What's in a Video: Believe it or Not

Abstract

Dating back to the purchase of the first African slaves America has struggled with and failed to attain its ideal goal of racial, economic and social equity. Today, much of what we are as a society can be attributed to a binary system that was created and continues to exists along racial lines. This manuscript is a brief overview of post-reconstruction America and the events leading up to the civil rights era and passage of the Civil Right Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The author briefly examines America's past as it relates to the fundamental issue of human rights and the continued suppression and marginalization of targeted populations. The current level of police and civilian aggression towards people of color, the increasing number of states adopting legislation aimed at voter suppression and the recent siege of the Nation's capital by insurrectionists are alarming events and suggest the growing danger and possibility of a return to post-reconstruction America. If we are to reverse this trend we must first acknowledge and accept our transgressions and flaws, engage in self-examination and intentionally commit to change. America is only as good as the sum of its parts.