African American Imperialism Research Paper

Imperialism has been responsible for the downfall of many indigenous and minority cultures. In many cases, the more powerful groups seem to suppress and destroy other cultures. This was seen among many types of people, such as African Americans, Filipinos, and Native Americans. This often led the minority group to feel suppressed and fight back for their human rights. Thus, imperialism greatly affected the cultural elements of many minority groups, as their culture was often destroyed or separated from the rest of society.

In the article, “REINFORCING MANLINESS: BLACK STATE MILITIAS, THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, AND THE IMAGE OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER,” Andrew D. Amron states that even though African Americans were heroes for the American army, …show more content…
I became enlightened on the African American experience in the Spanish Civil War, and how they felt segregated and were not honored as much as whites, even if they performed better. Amron also opened my mind to the Jim Crow era after the war, and how African Americans faced lynching, violence and beating. In Cooper’s article, I learned about the active engagement of African Americans regarding the issues of imperialism and their opinions on creating a more equal society. From both articles, the way I view the topic of American Minorities and Imperialism has greatly changed, as now I can reflect and analyze on those problems with accurate historical knowledge and see how bad African Americans were treated during this time. My own background influences my perspective on the issue because I have a family member that was in the army, and they shared their experiences. For instance, my uncle was in the US Army and served some time in Afghanistan. He shared with me the hardships and violence he faced in the army, not necessarily from racism like the African Americans faced in the Spanish-American war, but more mental and physical pain from fighting. Thus, with some military stories in mind, I look at the violence of the Spanish-American war and imperialism in a more serious lens. The cultural issues seen in the readings are similar to the racism that African Americans have faced in the United States in recent years. After the death of George Floyd in 2020, African Americans have been the highlight of systematic segregation. They were targeted by many police institutes for their skin color and were not treated fairly by the government. This is very similar to the circumstances African Americans faced with the Spanish Civil War and the effort of African Americans to present their own rights in the face of imperialism. During the Spanish Civil War, African Americans faced

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