Reconstruction Video PBS

 Reconstruction: America After The Civil War Reflection

It's easy to see racism as an idea of the past, and in many ways it is. Truthfully, right now is the best time its ever been to be not white in the United States. We no longer have institutions like slavery and segregation. This does not mean that the situation is perfect however, far from it. The rampant racism prevalent in the reconstruction era still has echoes that can be seen today. The PBS documentary, "Reconstruction: America After The Civil War," gives an in depth look on this. The film starts with a stark reminder of the racism still prevalent today: the 2015 Charleston church shooting. This attack was deliberately targeted towards African American individuals. This hatred is, unfortunately, deep rooted in American Culture.

The meat of the documentary takes place in the decades following the end of the civil war, otherwise known as the reconstruction era. It paints a promising picture for the future of African Americans in the United States, with newly freed slaves getting right to work rebuilding their separated family and participating in society by doing such things as building homes and starting businesses. Unfortunately, this newfound progress would quickly slow, as Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and his vice president, Andrew Johnson, assumed the position of president. Johnson actively stood in the way of African American progress, devaluing the cause.

African Americans had to fight tooth and nail to achieve basic human rights, and even then those newfound rights were constantly being undermined. A supreme court decision could quickly erase years of progress, as happened with the numerous fourteenth amendment decisions. Reconstruction was the start of black culture in the United States, and this documentary describes how this era shaped the culture all the way up to today. But on the other side of the coin, racist and backwards ideas can be passed down from generation to generation. Racism is no longer socially acceptable but it still very much exists because of this generational trickle and we unfortunately saw it in full effect in the 2015 church shooting. This documentary shows how important the reconstruction era was, even how it continues to influence modern society.

Sources:

https://www.scetv.org/stories/2019/reconstruction-america-after-civil-war-premieres-tuesdays-april-9-16-2019-pbs

https://journalofthecivilwarera.org/2019/04/facing-the-false-picture-of-facts-episodes-1-and-2-of-reconstruction-america-after-the-civil-war/#:~:text=Episode%20one%20tells%20the%20story,attempting%20to%20curb%20racial%20violence.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/charleston-ame-church-shooting

Images:

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