Reconstruction Video

     The naked eye may believe that once slavery was abolished, things became perfect and easy for African Americans.  This is simply not true.  A specific time that can
highlight more adversity and struggle for African Americans is the Reconstruction Era.  

    In class we watched the PBS documentary, "Reconstruction: America After The Civil War", and I think this video changed the views and filled in the parts of this era those are unfamiliar with.  The film starts off with a very blank it statement stating that racism is still prevalent today. It elaborates on the events of the 2015 Charleston church shooting.  This was an attack on African American people and shook people all around the country because of its message and effect.  

    The Reconstruction Era promised a very exciting future for African Americans in the United States.  African Americans were now allowed to fix their broken families and could build homes or start businesses which gave them a more prevalent role in society.  

    While you may be thinking... "This is great, it is a phenomenal step in the right direction".  Unfortunately this didn't last very long.  On April 15, 1865, President Lincoln was assassinated. Gone with the loss of our 16th president, was also the loss of progress in black equality.  The Vice President at the time was Andrew Johnson who was not very interested in helping out the black community, in-fact he was quite against it.  

    The Reconstruction Era was a major positive in black culture in the United States.  This documentary did a phenomenal job of portraying its importance and its impact that it has had.  At this point in our culture, racism and hatred is no longer welcome and has become a clear thing of the past.  This can tip its cap to the reconstruction era and can give a large thanks for where we are today.