We shouldn’t be surprised. He embodies the ideals upon which this country was founded—ideals that were always meant to benefit a select few.Our nation’s founders, all white, land-owning men, never envisioned democracy for anyone beyond themselves and their wives.
White women, when they weren’t merely vessels for reproduction, existed to cater to their husbands. And enslaved Black people were viewed not as humans but as livestock.
This foundation began to shift after the Civil War when the nation found itself at a crossroads: change or perish.A post shared by Black Enterprise (@blackenterprise)Subscribe to Native Son’s newsletter for more news, information, and conversations about Black gay and queer everything.After the North’s victory, Congress passed the Reconstruction Amendments—the 13th, 14th, and 15th—which, respectively, abolished slavery, granted equal rights to all citizens, and enshrined the right to vote regardless of race or previous condition of servitude.
The 14th Amendment, in particular, granted birthright citizenship and promised equal protection under the law, inadvertently making the United States the first multiracial democracy in history.
That union, as imperfect as it has been, has only existed since 1865 — 159 years ago. It has been a tumultuous journey, fraught with setbacks and struggles.
Ask any Black American from any generation, and they will tell you how hard and bumpy it’s been.
The Reconstruction Era that followed the Civil War was a brief but crucial period in which Black Americans tasted the fruits of their new rights — supported by federal troops stationed in the South to enforce these hard-won changes. But Reconstruction ended in 1877, when the last federal soldiers withdrew, effectively conceding power to the very Confederates who had waged war against the Union.
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