The Dred Scott v. Sandford was one of many cases that had a major impact on the equal rights of African Americans in America. Dred Scott was an enslaved African American. His owner’s name was John Emerson. John Emerson moved from salve territories and went to non-salve territories. Some years passed on and John Emerson had years after moving around, wife figured that Dred Scott and his family were her property now. From 1840’s until 1857 Scott sued John Emerson’s wife for his family and his freedom because they felt they lived in non-slave states for years and should be consider free individuals.

On March 6, 1857, The Supreme Court made a decision in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case. “In addition, this decision declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. The Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.” After years of filing for independence the Supreme Court decided that Scott and his family could not be allowed freedom because subsequently African Americans were only consider property and could never be consider citizen.

This verdict exposed how racially prejudiced the court system was and the entire nation were hearing about this. A lot of slave owners hated the Missouri compromise line but after hearing the conclusion made for this case, it put a battery in their backs to not care about prior set commandments because they can get away with it and continue to travel with slaves anywhere in the country. The Protestors against slavery and the inhuman treatment they had gotten were disgusted with the verdict and felt it was unjustified and was disrespectful African American. Around that time of the decision was made, tension was already high between the nations so this case help make the civil war happen.

Dred Scott case showed that even when African Americans think they’re making progress with establishing their own identity and free will in the world, White people set up things that they knew would affect them for a very long. Decades after the Dred Scott decision and slavery was abolished, racism still lived on and you could see it in mostly in minorities’ areas. In Can’t Stop Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang, he talks about the history of hip hop. In the first few chapters it deals with the downfall of the Bronx and minorities.

Jeff Chang book says, “Savage Skull Danny DeJesus says, “Before they would go to the local police, the people would come to us to solve their problems.” Even New York Post columnist Pete Hamill wrote, “The best single thing that has happened on the streets of New York in the past ten years is the re-emergence of the teenage gangs. These young people are standing up for life, and if their courage lasts, they will help this city to survive.” At the time Robert Moses’s wanted to make it easier for people living in suburbs to get home quicker from work. He would do this by expanding a highway and the best way he felt would be a solution was to put a bridge right through the Bronx which was the urban areas that had project apartment buildings and which predominately African Americans and lower class people lived.

His plan just destroyed the Bronx instead. After the people of the Bronx felt hopeless between the fires being started so landlords could get insurance money, and not having homes anymore and other things, the community turned violent and it started to have gangs. So once the gangs “re-emergence” and had a positive take one the community that relief them from violence’s, they reunite the people and spread love and peace. One of the best thing one can say happened with the new gangs in the Bronx at the time was the when the block parties started because that could consider the real birth place of hip hop.

Over time Hip Hop became a culture. It evolved from just having block parties and dance battles instead of dealing with situations by violence. It became a tool to express yourself. The way the youth use Hip Hop to express themselves is usually through Mc-ing, which evolved into Rap. Rappers talk about the harsh reality they go through-or went through on a daily basis and how history and society played a part in it. You could see many examples of this in songs such as I Believe by artist T.I and even songs like This Is America by Childish Gambino. These two songs show how this artist used their platform to talk about issues African Americans face in present day. Also about how the system that was setup so that salves could not benefit from it, it’s still setup that way till this present day.

As talked about in the book, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, It’s not just the way you dress or act, Hip Hop helps unite communities together. No matter what skin color you have, what level of class you’re in, or even you’re age, Hip Hop has become a universal genre that unites all types of people to express themselves and ultimately just want peace in the world.

References:

1. Chang, Jeff. Cant Stop Wont Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation. New York: St. Martins, 2005.
2. Childish. GambinoVEVO. "Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)." YouTube. May 05, 2018. Accessed October 01, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY.
3. "Dred Scott." Wikipedia. September 25, 2018. Accessed October 01, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott
4. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Dred Scott decision | Definition, History, & Facts. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/
5. Dred-Scott-decision [Accessed 1 Oct. 2018]. "I Believe-T.I." Youtube.com. Accessed October 1, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GsVTsuPyOg.
6. Infoplease. Accessed September 27, 2018. https://www.infoplease.com/history-and- government/cases/dred-scott-v-sandford-1857.
7. Missouri Compromise." Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. Accessed September 27, 2018 http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/4030477.
8. Primary Documents in American History." Planning D-Day”(April 2003) – Library of Congress Information Bulletin. Accessed September 25, 2018. https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/dredscott.html
9. State. "MISSOURI STATE ARCHIVESMissouri's Dred Scott Case, 1846-1857." Before Dred Scott Ralph vs. Duncan Petition. Accessed October 01, 2018. https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/scott/scott.asp.
10. The Civil War in Missouri." Dred Scott | The Civil War in Missouri. Accessed September 27, 2018. http://www.civilwarmo.org/educators/resources/info-sheets/dred-scott-0.
11. The Supreme Court. The First Hundred Years. Landmark Cases . Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) | PBS." Legendary Violinists. Fritz Kreisler. Accessed October 01, 2018. https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_dred.html.