Audrey Johnson

2, Adamsville, 35005,
Alabama, United States.
3rd February 1910
Dear President,
I am writing this letter to you to make you inform you about the
injustices black people are facing in this unjust society. I would that
by the time I have grandchildren, I would like them to live in a free
and just America where everyone is given the respect they deserve
and are treated as equals. I want my granddaughter to be able to
vote like other and not be discriminated against. She should have all
the right to vote for the country that she lives in.
Since 1890, us black Americans have been separated form the
whites through the Jim Crow laws. We are denied access to local
facilities that are used by whites. Our children cannot even be
educated with the white Americans. We are put to shame wherever
we go, whether we have done anything wrong or not. Moreover, on
the bus we have to sit in a separate section, away from the white
only zone. Even healthcare is denied in the same area as a white
person. We havent committed any crime to be treated in this harsh
manner. Hospitals for blacks are limited and they are understaffed
and underfunded. There was also a situation that in an emergency
situation, the funeral home was called but when the found out the
patient was a black person, they refused to take them to the
hospital. It was a situation of life and death, yet these laws prohibit
one from helping another human being- no matter the color of their
skin.
But that is not it. This segregation is not just a legal matter; this
slowly has become the mindset and attitude of people. White people
judge us on the way we eat, sit, walk and even talk. They refuse to
show us respect and do not even call us by titles like Mr. or Mrs..
We cannot eat in the same dining room and even the kids know of
their superiority. Moreover, there is a law known as AntiMiscegenation laws prevent interracial marriage- blacks cannot
marry whites and whites cannot marry blacks. This is unfair and
shows how society is supposed to behave based on a law. Although
they say that the slave days are over, we are still used as domestic
help as we cannot get employed anywhere else without facing a to
of difficulty. Secondly, we are stereotyped at every possibility there
is. The most common one is the good old-time negro. The whites
assume that we are happy to serve whit people and are satisfied
with our role in this segregated society. However, this is not at all
true. We are holding in our anger because we know that there are

not that many of us to make a change and because we dont have a

specific leader. They deny jobs to the blacks that have higher
aspirations and are not content with this stereotype. This is horribly
unfair and doesnt promote equality as it should be and negates the
religious statement that everyone is equal in the eyes of god.
Furthermore, under the 15th amendment, black people like me had
the right to vote. But the southern states planned to take away all
our voting rites by disenfranchising the local black population. Some
states introduced a Grandfather clause, which meant that we
would have the right to vote only if our grandfathers had voted.
However, this is unfair on us blacks because our ancestors had been
slaves and wouldnt have had voting rights in their times meaning
that we wouldnt be able to vote either and neither would our
grandchildren. According to the 15th amendment, "right of citizens of
the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude." This clearly states that no individual will be
discriminated upon in regards to voting procedures. However, these
southern states found a loophole like the Grandfather clause and
some states introduced literacy tests as a necessary criterion in
order to be able to vote. But these tests were not fairly applied, as it
was hard for people like me to go the test center and return without
taking the test and in a beaten up condition. Even highly educated
blacks were disenfranchised showing that these laws may not have
been racist, however they served their purpose- preventing black
Americans from voting.
as
Lastly,