Selma was a very powerful film, especially because of how it documented what unfolded in Alabama 53 years ago and its connections to the discrimination and racism that continues to plague both the north and the south to this day. The horrifying scenes shown in the film, from the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham to the violence against black protesters as they were crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge into the Selma city limits, illustrate the violence that impacted people who were trying to do what too many Americans take for granted: register to vote.
As we head to Atlanta, I think about the connections between what occured in Selma and throughout the south in the mid-20th century and our work in Trenton today. Although New Jersey has a long history of racism dating back before World War II, including slavery and redlining, the segregation and police brutality that occured in the state and in Trenton following the war is a direct result of the racist violence like what was shown in Selma. Millions of African-Americans fleeing racism in the south looked to Northern cities as a place to get away from oppression. However, when many people arrived in places like Trenton, they faced also racism, lack of housing opportunities, and brutality by police here. As African-Americans moved into Trenton, white residents and businesses moved out of the city, resulting in a lack of supermarkets, modern schools, and lack of a tax base. Uprisings in 1967 and again in 1968 following Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination saw police brutality in Newark, Trenton, and Camden, leading to loss of life and even more buildings in disrepair. In the years since the 1950s and 1960s, inequality has continued to plague the region.
The state of racism and inequality today contributes to the current crisis of homelessness in and around New Jersey’s capital, which we at The Streetlight look to address. A lack of resources in other communities brings many people experiencing homelessness into Trenton, but they often find discrimination here still. From brutality by officers to a lack of emergency housing venues, individuals experiencing homelessness often have nowhere to turn. Plus, nationwide, African-Americans disproportionately make up those who are experiencing homelessness.
Since I have lived my entire life in the New York Metropolitan Area and have only been to the deep south extensively during the New Orleans trip, I do not know what exactly to expect in Atlanta. However, I hope to see what, if anything, has changed in Georgia’s largest city since the Civil Rights Movement and why that is or is not the case. I also hope to take a closer look and economic and racial inequality in Atlanta and how it compared/compares to discrimination faced by people of color in New York and New Jersey, and how the Civil Rights Movement is remembered through museums in the region.
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Saturday, April 28, 2018
I believe that the yearly Bonner Service Trips are effective in informing Bonners about the issues that communities similar to Trenton have dealt with in the past. Unless this information is actively being seeked through taking a college level class on the topic or through research at the expense of free time, it will not be learned. This is because American history classes at the high school level and below do not teach the severity of the way blacks have been treated for hundreds of years. I personally believe that white bystandership or even racism itself happens as a result of being uninformed about this history.
As a history major who actively studies this history, I was still very moved by watching Selma especially since the 1960’s are relatively recent history. Blacks were routinely dehumanized, discriminated against and even murdered in many cases throughout the United States. We are visiting Georgia, where black lynchings exceeded all other states. I stand by the conviction that any human being capable of empathsizing being knowledgeable about that issue would be essential in efforts to eradicate racism. Lynchings often happened when blacks tried exercise their Constitutional right to vote, tried unionizing for their rights as sharecroppers or simply when they demanded justice for unlawful treatment.
The most disturbing part about all of this is that instances of recent history such as the Charlottesville White Supremacist march, Dylan Roof’s black church murders, the race disparities in criminal justice system representation and Donald Trump’s campaign rooted in xenophobia proves that racism is far from being eradicated in the United States. Another factor worth noting is the fact that I visited Richmond last year and was struck by grandiose size and beauty of the Confederate monuments of people who fought to preserve slavery. People who did not share the American notion that every American deserves their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are being memorialized like gods while the injustices that blacks have faced are routinely swept under the rug as monuments to lynchings are just started to be constructed. I would not be surprised if I noticed this contradiction in Atlanta, in part to the fact that Heart of Atlanta Motel Supreme Court case is what made segregation effectively illegal. This case ruling segregation unconstitutional was not done because it was the right thing to do but because it restricted interstate commerce. I haven’t even been to Atlanta yet but I am anticipating I will learn alot about the the Civil Rights Movement and methods on how to address racism in America today.
As a history major who actively studies this history, I was still very moved by watching Selma especially since the 1960’s are relatively recent history. Blacks were routinely dehumanized, discriminated against and even murdered in many cases throughout the United States. We are visiting Georgia, where black lynchings exceeded all other states. I stand by the conviction that any human being capable of empathsizing being knowledgeable about that issue would be essential in efforts to eradicate racism. Lynchings often happened when blacks tried exercise their Constitutional right to vote, tried unionizing for their rights as sharecroppers or simply when they demanded justice for unlawful treatment.
The most disturbing part about all of this is that instances of recent history such as the Charlottesville White Supremacist march, Dylan Roof’s black church murders, the race disparities in criminal justice system representation and Donald Trump’s campaign rooted in xenophobia proves that racism is far from being eradicated in the United States. Another factor worth noting is the fact that I visited Richmond last year and was struck by grandiose size and beauty of the Confederate monuments of people who fought to preserve slavery. People who did not share the American notion that every American deserves their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are being memorialized like gods while the injustices that blacks have faced are routinely swept under the rug as monuments to lynchings are just started to be constructed. I would not be surprised if I noticed this contradiction in Atlanta, in part to the fact that Heart of Atlanta Motel Supreme Court case is what made segregation effectively illegal. This case ruling segregation unconstitutional was not done because it was the right thing to do but because it restricted interstate commerce. I haven’t even been to Atlanta yet but I am anticipating I will learn alot about the the Civil Rights Movement and methods on how to address racism in America today.
I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the civil rights movement in this country. In school, although I have been exposed to a few aspects of African American history, I was never taught about this movement in terms of social justice and civil rights advancement- more so as an objective history lesson that doesn’t necessarily apply to today. This could not be farther from the truth, as evident by the daily media posts portraying yet another African American individual/ person of color suffering within racially biased institutions. Moreover, the same mediums of oppression are used to marginalize any individual in this country that does not fit the cookie cutter “True America ideal” of white, heterosexual, cisgender, middle/upper class males. It’s important to learn about how civil rights have been won in the past and how we can be agents of change in applying them today- which is what i hope to gain from this trip. I know I wont be transformed within the span of 5 days, or learn everything, but it’s certainly a great enrichment opportunity.
I remember reading a passage (though i can’t recall from where) that nonprofits are inherently problematic in that their existence stems from the government’s failure to provide the necessary services for populations of its constituents. After watching Selma, I was reminded of this when reflecting on my service as a Bonner. Much of the service we do, as helpful to the community as it is, will not result in institutional change. What we do as Bonner volunteers is facilitating the non profits/ organization in providing services and advancing the community amid a political climate where resources are left scarce. It’s important that we recognize the underlying issues that create an environment where the places we volunteer at are necessary to support marginalized individuals. What we, as bonners, can do is recognize the potential we have in creating institutional change- which is done through exercising our rights as citizens and demanding legislative changes. By leaning about civil rights movements and leaders of the past, we can apply similar frameworks to the present day with the goal of attaining social justice.
I remember reading a passage (though i can’t recall from where) that nonprofits are inherently problematic in that their existence stems from the government’s failure to provide the necessary services for populations of its constituents. After watching Selma, I was reminded of this when reflecting on my service as a Bonner. Much of the service we do, as helpful to the community as it is, will not result in institutional change. What we do as Bonner volunteers is facilitating the non profits/ organization in providing services and advancing the community amid a political climate where resources are left scarce. It’s important that we recognize the underlying issues that create an environment where the places we volunteer at are necessary to support marginalized individuals. What we, as bonners, can do is recognize the potential we have in creating institutional change- which is done through exercising our rights as citizens and demanding legislative changes. By leaning about civil rights movements and leaders of the past, we can apply similar frameworks to the present day with the goal of attaining social justice.
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