African Americans

African Americans

Of the many ethnic groups in the United States, African Americans are one of the largest, and they are mainly from the African ancestry, although some have nonblack ancestors as well. Because African Americans were primarily the descendant of slaves, their rights were limited severely, and they were long denied their rightful share in the political, social, and even the economic share of the united states. However, when it comes to American history and culture, African Americans have made both necessary and lasting contributions. In this paper, we look at the historical laws that affected human service delivery for African Americans. Additionally, it describes the law in detail and also explains the impact the law had on African Americans.

Despite the Supreme Court rulings that outlawed the exclusion of African Americans or other minorities from individual sections of cities, by the late 1960s, race-based housing patterns were still in practice (History.com, 2018). In most cases, those who challenged them ere met with hostility, resistance, and even violence. The fair housing act of 1968 prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on religion, race, national origin, or even sex. The fair housing act was first presented to the Congress in 1966, to primarily address the issues of racial discrimination in the rental and sales of housing (Britannica, n. d). Since it as intended as a follow-up to the civil act of 1964, the bill was the subject of a contentious debate that failed to gain the necessary support of passage for over two years. However, the Act was passed in haste by the House of Representatives a few days after the assassination of one of the Bill’s most active supporter Martin Luther King Jr. and who had also been at the forefront of the open housing marches in Chicago in the 1960s. From the era of civil rights, the fair housing Act stands out as the last great legislative achievement.

The fair housing act protects buyers and renters of housing from discrimination by landlords and sellers or even financial institutions, and it makes it unlawful for those entities to refuse to rent, sell or provide financing for a dwelling based on factors other than a person’s financial resources. In 1974, the act that prohibited discrimination based on religion, race, the national origin, was expanded to include gender. It was again expanded in 1988 to include people with disabilities and also families with children (Britannica, n. d). The fair housing act committed the federal government to fair housing in principle, systematic removal of its enforcement meant that its goals would be hard to achieve. The act authorized the HUD only to investigate complaints of housing discrimination and had only limited time to dismiss or pursue the allegations. In case they chose to pursue the claims of discrimination, it was only empowered to engage in conference persuasion and conciliation in order to resolve the problem. Additionally, if the allegation had taken place in a state where a substantially equivalent fair housing statute was in place, HUD was required to hand over the case to the state authorities.

In cases where the investigations showed that a victim had suffered discrimination, the agency had no way to force compliance, assess the damage, grant a remedy, prohibit discrimination practices from going on, or even impose penalties on the lawbreakers in any way. HUD only could refer the case to the Justice Department for further prosecution. The fair housing act was a vital piece of the civil rights legislation, but in reality, it was one of the many steps that were taken by congress to promote residential segregation. Although the Act prohibited discrimination in the racial form in the sale and rental of housing, it did not take any action to stop discrimination in mortgage lending. However, the Act was u, and congress passed the equal credit opportunity act in 1974 that discrimination on African Americans was banned (Massey, 2015). The law against black neighborhoods was later passed to eliminate the legal basis for the practice of redlining, and it was known as the Community Reinvestment Act.

A multicultural collaboration involves members from different cultural backgrounds and orientations, and in this case, the African Americans with goals or missions that are to populations with different cultures. The cultural differences can barricade the opportunity of working together unless both parties unite to create a relationship. In all spheres and areas of life that are regulated by law, human rights were claimed. Cultural rights are a vital, integral aspect of universal human rights, making the range of application of cultural rights equal to that of human rights. Cultura diversity is essential since the world consists of various cultural, ethnic, and racial groups. Getting to know about other cultures allows the understanding of different perspectives within the area in which we live. Besides, cultural diversity allows recognition and respect in the ways of being that are not owned necessarily. In interacting with others, bridges are built, and there is a presence of understanding.

For a multicultural collaboration to be successful, there has to be a sense of common purpose. However, the consideration that different cultural groups may have different ideas about how leaders rise into power and how they exercise it, and about how conflicts and disagreement are supposed to be manageable. Multicultural collaboration emphasizes on the common interests rather than the differences. In-fighting has the character of odd and self-destructive. On the other hand, creating awareness in in cultural similarities together with the cultural differences can play a more vital role rather than division. With prevailing interest, it is easier to evaluate and translate the differences reducing the barriers to effectiveness.

Besides, it gets every person to a stable platform. There are community-wide issues in different cultures and that is why it is crucial to assemble them to a similar platform. The biggest problem of having many different groups in a society is the divided war against the whole community. In separation, they lack the power to resolve a problem, but when they are in collaboration, it becomes easier to put up with each other. Finally, multicultural collaboration improves the challenge of doing away with the communication barriers from different cultures, ethnic heritage, traditions, values, history, racial attitudes, and the sense of self. For effective multicultural collaboration, the inclusive parties should have inclusive leadership that understands and strives for diversity while handling the conflicts and problems as they progress. If the focus remains on the common goal and equal power fo everyone is involved, collaboration has excellent chances of success.