A Perfect World Is Not A Linear Path Of Progress Essay

When many people think of slavery they think of thousands African Americans working hard, long hours in a field under the scorching sun only to end the day by sleeping in a dirt home; where the bed was a dirty floor or if they were lucky a wooden board

Upon graduating high school, I thought I knew everything there was to Black History. We were captured from Africa, forced into slavery for hundreds of years all around the world, became free with repercussions such as discrimination and segregation, and now today we are “officially free”. The Black history I knew, was scattered and filled with holes, which caused me to question my sense of worth. Why were African-Americans the most oppressed people in the world?

In fact, it could be said that we are still dealing with the after effects of slavery, such as our contemporary problems with racially-biased police violence. Stephen Mihm’s essay, “Where Slavery Thrived, Inequality Rules Today”, argues that there is a long way to go before the vestiges of slavery are fully and finally made a thing of the past, especially when it comes to black protestors and a white police force. But the research Mihm cites may help the rest of us grasp how the solutions to persistent inequality lies in more focused policies. Mihm notes that Winters “found a robust correlation between past reliance on slave labor and both economic underdevelopment and contemporary inequality.” In effect, this means that the gains of the abolitionist era has not resulted in curing racial problems and that these problems continue to this day. Mihm also quotes another author, Write, saying: “ Correlating one variable with another across the centuries [...] is not the same as writing history” and that “if you do not connect the dots, you are just groping.” In other words, Write is saying that people cannot just jump to conclusions and make 1:1 comparisons of the modern age to those that came before. In fact, it is erroneous to simply say that that history is happening all over; rather, you have to research and determine why things happen the way they do, what has gone wrong, and what motivations have

n 1619 a Dutch ship brought 20 slaves to America and it took nearly 240 years for slavery to end in 1865. In the absence of rights or freedom, my ancestors were put to work growing anything from cotton to tobacco. For centuries, my people fought for equality. Although we are “free” the fight has still remain. As a black women raised in America, I was hit with some harsh realities at a very young age.

    Since the beginning of American history, the black race has been the inferior race during times of slavery and times of freedom for black people. They have had to fight to be seen as legitimate first-class citizens, whether that be through slave uprisings in the pre-civil war era, the civil rights movement in the mid-1900’s, or the Black Lives Matter campaign that was started in 2013. Though not everyone has lived an easy life, and not everyone will, the people who have had it the hardest were the enslaved African-Americans in the early stages of our country.

There are a lot of stereotypes and misguided points that surround a certain racial population that make people jump to conclusions without knowing the truth. Post is slavery one of the many things we as Americans, look on as shameful ignorance. Slavery affects African Americans today because there has been no real justice served. Black people back in the day lost all the political and economic gains that where accomplished. The sad part is many believe that slavery is a thing of the past, but we still suffer in other ways. Samiullah Mustafa a historical professor say’s “Many blacks have to live with terrible housing, lack of employment opportunities, bad health care and education. This all exist because black people had to catch up and have been denied opportunities that were always there

Slavery has been entwined with American history ever since Dutch traders brought twenty captive Africans to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Slavery in America is a subject with minimal truths and stories rarely told. The public school system excludes the fact that eight of the first twelve American presidents were major slaveholders. Emancipation brought freedom, but not approximation. The civil rights movement killed Jim Crow, but shadows remained. Affirmative Action created opportunities, but racism continues.

In "The Negro Digs Up His Past", Arturo Schomburg attempted to take up the deep study of the African Americans’ history to display their past more closely and respond the statements that they have no past. He realized the necessity for the present generation to repair the history that was damaged by the slavery. Schomburg noted that “there is the definite desire and determination to have a history, well-documented, widely known......as a stimulating and inspiring tradition for the coming generation” (670). I think what Schomburg tended to do was to introduce the other side of the black people’s history--the splendid past and remarkable achievements, and reminded people to view their past objectively rather than focusing on the enslaved part. I totally agree with what Schomburg said, because every nation or race has its unique history and deserves to be treated fairly. From the reading material, I can see that the black people have lots of achievements they can proud of. What they should do currently is to repair their history and enable people to know a more complete one.

The institution of slavery dates back before written records. The term slave was originally a derivative from the historical French and Latin medieval word for Slavic people of central and Eastern Europe. [ (wikipedia, 2010) ] In North America, the class system is systematically at the root of every socioeconomic and political issue resulting in Super companies, multibillionaires and the formation of lobbyists and special interest groups; there always has and always will be the have and have-nots. Unfortunately, for African Americans who have historically been the have-nots, that does not seem to have changed as evidenced by recent events like the Jenna 6. African Americans have a history uniquely

In the first portion of Sandel’s paper titled, The Case Against Perfection, Michael Sandel discussed the moral and ethics debate surrounding the notion of in the future designing our offspring by altering their genes prior to conception. Within his argument, Sandal focuses on four main arguments surrounding the following realms of enhancement: muscles, memory, growth hormone treatment, and reproductive technologies (Sandel 52). Firstly, Sandel argues that genetic modifications in improving muscles whether it be to aid in the elderly population, a majority whom struggle with immobility and must rely upon medical devices such as wheelchairs, walkers, or are restricted to their homes and consequently often have a decreased quality of life.

At some point in our lives, we all took a history class and learned about the Slave Trades, the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era. Whether it was in elementary school, high school, or even in college, we all got a sense of that history and happened during that time frame. From what I learned, the impression that I got from what these history books were explaining was that, first, white people went to Africa and gathered hundreds and thousands of people, took them on boats to and turned them into slaves. Then after years have passed, good ol’ President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and blacks and whites lived equally ever after. Although these events did happen, textbooks still managed to “sugarcoat”

American history clearly demonstrated that slaves were never treated fairly, since they were first brought to the colonies in 1619 they have not had any rights. They were mistreated, misheard and misrepresent every second of their life. Slaves were treated less than a human, in fact they were treated like criminals even though most never committed a crime. The law stated that they were just property and that their owner held complete authority over them. Therefore very few slaves were able to become freeman or freewoman and able

     The history of the United States is filled to the brim with an abundance of significant events. Over the course of this nation’s young history there have been numerous social institutions. Many have been a necessity in our development. However, the US was home to one of the greatest atrocities committed on mankind. The institution of slavery is not only the most embarrassing but most sever infraction on the natural rights of man. At times there were in excess of three million black Americans enslaved in this country. It was not the dismal living conditions nor the bleak existence they lived that led them into a resistance of slavery. It was the theft, the

Prior to the publication of any slave narrative, African Americans had been represented by early historians’ interpretations of their race, culture, and situation along with contemporary authors’ fictionalized depictions. Their persona was often “characterized as infantile, incompetent, and...incapable of achievement” (Hunter-Willis 11) while the actions of slaveholders were justified with the arguments that slavery would maintain a cheap labor force and a guarantee that their suffering did not differ to the toils of the rest of the “struggling world” (Hunter-Willis 12). The emergence of the slave narratives created a new voice that discredited all former allegations of inferiority and produced a new perception of resilience and ingenuity.

When I think of slavery, I see southern plantations with large mansions and vast fields filled with enslaved individuals. I think of the maps in my middle school history books charting out the route of the transatlantic slave trade. I think of the illustrations of slaves packed into ships like Tetris pieces. Growing up in New England, I was taught to disassociate my state with these images. However, the North is not absolved from the sin of slavery just because we abolished it first. As one of the excerpts pointed out, New England slaves existed and were required to fill different roles for their white masters. Just because my state was the first to abolish slavery doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be taught about our role in the system before that.