From Abolitionists to Social Justice Warriors by Henry Mantel

"Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, a man got fucked. Now how is that for a story? 'Cause that's the story of black people, IN AMERICA!" -Anansi the Spider

Under the institution of slavery, black people were property. They had none of the "inalienable rights" laid out in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. Countless innocent people were killed, ripped away from their families, forced to endure unimaginable pain and humiliation, all because white America did not consider them to be people. Slavery was the greatest injustice ever perpetuated in American history, enforced by every branch of the United States' government. 

Even before the Declaration of Independence was signed, there were abolitionists. The abolitionists sought to end the horror of slavery through various means. William Lloyd Garrison, supported by free African-Americans in Boston, printed an anti-slavery newspaper, the Liberator. "Conductors," like Harriet Tubman, would lead escaped slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Roswell Field advocated for Dred Scott, a slave who sued for his freedom, before the Supreme Court. The abolitionists were called revolting and seditious, but they persisted.

Every step of the way, until the bitter end, white Americans resisted abolition. Slavery's defenders, while denying that slavery was evil at all, attacked the abolitionists as hypocrites for ignoring "white slavery" in the North. Anti-abolitionists rioted in New York City in 1834, targeting the homes of abolitionists. "Anti-Tom" literature was published in response to Harriet Beacher Stowe's anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," making the case that slavery was beneficial to African-Americans or that the evils of slavery were overblown. The South would eventually secede from the Union rather than end slavery, enshrining the institution in the Confederate States Constitution.

After a terrible Civil War, slavery legally ended when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1865, but the injustice of inequality persisted. After federal troops pulled out of the South, white Democrats passed Jim Crow laws, legally mandating racial segregation. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and secret ballots were implemented to keep Africa-Americans from voting. "Redlining" was the practice of denying services, like banking and healthcare, to predominantly Africa-American neighborhoods. Between 1882 and 1968, thousands of African-Americans were lynched. 

As the injustices became too much to bear, the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum. Like the abolitionists, civil rights activists sought justice through every method available. Lawyers like Thurgood Marshall advocated for racial justice in the courts, defending falsely accused African-Americans and challenging racist laws. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, and many others organized marches, sit-ins, and boycotts to build public support for the movement. Journalists like Roy Wilkins reported on the lives of African-Americans and the injustices they dealt with. The civil rights activists were called communists and rabble-rousers, but they persisted.

White Americans did everything they could to perpetuate segregation. After segregation was deemed unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education, 101 politicians signed the Southern Manifesto, promising to use "all lawful means to bring about a reversal" of the decision. The FBI sent Martin Luther King Jr. an anonymous letter telling him to commit suicide. The KKK carried out bombings, beatings, and shootings of black and white activists. Klan member Asa Carter worked as a speechwriter for Alabama Governor George Wallace, coming up with the slogan, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," which Wallace used in his inauguration speech. Two years later, Wallace ordered state troopers to prevent a march of voting rights advocates by any means necessary, leading to the events of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma. 

The violence against African-Americans created the swell of public support necessary to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, legally ending segregation and racial discrimination by employers. The Civil Rights Act was followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned discriminatory voting practices, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which banned discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of property. 

Despite all of the progress that has been made since the founding of our country, the social injustice of inequality persists. The War on Drugs was started as a way to disrupt African-American communities and continues to this day. Black men who commit the same crimes as white men receive federal prison sentences that are almost 20% longer on average. In 2006, the FBI warned that white supremacists were infiltrating law enforcement agencies across the country, which might explain why there are huge racial disparities in how police officers use force. For every $100 in white family wealth, black families hold just $5.04. Many cities still remain racially segregated. 

Today, activists continue the fight for social justice. Writers like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Charles M. Blow raise awareness by reporting on inequality. Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, and many other artists advocate for social justice during performances and over social media. NFL players, taking the lead of Colin Kaepernick, have been taking a knee during the national anthem before games to protest police brutality. Groups such as Black Lives Matter, the NAACP, and the Southern Poverty Law Center are working to create a more just and equal nation. Leaders of the fight today are demeaned as SJWs (an acronym for Social Justice Warrior) and mentally ill, but they persevere. 

White America's ignorant resistance to equality remains strong. White supremacist propaganda is on the rise on college campuses. Conservative politicians, like Republican Steve King, regularly use racist rhetoric and dog-whistles. Last summer, white nationalists marched in Charlottesville, chanting racist slogans and waving torches, eventually killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of other counter-protesters. Hate crimes are on the rise across the country. Racism got President Trump elected. 

Every step of progress made towards equality, since the founding of our country, has been a bloody fight. The people who snidely type "SJW" over the internet are the same people who called the civil rights activists communists and the abolitionists seditious. They came up with "All/Blue Lives Matter" and accuse liberals of being the real racists. They fought for slavery and segregation; now they are fighting for Donald Trump. Thanks to their efforts, for every great leap forward, there have been several steps back.

There is no guarantee that the white supremacists will lose. Justice is not a law of the universe, constant and inevitable, it is a moral obligation. Creating a more just society requires heart and sacrifice. We cannot, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, settle for "a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice." Equality will only be achieved when the majority of Americans work to live up to the last line in the Pledge of Allegiance: "with liberty and justice for all."