Fate for Taylor

With Black History Month coming up, it's important to recognize political figures that made an impact in the civil rights movement. Before Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, or Rosa Parks were civil rights activists and writers such as W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T Washington, and George Edwin Taylor, who many people don't know about. George Edwin Taylor was the first African American to run for President back in 1904, and I believe that Taylor was meant to run for president. He began a chain of movements and inspired other African American political activists to get more involved with the evolution of African American rights. 

He was an orphan when his fate began because he was luckily placed in a home where they encouraged him to pursue a future in writing and politics.His foster father, Nathan Smith, was able to get him to go and get an education. Which helped him in the future because he was already writing for newspapers etc. Taylor was involved in local and state governments and in the Labor of African Americans. Soon enough he owned the local newspaper, The Wisconsin Labor Advocate, and by that he was able to speak on the social and racial issues in politics. Taylor was the president of  the National Negro Democratic League, and when he realized that black Americans were losing their political and personal rights, he knew he had a duty to step up and run for president. 

This showed initiative and dedication to one's race, and nowadays, it's hard to find people on the same page when it comes to race and politics. For almost a decade, society has been fighting with each other to reach a middle ground in politics and race. Back in 2013, African American activists started a movement called 'Black Lives Matter' and ever since then it has been an ongoing fight for justice against violence and systematic racism of African Americans. Even now, in 2020 we are still fighting against race. President Donald Trump has enacted immigration bans and has even built a 50 foot tall wall to prevent Mexican citizens from entering the country illegally. He has enacted a specific immigration ban for Muslims, which isn't even a race, but a religion yet still they are being discriminated against. 

The issues now and the issues then are the same: they do no want colored people in this country. Back then it was more vulgar and violent however, now we are more accepting but when it comes down to politics, there is a clear divide. Most Republicans are white, and most democrats are people of color, and it influences the decisions of this country greatly. People use race as a reason to disagree with one another, and use it to differ their views. As a society in 2020, I have noticed that whenever there is a issue, with it being abortion, gun control, or drug policies, race seems to always be a factor. For example, before the Heartbeat Bill was passed, there was studies showing that there was more women of the African American race seeking abortions than white women. To me, with abortion, it should't have anything to do with the color of their skin. Same with gun control. After the multiple mass shootings, it was labeled a "white man's thing". People would constantly point out the fact that it wasn't African Americans committing mass shootings, but it was white men therefore causing another divide within society because of race.

George Edwin Taylor was meant to run for president, I believe that it was fate, and it was crucial to the start of civil rights. Without the courage of Taylor, we probably would have had a harder time getting to where we are today. He influenced other African Americans to stand up for their rights, weather it being in politics or society. He gave them a voice, and began a monumental change for African Americans and other people of color. 


Sources

Hill, Selena. “Black History Month: The Son of a Slave Who Ran for President, George Edwin Taylor.” Black Enterprise, Black Enterprise, 1 Feb. 2019, www.blackenterprise.com/black-history-month-son-slave-ran-president/.


Mouser, Bruce L. “Running for President: George Edwin Taylor, 1904 •.” •, 12 Sept. 2019, www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/running-president-george-edwin-taylor-1904/.