Hazel Scott

Hazel Scott was born on June 11,1920 and died on October 2, 1981. She was a well-known pianist. Scott came from a very successful family. Her mother was a maid who taught herself how to play the saxophone and her father was a West African from England who was a scholar. He also played the piano and the saxophone. 

From an early age Hazel Scott was very musical and advanced for her age when it came to certain things. Specially by the age of three she was able to play the piano by ear. According to Hazel Scott- womenhistory.org, "Scott displayed her talents for music at an early age and, by the age of three, Scott could play the piano by ear. When her mother's music students would hit a wrong note, Scott would yelp with displeasure." You can see that Hazel Scott was very advanced in music at a young age and it just developed even more as she got older.

Hazel Scott's parents separated when she was young. From that she moved with her mother to New York. She and her mother were very close and had a very tight bond. Her mother had a big influence on her and the results of the relationship with her mother showed up within in her as she went into adulthood. According to Hazel Scott- womenhistory.org, "Scott's parents separated and she moved with her mother and grandmother to New York City in 1924. Scott's mother played in several all-women bands to earn a living. Scott and her mother were extremely close, and Scott called her mother "the single biggest influence in my life."  You can tell that Scott and her mother had a really close bond and that her mother had a major impact on her life. 

Hazel Scott was one of few African Americans at this time to attend Juilliard School of Music. Juilliard School of Music is a very great school and hard school to get into and the fact that Hazel Scott was able to attend this school was a major milestone. According to Hazel Scott- womenshistory.org, " Her mother's musical connections made it possible for Scott to audition for the prestigious Juilliard School of Music at the unheard-of age of eight (students were supposed to be 16.)" You can still see how the impact of Hazel Scott's relationship with her mother showed up in her as she enter into adulthood.

Based on the information given above you can see how Hazel Scott was one of a kind. During her lifetime America was still very divided on the topic of slavery and how African Americans were viewed in this country. So, the fact that Hazel Scott was able to accomplish all that she did in her lifetime given the circumstance that she was in definitely lets you know that she was one of a kind. She was also the first African American to host her own television show. Hazel Scott broke down barriers for the African Americans specifically African American women that would come after her. She definitely helped to shape history. 

EOTO #3 (KKK/Lynching)

 The KKK and Lynching were two monumental things that happened in America's history. The KKK stands for Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan was against African Americans being treated as humans and not as property. Lynching is when a citizen is being convicted in a case and does not receive due process.

The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1865. This was a group of white southern men that were racist. Thier whole mission was to stop any form of progress towards African Americans being seen as human and not as property. According to Ku Klux Klan- HISTORY, "Founded in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance to the Republican Party's Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for Black Americans."

The Ku Klux Klan wanted to enlarge white supremacy. As the Ku Klux Klan continued to grow and progress congress wanted to take action to stop anything that the Ku Klux Klan was trying to do. According to Ku Klux Klan- HISTORY, "Through Congress passed legislation designed to curb Klan terrorism, the organization saw its primary goal-the reestablishment of white supremacy-fulfilled through Democratic victories in state legislatures across the South in the 1870s." As you can see congress wanted to take every action that they could to stop the progress of the Ku Klux Klan.

During the time of the Ku Klux Klan the civil rights movement also was involved in it some. The civil rights movement was a period of time where African Americans were fighting for equal justice under the law. According to Civil Rights Movement- HISTORY, "The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States." The way that the Ku Klux Klan was involved with the civil rights movement is it bombed African Americans schools and churches and anything that was a part of granting African Americans equal rights. According to Ku Klux Klan- HISTORY, "The civil rights movement of the 1960s also saw a surge of Ku Klux Klan activity, including bombings of Black schools and churches and violence against Black and white activists in the South."

Now that we have talked about the Ku Klux Klan there was also something called lynching that took place in America. As mentioned before lynching is when a citizen is being convicted of something without due process of the law. According to Lynching- Study.com, "Lynching refers to when an individual who has not undergone due process is executed by a group of people who lack legal authority." An example of what lynching would like would be a group of people gathering together for a protest or a group of people rally together to fight and advocate for justice. According to Lynching- Study.com, "Lynching is generally carried out on public display and is a form of mob justice, intimidation, and group social control."

Lynching is commonly associated with the African American community in the United States. Lynching can be referred to as a form of violence. During this time some people still saw African Americans as a threat just because they were black. According to Lynching- Study.com, "In the United States, lynching is usually associated with the period of rampant mob violence inflicted on the Black community from the end of the Civil War through the middle of the 20th century." This allows you to see how lynching related to the black community of people during this time.

Based on the information given above you can see how the Ku Klux Klan and Lynching were both monumental things that happened within America's history. Two events in time that we are still affected by the results of it even today. The Ku Klux Klan did not want African Americans to be granted equal protection and justice under the law. Lynching encouraged such behavior.

Brown v. Board of Education (Reax)

 Brown v. Board of Education 

Brown v. Board of Education was a monumental case in the history of the United States. It established that racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional. This case started in 1951 and ended in 1954. This case ruled that segregation in schools were unconstitutional. This is one of the most known cases in America's history.

This case relates all the way back to the case of Plessy v. Ferguson where the separate but equal clause was made. Which meant that as long as African Americans had the same facilities as white people it was okay as long as they remained separated. You may wonder how this relates back to the Plessy v. Ferguson case; Brown v. Board of Education relates back to this case by when the government created the separate but equal clause it opened up the pathway for the Brown v. Board of Education case which would result in establishing that racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional. According to Brown v. Board of Education- HISTORY, "In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racially segregated public facilities were legal, so long as the facilities for Black people and whites were equal."

This separate but equal clause went on for a very long time. This was also taking place when there was something called Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws help to establish the separate but equal clause. According to Brown v. Board of Education- HISTORY, "...African Americans from sharing the same buses, schools and other public facilities as whites-known as "Jim Crow" laws- and established "separate but equal" doctrine that would stand for the next six decades."

Eventually over time the NAACP was created by the 1950s. NAACP stood for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Just as a reminder during the time that Brown v. Board of Education had taken place America was still going through a time where the country was very divided when it came to the topic of slavery. The North was more antislavery, and the South was more proslavery. The NAACP really wanted to help change segregation laws specifically in public schools. According to Brown v. Board of Education- HISTORY, "But by the early 1950s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was working hard to challenge segregation laws in public schools..."

Plessy v. Ferguson, Jim Crow laws, and the NAACP all played a role in leading up to the Brown v. Board of Education case. Each of these events paved a pathway for the ruling to be made in Brown v. Board of Education. All of these events allowed the government to see that everything that had been doing was not working anymore or really at all. According to Brown v. Board of Education- HISTORY, "In the decision, issued on May 17, 1954, Warren wrote that "in field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place," as segregated schools are "inherently unequal."

After all these events took place, the government did eventually acknowledge that the way they were running things were unconstitutional and not working. Their method of doing things at this time did not provide a stable economy within America. This case displayed that the government was dysfunctional and not fully abiding by our Amendments. According to Brown v. Board of Education- HISTORY, "As a result, the Court rules that the plaintiffs were being "deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment."

Brown v. Board of Education was a case that made the government in America at that time have to accept the fact that African Americans are a valuable part of the economy. Some of the things that we have today was invented by African Americans. This case caused the government to have to see African Americans as humans and not as property. Brown v. Board of Education was definitely a case that changed America and one that is commonly known in history.