African-Americans endured several additional decades of heavy oppression and discrimination even after slavery had already been abolished post-civil war. The Jim Crow laws, which gave African-Americans obvious disadvantage in almost every way possible in the society, were in effect until 1965. These de jure racial segregation laws were put to an end after numerous protests and court cases that slowly showed the country that these laws were barbaric and inhumane. The Arc of Justice written by Kevin Boyle thoroughly explains one of the major court cases that helped America to move one step forward into reaching racial equality and justice. The Sweet trials were a triumph because the Congress passed a federal legislation banning residential segregation as a result of these court trials. Ossian Sweet was not a typical African-American man that people could see often in the 1920s.
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He was an educated, well off, professional man who worked his way up from a poor family. Buying an expensive house on Garland Avenue, where all the whites lived, was a monumental moment for him. Although he deserved to enjoy living in a fine house with Gladys, his wife whom he loved very much, he had to remain alert every night to make sure that his family and house were not attacked by the white neighbors. When Sweet’s neighbors found out that a colored family was moving into their neighborhood, they were outraged and fearful of the consequences. They simply could not stand the fact that their “daughters soon would be sharing the street with brooding Negro men and sitting in classrooms next to colored boys whose passions knew no restraint” (147). The whites thought having African-Americans in their neighborhood would ruin their standards. Having one black family in their neighborhood would bring them down to colored’s level. It was not only Sweet’s neighbors that were upset by the news of an African-American family moving in; the marketplace would be affected greatly because real agents would start steering white customers elsewhere, banks would downgrade home values, some of the neighbors would try to sell as quickly as they could, and the downward spiral would begin, housing prices tumbling, family budgets crumbling, disaster looming” (147). The reaction of whites was ridiculously chaotic all due to one civil black family joining other whites. As stated before, Ossian Sweet was a respectable man who was more professional and well off than many whites. He could have found neighborhoods where other African-Americans would look up to him, but he knew that there were no decent houses that he and Gladys would both like in those places. Sweet was fully aware of the danger of living in white neighborhood before buying the house on Garland Avenue. One of the reasons why he ignored the possible danger was because he liked the message the house delivered. He used to live in Black Bottom where most African-Americans lived, but he knew that established families lived in better neighborhoods, and he wanted nothing less for his family. He wished his family to live in the “newest, most impressive house on the block” (22). However, the main reason why he bought the house was to please Gladys. He did not want to disappoint her or “let her see just how terrified he was by the thought of moving in” (23). Gladys was aware of the risks because she had heard relatives talking about terrifying stories of blacks getting violently murdered, but hearing and seeing are different things. She had never experienced the “fury of white hatred” (25) since she grew up in a white neighborhood without having to endure through any of the Jim Crow laws. On the other hand, Ossian Sweet knew that moving into Garland Avenue would cause uproar in the white community and his family would face harsh discrimination. Even after the Sweets realized that he would face such severe resistance from the whites, he decided not to move because backing up would be admitting that “he wasn’t willing to live up to the principles that had been preached to him ever since Wilberforce, that he had no claim to a place among the Talented Tenth” (156). The Talented Tenth was the top 10% of the
He was an educated, well off, professional man who worked his way up from a poor family. Buying an expensive house on Garland Avenue, where all the whites lived, was a monumental moment for him. Although he deserved to enjoy living in a fine house with Gladys, his wife whom he loved very much, he had to remain alert every night to make sure that his family and house were not attacked by the white neighbors. When Sweet’s neighbors found out that a colored family was moving into their neighborhood, they were outraged and fearful of the consequences. They simply could not stand the fact that their “daughters soon would be sharing the street with brooding Negro men and sitting in classrooms next to colored boys whose passions knew no restraint” (147). The whites thought having African-Americans in their neighborhood would ruin their standards. Having one black family in their neighborhood would bring them down to colored’s level. It was not only Sweet’s neighbors that were upset by the news of an African-American family moving in; the marketplace would be affected greatly because real agents would start steering white customers elsewhere, banks would downgrade home values, some of the neighbors would try to sell as quickly as they could, and the downward spiral would begin, housing prices tumbling, family budgets crumbling, disaster looming” (147). The reaction of whites was ridiculously chaotic all due to one civil black family joining other whites. As stated before, Ossian Sweet was a respectable man who was more professional and well off than many whites. He could have found neighborhoods where other African-Americans would look up to him, but he knew that there were no decent houses that he and Gladys would both like in those places. Sweet was fully aware of the danger of living in white neighborhood before buying the house on Garland Avenue. One of the reasons why he ignored the possible danger was because he liked the message the house delivered. He used to live in Black Bottom where most African-Americans lived, but he knew that established families lived in better neighborhoods, and he wanted nothing less for his family. He wished his family to live in the “newest, most impressive house on the block” (22). However, the main reason why he bought the house was to please Gladys. He did not want to disappoint her or “let her see just how terrified he was by the thought of moving in” (23). Gladys was aware of the risks because she had heard relatives talking about terrifying stories of blacks getting violently murdered, but hearing and seeing are different things. She had never experienced the “fury of white hatred” (25) since she grew up in a white neighborhood without having to endure through any of the Jim Crow laws. On the other hand, Ossian Sweet knew that moving into Garland Avenue would cause uproar in the white community and his family would face harsh discrimination. Even after the Sweets realized that he would face such severe resistance from the whites, he decided not to move because backing up would be admitting that “he wasn’t willing to live up to the principles that had been preached to him ever since Wilberforce, that he had no claim to a place among the Talented Tenth” (156). The Talented Tenth was the top 10% of the