to get by was blocked by many
restrictions and assumptions made about them. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, was a
great author who won many awards for this book.

Thompson, C. (2009). Black Women and Identity: Whats hair got to do with it? Politics
and Performativity, 22(1), 197-206
This article was about the hairstyles adopted by Black women throughout the 20th and
21st Century. This talked about their need to conform to the standards of style at that

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time. African American women generally do not have the straight hair that Caucasian
females generally have. This supposedly made them less likely to get jobs and get
equal pay. To change their chances, they put many hair products on to match their hair
with the celebrities at the time. The author talks about some of the social and medical
problems that arose because of this.
For example, their hair became so full of hair products that it started to fall off.
Eventually these women would get traction alopecia, which gives you a scar on your
head. These examples are beneficial to show the kind of double standard held for Black
Americans in the United States. The author, Cheryl Thompson, is a historian that has a
Ph.D in historical subjects and got her degree based off of this dissertation.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). The Black Atlantic

[Television series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer),
The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates,
Jr.. New York, NY: PBS.
The television show The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is a series about the
path that black americans took to reach the Americas. In this episode, they talk about
how africans were taken from their homeland and put onto a slave trade ship to travel
from Africa to the New World. The kind of problems that they had to face during the
journey created a connection between the slaves that would represent brothership.
Another account that they talked about was the different kind of relationship between
the slave and the slaveholder. One of the first African Americans that was brought here

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as a slave was freed and given a large sum of land. This was because his slave holder
and he had a deep connection with each other from working on the fields together.
This kind of connection with african americans brought a different perspective to my
paper. Anybody can seemingly have the relationship that brothers have or what fathers
have with their sons. Gates is a renowned historian with a PhD from Cambridge and
named the MacArthur Fellow in 1981.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). The Age of Slavery [Television
series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The African Americans:
Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. New York, NY: PBS.

This episode by Henry Louis Gates, is about the main age redefining slavery to more
than just a temporary situation. They talk about the changes that faced the new world,
starting with the Revolutionary War and the depth and meaning behind being, created
equal. They talk about the growth of slavery in America and the growth in resistance of it
too. This episode is greatly supports the details for what it was like to be living in
America. It shows the determination that they had to undermine slavery in America. It
especially shows how being black in America was like from the beginning of America.
The kind of story behind every single one of these men and their stuggles are what
define America, and what we represent. Gates is a reputable source because he is a
renowned historian with a PhD from Cambridge and named the MacArthur Fellow in
1981.

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Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). Into the Fire

[Television series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The
African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr..
New York, NY: PBS.

This episode, talks about the end of slavery in America and the beginning of a new age
of racism and undermining blacks in the US. This shows the many decisions that African
Americans had to face while under slavery in the Confederate South. Many dared risk
their lives for a chance to be free by defecting across borders, even though there was a
high chance of them getting shot. This story portrays a unique view on what african
americans faced after the civil war. They had a moment in the sun where freedom was
right across the corner, but many more problems were in the way. The massive amounts
of change that black americans had to face were daunting for many. This episode is
useful for bringing such challenges to light in my essay. The author, Gates, is a
renowned historian with a PhD from Cambridge and named the MacArthur Fellow in
1981.

Gates, H. L. (Writer), & Streeter, S. (Director). (2013). Making a Way Out of No Way
[Television series episode]. In Kunhardt, P. (Executive Producer), The African
Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. New York, NY:
PBS.

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This episode, is a heartfelt story about living as a black american in the Jim Crow era. In
the 20th century, a lot of African Americans left the South, fleeing the threat of lynchings,
and North or West. Such laws like Jim Crow made Black people feel inferior; and by
some respects, silly. Leaders like Ida B. Wells, Du Bois, Booker T. Washington and
Marcus Garvey popped up using different strategies to encourage black empowerment
and equality. This kind of movement is useful to talk about when dealing with the
lifestyle of black americans at this time. When African Americans were still barely
educated and with little rights, the kinds of people that rose up and fought of the people
exemplifies the struggle that they faced in America. Gates, is a renowned historian with
a PhD from Cambridge and named the MacArthur Fellow in 1981.