Since the adoption of civil rights legislation in the 1960s, there has undoubtedly been some progress in the realization of these rights by African Americans who overcame a high psychological barrier during this time and in race relations. For the first time in the last 100 years, the country has achieved some real success in solving one of the most acute problems in its history, which was the racial issue. Both Democratic and Republican presidents made huge progress in solving the problem of racial discrimination.
During the transition from the activism of the 1960s to the conservatism of the Reagan-Bush era, African Americans continued to struggle for the realization of their civil rights, in particular, for the expansion of political influence in Congress and local authorities, especially in large cities. The critique of Jesse Jackson regarding the policies of the Raegan gained him substantial support in the political field (Carson et al. 511).
The rapid rise of the political career of one of the assistants of Martin L. King, who advanced in 1984 and 1988, became the symbol of the role and place of African Americans in politics in the 1980s (Wallace 174). During his candidacy for the presidency of the Democratic Party in 1988 Jackson managed to collect 7 million votes in the primary elections, and most importantly, he almost doubled the percentage of white votes cast for him in comparison with 1984 (Wallace 201). The history of the Jacksons Rainbow coalition shows the rise of the support of the African American politicians in the Democratic party.
The popularity of Bill Clinton among the African-American voters made him responsible for improving the lives of the black population. During his presidency, he showed that all of the votes of the African-American community is justified. One of his first actions was the appointment of the African-American politicians to the top positions as Cabinet secretaries (Carson et al. 519). Moreover, the boost of the economy that was during the presidency of Clinton affected the income of the black families the most, to a more than twenty percent increase.
The rates of unemployment among the black population also decreased significantly at these times. The support of Bill Clinton by the black Americans during the presidential elections paid off in the improvement of the situation of black American families.
Even though the African-American community showed the least support during the presidential election, George Bush appointed black politicians to high-profile positions in foreign policy (Carson et al. 517). His actions claimed to build a base for the formation of the new face of the Republican Party, which shows support to civil rights leaders. The Republicans starting from George Bush believe that race should not matter (West 113). It could be said that the approach of the Democrats and Republicans towards the elimination of racial barriers is different, but compassionate conservatives also believe in gaining the support of the African-Americans.
In conclusion, it is clear that African Americans still have a long and difficult road to go before they achieve true equality with their white fellow citizens. Racism has been instilled in North American society for almost three centuries and therefore cannot disappear in three decades. However, it is important, and this is the main thing now, that racism in the United States has now become a moral category, causing an ever-wider condemnation, and for the first time has to disguise itself and increasingly retreat.
Works Cited
Carson, Clayborne, et al. Struggle for Freedom: A History of African Americans. Pearson, 2014.
Wallace, Michele. Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman. Verso, 2015.
West, Cornel. Race Matters. Vintage, 1994.