Prince Obike Essays - Movements For Civil Rights, Free Essays

Prince Obike Essays - Movements For Civil Rights, Free Essays Prince Obike AFRO 133 Dr. Joshua Myers 18 October 2018 There is a River "Vincent Harding's, "There is a River" illustrates the black experience in America while providing a historical summary of how African Americans have struggled for justice in the United States. "There is a River" describes black radicalism by using the river as a metaphor for the black struggle to convey the tradition of black protest and other forms of reaction to white oppression.In Harding's view, the river symbolizes expectation for a greater future for African Americans. African Americans are the river, Harding states that African Americans struggles are "long continuous movement, flowing...sometimes powerful,tumultuous, and rolling with life; and at other times meandering and turgid; covered with ice and snow of seemingly endless winters, all too often streaked and running with blood".Vincent Harding's "There is a River" uses the metaphor of a river to not only describe the complicated experiences of African Americans, but also uses the metaphor to connect the past an d the present predicaments of blacks in America in terms of internal battles within the black community, white hegemonic attacks against black communities and businesses, and ultimately the metaphor can be used as a rallying cry for the future expansion of black rights and dignity. Harding uses the river metaphor to equate water to many existing methods of illustrating the black experience. For example, the river can represent a continuous story of the struggle for civil rights. Water and the river are used as metaphor for freedom. When Harding describes African Americans struggles a a "long continuous movement" such as a river I believe that is also a reference to time. When the North America was first colonized by Europeans, the was a lot of land that needed work. Labour was needed to work the land so that the colonies could begin to profit from the land . Women and men both participated in the labor. It even got to point to where other europeans who were indentured servants were sent over to help with the land. Eventually around the 17th century the europeans decided to send over a boat of slaves to help with the land. The used these slaves to help with crops such as tobacco, which was the America's most profitable crop.By the time the American Revoluti on started and ended the south was flourishing because of how well the tobacco industry was going.This was the spark of a "long continuous movement" because soon after Eli whitney invented the cotton gin. This invention made it possible for textile mills to use the type of cotton most easily grown in the South.With the cotton gin so popular, slaves were needed in large numbers again. At this time white people began to dehumanize African Americans.They argued that black people were similar to children. They believe they were doing African Americans a favor because they were incapable of caring for themselves Not only were they caring for African Americans but that also kept them fed, clothed, and occupied. As time progressed African Americans began to become "radical" and know that they were above what they were being told. The Underground Railroad was organized to help slaves escape north to freedom. After years of "stealing" the freedom they were born with , slaves were "freed" in the year 1863, but their "long continuous movement" along that river was nowhere near finished. The new struggle African Americans have to fight with was segregation. This also ushered in the The Civil Rights Movement, that lasted for years, Even though many of the most important achievements in The Civil Rights Movement happened in the 1950s for African Americans, segregation, and racial acts took place every day. African Americans had been fighting against racial segregation since they were brought to the continent.Although he Civil Rights Movement tried to help with the social, economic, physical and political disadvantages they faced it did not solve the hatred rooted in some individuals hearts. The divide between whites and blacks was so severe that many citizens risked their lives to pursue and gain equal rights for the black population. Even the law was set up against African Americans. A "long continuous movement". We are still flowing down