African American Legal System Essay

The story of the United States of America is often seen as a country that fought valiantly against the oppressive Great Britain in order to guarantee basic human rights for its constituents. While it is true that America fought for independence and freedom, there lies a hypocrisy in the American story of freedom after all. According to history, while some Americans–typically white citizens– were granted freedoms, African Americans were continuously oppressed for hundreds of years and are even facing discrimination to this day. As it seems now, it is freedom and justice for some. This oppression came from a variety of different institutions like justice systems, educational systems, and economic systems. One of the institutions that had a tremendous

Throughout American history, it is evident that the legal system has played a part in the oppression of African Americans, and in conjunction with other institutions, has assisted in the marginalization of African Americans; however, through the use of certain strategies and agencies, African Americans have been able to gain access into the legal system in order to fight for their cause. The legal system exists to provide rules that can be interpreted and enforced. According to Martin Luther King Jr., in a legal system “There are just laws and there are unjust laws.” These unjust laws are what made it possible for African Americans to face discrimination and oppression. One of the most well known examples of racial discrimination comes from the Jim Crow laws. These laws were put into place after the civil war from the late 19th century to the early 20th century with the sole purpose of segregating white people from black people. In a book titled, The Strange Careers of the Jim Crow North Segregation and Struggle Outside of the South, by authors Woodard, Komozi, Jeanne Theoharis, and Brian Purnell, the authors talk about the consequences of Jim Crow laws. They write that Jim Crow laws as well as inaccurate “newspaper stories about crime and

Madame C.J. Walker, one of the great and prominent African American leaders, knew of the importance of financial literacy. Although being financially literate is extremely important, when the legal systems are in place to discriminate against a certain group, it is extremely possible to gain that financial freedom. As a matter of fact, the financial system, and legal system played into each other to further oppress African Americans. Similar to the previously mentioned Louisiana Black Codes, Mississippi had their own versions of the black codes. One of the Mississippi Black Codes states: Sec 7 “Every civil officer shall, and every person may, arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any freedman, free negro, or mulatto who shall have quit the service of his or her employer before the expiration of his or her term of service without good cause”. This example of a law that was enforced demonstrates how the legal system used the financial system to oppress African Americans. What these codes were meant to do was to limit the job opportunities of African Americans further destroying the possibility of financial freedom. In addition to job opportunities being limited, African Americans were at a disadvantage of buying houses to create generational wealth by federal law. Louis Lee Woods’ article “‘The Inevitable Products of Racial