The Journey Vol. 2: Equality is just an Illusion

By Donald B. Armstrong

About the Book
As the second part in The Journey series, Equality Is Just an Illusion continues to illuminate the historical reality of African Americans in the United States over the past two centuries, with an emphasis on the effects of whitewashing and the strategic cover-up of America’s racist past. With the threat of banning Critical Race Theory and many culturally significant books in schools, the need to safeguard historical truth is more necessary than ever. In addition to chronicling the plight of Black people in America, The Journey, Vol. 2 highlights the incredible accomplishments and milestones of Black men and women who are rarely known and never discussed in history books.
About the Author
Donald B. Armstrong is a retired military veteran who witnessed several things early in his career which left him with questions about equality. It was then he realized what parents meant when they stated, "Whatever you do, you have to be better." Armstrong is married to Cynthia Gail Armstrong from Macon, Georgia.
Armstrong received an undergraduate degree from North Carolina A&T State University and a graduate degree from the University of Phoenix. He is a sports enthusiast, a fan of the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, University of North Carolina Tar Heels, and North Carolina A&T State University "Aggies." Armstrong enjoys social gatherings with healthy food and stimulating conversations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Jan 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9798891271258

Book preview

Dedicated

To

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About the Author

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EQULITY, JUST AN ILLUSION

Blacks have graduated from the best universities, some at the top of the class.

Sometimes those credentials are not enough in this country to get a clear pass.

They have invented miraculous things, in which credit was denied.

Proved their equivalency in many ways but turned away in a landslide.

They are proud, never to ask for special favors, only a fair deal.

And be able to maneuver in this country on an even playing field.

Anchored by the strength of their ancestors, they continue with disgust.

To live in a land with unfair policies and governed by people they cannot trust.

For equal justice, their protest and screams come to rest on deaf ears.

It is so incredible how the color of their skin arouses such horrific fears.

A new day is dawning, and a prouder, stronger generation will emerge.

America, prepare yourself; the destruction of this system is on the verge.

But today, they accept the reality and come to this one conclusion,

That for Blacks living in America, Equality is Just an Illusion!

Donald B. Armstrong

Thank You For Inspiration

Mustafa Ture Abdul-Rahman, Aaliyah Marie Armstrong, Alton R. Arnold, Carlene F. Atkinson, Walter D. Atkinson, Alice E. Armstrong, Andrell M. Armstrong, Elijah Zavier Armstrong, Onika S. Armstrong, QwuaShemma L. Armstrong, Robert E. Armstrong, Zylen King Armstrong, Larry D. Austin, Charles G. Ball, Corinthia B. Ball, Vernell W. Bailey, Malcolm E. Batts, Mack T. Bedard, George D. Booker, Adrian R. Booth, Darlene Booth, Deidre Boykins, Serena T. Brinkley, Walter J. Brinkley, Toussaint L. M. Bryant, Wayland E. Bryant, James A. Burgess, Crystal D. Burton, Willie Butler Jr., Anthony S. Clark, Brendella Coleman, Rhonda B. Coleman, Cynthia V. Cork, Maurice N. Cork, Prince C. Craddock, Sharon Y. Daughtrey, Melinda W. Denmark, Milton L. Denmark, JoAnn Dillard, Zah’Rhiana A. Dobie, Sydni D. Dozier, Allena P. Felder, Dr. Regina W. Francis, Deborah D. Freeman, Calvin Harper Sr., Calvin Heard, Debbie Herbert, Melbourne E. Hendrickson, Daren James, Gerald M. James, Michael James, Bellamy D. Johnston, Gideon T. Johnson, Sabrina P. Johnson, Natalie Johnson, Kamala Michelle Jones, Kristen N. Armstrong Jones, Tyler F. Jones, James R. McCoy, Juwell M. Meadows, Darlene Middlebrooks, James W. Middlebrooks Jr., Antoni T. Miller, Dorthey W. Mitchell, Maurice Monk, Charles E. Moss, Robbie L. Moss, Robert Newkirk, Lisa M. Olds, Jesse L. Parker, Michael L. Raynor, Carl B. Redd, Carolyn H. Robinson, Albert Rodriguez, Anthony Scott, Mona J. Scott, Ricky Shephard, Yolanda Shephard, David E. Simmons, Lois M. Simmons, Katrina B. Simmons, Amina S. Smith, LaVonia K. Smith, ShaVonne D. Smith, Cheryl M. Stanback, Montgomery Stanback, Dennis L. Styles, Timothy C. Tillman, Anton L. Thompson, Clearance Thompson, Helen D. Thompson, Burnis E. Travis, Donna Lynn A. Travis, James M. Ward, Gloria D. Wiggins, Larry D. Williams, William C. Williams, Rhonda W. Willingham, Freddie Wilson, Christopher Woods, Wanda Baker Wright

Thank You For The Love & Inspiration

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SPECIAL THANK YOU FOR

CONTRIBUTIONS & SUPPORT

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WE’LL NEVER FORGET

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Foreword

The history of the kidnapped Africans that were brought to this country, and the making of America, is conveyed by their oppressors. Their fabricated version is far from the actual truth. The textbooks in today’s educational system are filled with their white-washed experiences, excluding many of the Black contributions. You will probably see a small segment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Civil Rights Movement, Ms. Rosa Parks, or President Barack Obama, but the horrific brutalities the Africans experienced, or the valuable significant impacts they made have mostly been erased out of the academic curriculums our children (both Black and White) are presented to learn as truth. Young Blacks graduate from these institutions without knowledge of their true self. They grow without the awareness of the horrendous atrocities endured or the numerous amazing contributions by their ancestors. Young Whites graduate without true realization of the participation their ancestors had to the building of this nation.

Even current issues as systemic racism, police killings of Blacks, White supremacy, Critical Race Theory, or sexual identity are topics slowly being forbidden to be discussed in classrooms. What’s depressing is government legislations are being passed in areas where books are being censored and removed all together if they do not pass a certain criterion, to include libraries. Several southern states do not explicitly include slavery in their scholastic curriculum, some don’t even name the civil rights movement, approximately sixteen still ascertain states’ rights as the sole cause the Civil War. If we or our children cannot depend on scholastic academia for the truth, where do we expect to actually receive it? It takes publications as this to expose the real facts to enlighten those in the dark, dishonor the oppressors, and compliment those that have triumph over adversities. This edition of The Journey concentrates on how equality has been so elusive to the African American for centuries. It is a sequel to Volume I, entitled The Journey from Shackles and Chains to the White House. Its intention is to continue resurrecting vanished statistical data, reveal the true nature of this country and to continue moralizing the journey of the kidnapped Africans. To eliminate the possibility of the past repeating itself it is important the historical truths are told today!

National historical events deemed important to remember speaks volumes about that country. Erected in various states are monuments of Civil War generals who once bought, sold, and owned (human beings) slaves. Many of these generals fought under the Confederate flag and are mentioned through-out the middle/high school social study books across the country. There are states incorporating the Confederate flag as part of the design of its own state flag. Ironically, in the learning institutions across America, there is very little literature mentioning the shameful incidents that shaped the mere existence of this country. Occurrences such as the slaughter of millions of Native Americans to steal their land or enslaving hundreds of thousands of Africans to develop this country. Reprehensible, but true historical facts deserving to be taught to the youth, so they may know the truth of how America became to be the nation it is today.

This publication will continue to expose some disgraceful events and highlight magnificent accomplishments considered unimportant to include in today’s academic curriculums. It will identify reasons why certain disgraceful actions are absent and discuss the existing controversy of Critical Race Theory. Among many other topics, it will also continue to discuss the Black–White wealth gap, and the argument for reparations. Since the dreadful events are so vast, and the remarkable accomplishments so enormous, this book, just as The Journey Vol. 1, only continues to scratch the surface of incidents that played a critical role in the molding of America.

Summery of The Journey

Vol. 1

Armstrong.011.jpg In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 12 million Africans were kidnapped, chained, and brought to the Americas, enduring a tortuous journey across the Atlantic Ocean. In the United States, the labor of enslaved Black people was the backbone of economic growth, while a dogma of White supremacy was created to validate slavery as morally acceptable. The African Americans were enslaved, not perceived as humans, but as property to be sold, like cattle. When the importation of slavery was abolished, they were forced to reproduce to increase their number without plantation owners incurring the cost of purchasing.

The ending of the Atlantic slave trade occurred during the peak season of crop production. Without slave labor, the economy of the south was drastically impacted. Slave states from the south seceded from the Union to form the self-proclaimed Confederate States of America. With the northern states wanting to ban slavery in all territories and the southern states desiring to protect their interest in slavery, the American Civil War began. The war officially ended in April 1865. By June 1865, the Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and approximately 4 million slaves were set free.

Now that the country had an influx of freemen, an enormous transformation was about to take place. Amendments and laws were passed, guaranteeing the basic rights and civil liberties to those freed slaves, plunging the country into the reconstruction era. Amendments were passed, such as the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing rights and equal protection of the laws for all persons, and the Fifteenth Amendment prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on their race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Various hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), formed and Jim Crow laws were passed, attempting to discontinue any advancements of Black people. These laws legalized segregation in schools and all public facilities. The KKK shot and hung Blacks by the hundreds, in retaliation to the passing of the Reconstruction Amendments.

The south was not ready to release slaves; in fact, Texas did not inform the slaves that they were free until two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Most of the freed African Americans ventured north in search of opportunities that the south could not provide for them. Businesses were flourishing in the north, but due to the ongoing WWI, there was a shortage of manpower. Businesses filled the void with Blacks who eagerly accepting these jobs. There was a significant change to the economic climate of the African American. One would suspect that life was beginning to make a comfortable change and it did, but discrimination and segregation were just a couple of adverse circumstances they still faced. As WWI and WWII commenced, many Black males volunteered for service, viewing the conflict as an opportunity to prove their loyalty, patriotism, and worthiness for equal treatment in the United States. Unluckily, even in the armed services, they experienced discrimination and segregation. In WWI, they were segregated from White soldiers. They formed all-Black regiments but were given meaningless jobs. The Jim Crow segregation laws prevailed even in the military. In 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981 to end discrimination in the military.

After WWI and WWII ended, the Black soldier returned to a hostile America. Whites, in fear of Black soldiers taking jobs, beat, killed, and lynched many soldiers, some still in uniform. Due to the increased violence and discrimination that Blacks were experiencing, a Civil Rights Movement surfaced. During this Movement, Blacks stood up to protest racial discrimination and fight for equality. There were bus boycotts, organized sit-ins, freedom riders, and peaceful marches that many times turned violent. Civil Rights Acts were passed, legalizing voting and outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. African Americans made enormous strides, but there are still many barriers keeping the climb to freedom steep. Of those barriers, Mass media was one of the most damaging. It disproportionately presented Black men and boys as criminals, thugs, and drug dealers. This feed the already existing stereotypes and forms negative perceptions, adversely affecting their real life.

Another hurdle Blacks faced was employment discrimination. Black individuals are twice as likely to be unemployed, and if lucky to get employed, earn nearly 25 percent less, even if they were equally, or even better qualified for the job. Housing discrimination also played a significant role in making it hard for Blacks to progress in America. Red lining forced many Blacks to live in underdeveloped areas, where many still live in today.

As today, unequal education prevents Black kids from developing at a comparable rate to Whites. Schools in low-income areas receive less funding than those in wealthier communities, prohibiting the purchase of updated equipment and supplies. Two other barriers preventing Black progression are mass incarcerations and unequal healthcare. Blacks, both male and female, are incarcerated at levels more than five times that of Whites, even if the crime committed is the same. In 2014, African Americans made up 2.3 million of the 6.8 million incarcerated personnel. Racial disparity in health care is one main reason Blacks are sicker and die earlier than Whites.

Through social media, a percentage of police shootings are filmed, and actions are exposed. Visualization of police brutality has sparked outrage and raised the social conscience to a dilemma Blacks have endured for years. Organizations, such as the Black Lives Movement, launched protests in the streets, demonstrating against police brutality and social injustice. The movement became nationally recognized after the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in Minneapolis. It reached international acclaim after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. The movement-initiated demonstrations all over the world for several months.

Even though African Americans have endured inequality and systematic racism for hundreds of years, they have excelled in every aspect of life. In 2008, a Black man was elected to the highest position in the country, The President of the United States. They have been to space, accomplished open-heart surgery, and crossed the racial line in all sports, but in 2020, they continue to pursue the dream forever eluding them: True equality. It appears to be just an illusion. Nevertheless, the pursuit remains as THE JOURNEY CONTINUES!

The Illusion of Equality

The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. Considering the African American man innately inferior, obviously, he thought only of White men when he transcribed this.⁷¹ Viewing the African Americans as property, Jefferson constantly bought and sold them, in fact, he owned over 600 in his life time, the most than any other president.¹⁰³ During slavery, day after day Blacks toiled in the tobacco and cotton fields doubting if that statement, All men are created equal, would ever materialize for them. Equality was like a mirage of cold water in the desert sun; it is just an illusion. After the emancipation of the enslaved in 1865, they envisioned the dream of equality may have an opportunity to become reality, but that too was just a dream. Jim Crow laws, Black laws and other restrictive laws were passed preventing where the now once-enslaved could live and work. The