African Americans and the Executive Power Coursework

African Americans and the Executive Power - Coursework Example However, three times in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, presidents made executive orders which helped overturn the accepted institution of racism against black Americans. This paper will look at Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Executive Order 8802 of 1941, and Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 of 1946, to show that these three situations were ones in which the executive power was used to create the less racist society of modern America. In 1863, the United States was in a horrific racial situation: it was the year of the New York Draft Riots, in which countless black people were murdered and lynched on the streets of the city; on a larger scale, the country was torn in a civil war over the fate of black slaves. It was into this context that President Lincoln introduced the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, an executive order which was more symbolic than effective: the Proclamation stated that slaves in the Confederate Sta tes of America were to be set free, an area over which Lincoln had no practical power at the time. Furthermore, it specifically did not suggest emancipation in the northern states which, ironically, were fighting in order to obtain the freedom of black slaves. Lincoln's aim was to starve the southern forces of free labor by popularizing this message to encourage black slaves to escape and be granted their freedom in the north – it was a purely tactical maneuver, and really not much more than a stepping stone on the way to true abolition, which was achieved with the Thirteenth Amendment at the end of 1865. Sadly, it was not until this point that the fifty thousand or so remaining slaves in the northern states were emancipated. Nonetheless, the Emancipation Proclamation remains an important milestone for black civil rights, and one of the few which was granted exclusively by the President through an executive order. In fact, the three Executive Orders discussed in this paper we re not really as powerful as they are often thought of – they were merely baby steps along a path to increased civil liberties and diminished discrimination.

Welfare Reform Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Welfare Reform - Assignment Example Criticisms increased as the intellectuals found that many American actually was taking advantages from this programme by many ways, such as they would not like to apply for jobs, engaged to have more children to get more benefit and would not like to get married for getting more aid etc. It was 1996 when finally President Clinton signed the law passed by the Republican-majority Congress that ultimately gave the key of controlling welfare system back to the states. (Zuckerman, 2004; Rector, 1995) In this new system all the necessary information regarding the income level (gross and net), size of the family, homelessness, unemployment, etc., are collected to determine the type and amount of benefits that applicant is eligible to get. (US welfare system – â€Å"Help for US citizens†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. 2010) For applying a welfare program a person must contact the local Human Service Department for getting appointment with a case worker who is responsible to give a list of desired documents such as income proof, ID, utility bills, other residency proof etc. After reviewing all these details the case worker determine eligibility of an applicant. (‘US welfare system – â€Å"Help for US citizens†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. 2010) Welfare-to-Work initiative programme unfortunately stopped in 2004 that provided financial assistance in exchange for work. TANF program has been reapproved in 2005. The common welfare services, such as Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid are still there in the system. Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) has also been proposed to offer to less-income families for financial stability. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2005) Kay Hagan is the democratic senator of North Carolina while Richard Burr is the republican senator of the district. (Issues 2000, 2010) Virginia Foxx is the representative of North Carolina. (Contacting the Congress, 2010) Kay Hagan has addressed the crucial