What is a dream? Oxford Dictionary defines a dream as a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal. The American Dream was an ideal written by historian and writer James Truslow Adams and adopted by America in the 1930s. Although this was adopted in the 1930’s it was pursued by many before that era. The American Dream is why millions of immigrants left their home countries and came to America's shores over the centuries. This dream included freedom, financial opportunity, and a chance to build a greater future for posterity. Upon arrival, the ability to pursue these things was accessible to immigrants; however, this was not accessible to imports, that were African slaves. For 244 years, during slavery, the ability to pursue the American Dream (AD) was completely impossible, and for the next 100 years, Jim Crow, there were very specific obstacles that American Descendants of Slaves (ADOS) experienced that added further difficulty to their pursuit of the AD. These obstacles have resulted in deficits in the areas of educational disparities and the growth of generational wealth. This continuous and pervasive inequality of opportunity is a social epidemic that can be remedied through the social vaccine of reparations for ADOS.
Educational Disparities
During slavery, any persons of color were prohibited from being taught to read or write, the idea of slaves gaining knowledge for themselves was even dismissed by law, and anti-literacy acts were set in place to maintain that oppression. The following is an anti-literacy act sanctioned by Georgia’s Governor in 1829:
Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That if any slave, negro, or free person of colour, or any white person, shall teach any other slave, negro, or free person of colour, to read or write either written or printed characters, the said free person of colour or slave shall be punished by fine and whipping, or fine or whipping at the discretion of the court; and if a white person so offending, he, she, or they shall be punished with fine, not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisonment in the common jail at the discretion of the court before whom said offender is tried.
Assented to, December 22, 1829, George R. Gilmer, Governor
Although that was during slavery, immediately after their freedom in 1865, Jim Crow laws began to take effect and reinforced the educational barriers that slaves had experienced for centuries. Examples of this included extreme opposition to ADOS education, segregated schools, and subpar educational materials, such as books, which made it highly unlikely for black Americans to gain the same academic status as their white peers. Although anti-literacy laws were no longer being enforced, one could agree that these changes in the law didn’t alter the treatment of fellow black citizens, they were still reviled, cast down, and forced to build with what they had, which in most cases was very little to nothing. In David Fremon’s Jim Crow Laws and Racism in the United States, Fremon shares the story of an eight-year-old black girl who wanted to attend a particular public school and due to segregation, her case had to be argued to the Supreme Court. This case is evidence of the social epidemic of systemic racism in education for ADOS. Even today, statistics show ADOS make up 12.1% of the American population and 23% of those with poor literacy skills.
Is it possible that the continuous educational obstacles over centuries could have an impact on current literacy rates? The social epidemic is clear. The social vaccine of specific educational support for ADOS would remedy this epidemic. Free tutoring, one-time student loan forgiveness, and discounted college for 50 years. This reparation would demonstrate America’s moral foundation and not counteract the very principle of the AD America has stood on.
Generational Wealth/Business &Home Ownership.
From approximately the 16th to the 19th century, millions of African men, women, and children were sold to European colonizers, packed onto ships, and imported as cargo to the United Colonies, now known as the United States. Selling and importing Africans was profitable for the Europeans because they benefitted from their free labor. Additionally, slaveowners, many of whom were white males, secured financial momentum and created successful establishments, like plantations and breeding farms, to keep and sell negroes while accumulating wealth for their white descendants. After the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery, African Americans now had the right to work and earn wages. However, the jobs accessible to them were often menial and inferior to those that white Americans occupied. Oftentimes, ex-slaves had to go back to the same plantations that they were recently freed from to be sharecroppers. ADOS’ ambition to lead a wealthier life meant they had to start from scratch. Even as ADOS communities eventually began to prosper, their achievements and success faced brutality, destruction, and an untimely death of a dream which was their future homes, and businesses. An example of this occurred during the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 in which hundreds of black-owned businesses and homes were set ablaze on Black Wall Street after a young black boy was accused of assaulting a young white girl. Many blacks were also murdered. Many black-owned homes were also destroyed. The aftermath of this event left countless blacks unemployed and resulted in a decline in home ownership.
Today, the perimeters of that event, which is North Tulsa, still face depravities of low-income jobs, low levels of home ownership, high poverty rates, and poor educational systems. Black Wallstreet is one of dozens of examples of similar race massacres that occurred throughout the country during the Jim Crow era. Is it possible that the continuous obstacles for ADOS building wealth through employment and business ownership could have an impact on their current generational wealth levels and the overall wealth gap between ADOS and their other American counterparts? A potential social vaccine for this epidemic could be reparations in the form of tax exemption and low to no-interest business loans for ADOS for fifty years. One benefit of these reparations is that they could give ADOS a much-needed boost in their pursuit of the AD that would compensate for the centuries of obstacles that have been experienced. Although this solution might be met with opposition. Other people groups in America might view this as a “handout” as opposed to a form of “repayment.” It is important to consider that other people groups, including Native Americans and Japanese Americans have received exclusive reparations for wrongdoing that they have experienced. It is also important for one to consider that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. Strengthening this link would strengthen the entire chain in America.
In conclusion, the ADOS community has experienced hardships for centuries in their pursuit of the American Dream. Although other minority groups have also pursued the AD, none have experienced 244 years of slavery and nearly a century of Jim Crow. This is evidence of a social epidemic of a very specific type of systemic racism toward ADOS in the areas of education and the building of generational wealth through gainful employment and business ownership. This very specific epidemic needs a reflective vaccine that includes direct, specific, and exclusive reparations for ADOS in the areas in which they were oppressed.
Work Cited
African American Literacy Statistics – WordsRated. 5 June 2023, https://wordsrated.com/african-american-literacy-statistics/.√
Albright, Alex, et al. After the burning: The economic effects of the 1921 tulsa race massacre. No. w28985. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2021.
Brown, Dorothy A. The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans--and How We Can Fix It. Crown, 2022.
Folmsbee, S. J. (1949). The Origin of the First "Jim Crow" Law on JSTOR. The Journal of Southern History, 235. https://doi.org/2197999
Fremon, David K. The Jim Crow Laws and Racism in United States History. Enslow Publishing, LLC, 2014.
“Jim Crow of the North | Minnesota History & Culture.” PBS LearningMedia, https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/jim-crow-of-the-north-video/minnesota-history-and-culture/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2024.
Tolley, Kim. "Slavery and the origin of Georgia’s 1829 Anti-Literacy Act." Miseducation: A history of ignorance-making in America and abroad (2016): 13-33.
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