Banning the 'Autobiography of Malcolm X'

This is proof that this terrible act was very typical within slaveholding societies. Now, just because this relationship seems usual in the south, it does not mean everyone condoned it. The wives of many slave owners proved they were not okay with a white male and a black female relationship by the way they acted with “anger and resentment” towards other slaves (McLaurin, 26). Wives chose to ignore this behavior simply because if they didn’t, not only would their lives be in danger, but so would their children’s.

The decision to ban the novel Huckleberry Finn from classrooms and libraries has been an ongoing controversy. The presence of the 'n word' and the treatment towards Jim, and other blacks in general, has made many readers uncomfortable. Despite this fact, Huckleberry Finn has been and remains a classic read. I do not believe the novel should be banned or sanitized because it is a part of American history whether it is good or bad, also we have no right to change someone's writing simply because we do not like how it is written, Mark Twain's writing should not be penalized because of the ideals of today.

Victims of rape and other forms of sexual harassment became more vulnerable and susceptible toward psychological and emotional control by whites due to severe mental and physical ramifications. Sexual harassment was a means of forcing blacks into submission; this tactic created a somewhat obedient labor force. Besides these motives, black women were denigrated through use of their reproductive capacity as a form of slave breeding.

For example, Sally Thomas was “respected by whites as an industrious, dependable, intelligent and skillful laundress”. Rarely were slaves treated in such a manner and the book goes on to list many other slaves of whom were treated in similarity to Sally Thomas. Although a slave, Sally had a small percentage of power and was ultimately able maneuver “within the system with remarkable agility” She was able to arrange for her kids to work for well-known people so that they could learn and grow to be more civilized. This was rare for a slave of her time to be able to have some say in who her kids would work

In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.

Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, told by Alex Haley, details the incredible journey of one of the most inspiration and life altering leaders the world has ever encountered. The book begins with the illustration of Malcolm’s early life experiences and ends with X predicting that he will die a violent death prior to seeing the publication of his autobiography.

Women were not only used for their labor, but were also exploited sexually. Slave owners felt they had the right to use black women for their own sexual desires, and felt they had the right to use their bodies for slave breeding. This obscenity between the master and slave were not only psychologically damaging for black women, but would also lead to physical abuse. In her narrative, Ms. Jacobs gives us a firsthand description of the abuse that would occur if she were to upset her master, “Some months before, he had pitched me down stairs in a fit of passion; and the injury I received was so serious that I was unable to turn myself in bed for many days”

Many books around the world have been banned because they are offensive. One example is Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about the journey of a thirteen-year-old boy named Huck, who fabricates his own death to run away with an escaped slave named Jim. The two voyage in a raft along the Mississippi River to gain their individual freedom. In addition, Huck gains a new understanding about humanity. Huck Finn has been creating great controversy on both sides of the argument: to ban or to keep in the school curriculum. Currently “much debate has surrounded Mark Twain’s Huck Finn since its publication in 1885, but none has been more pervasive, explosive, and divisive than that surrounding the issue on race”

First of all, women don’t have important rights in slavery society. Patriarchal system is operated under the absolute dominance of men, and women have responsibility to fully obey husbands. Women have to serve men and accept their inferiority to men. Husbands possess absolute control over wives and children just as they do over their slaves. White women share common characteristics of patriarchal system. They are not allowed to freely move and always have to ask their husbands’ permissions. White female gentries have so many responsibilities for the family. They were expected to take care of her children, support husbands unconditionally, do the household

They needed and deserved protection. African American women were wanton, licentious, promiscuous […] African American men were lustful beasts who could not be trusted in the company of ‘good’ women, white women. [4]

White explores the master’s sexual exploitation of their female slaves, and proves this method of oppression to be the defining factor of what sets the female slaves apart from their male counterparts. Citing former slaves White writes, “Christopher Nichols, an escaped slave living in Canada, remembered how his master laid a woman on a bench, threw her clothes over her head, and whipped her. The whipping of a thirteen-year-old Georgia slave girl also had sexual overtones. The girl was put on all fours ‘sometimes her head down, and sometimes up’ and beaten until froth ran from her mouth (33).” The girl’s forced bodily position as well as her total helplessness to stop her master’s torture blatantly reveals the forced sexual trauma many African females endured.

“Cruelty is contagious in uncivilized communities.” In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs provides a portrayal of her life as a black slave girl in the 1800s. Though Harriet described herself as having yellowish brown skin; she was the child of a black mother and a white father. “I was born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away.” Born with one drop of black blood, regardless of the status of her white father, she inherited the classification of black and was inevitably a slave. Harriet endured years of physical and mental abuse from her master and witnessed firsthand how slaves were treated based on the color of their skin. Years of abuse can only be taken for so long, like many

In William Blake’s print “Europe Supported by Africa and Europe,” Blake depicts Europe as a white woman with Africa, a black woman, holding her up. Though Africa’s expression seems almost tender, it does not change the fact that she has a gold band around her arm, showing her enslavement like a ball and chain. Though Europe relied heavily on Africa and America, mainly for economic reasons, European treatment of slaves and Native Americans was appalling. Even before slaves were made to do hard labor, the trip to the New World was dreadful. Slaves were crowded together in the bottom of a ship, only fed soaked corn and anybody who rebelled was thrown overboard. However, life for those who survived the trip was worse. In The Life of Olaudah Equiano, Equiano, a former slave, talks about a man who “had sold 41,000 negroes, and he once cut off a negroman’s leg for running away.” Slaves were regarded as pieces of property and nothing more than that. They suffered much abuse at the hands of their masters, mostly physical, such as “[being] beaten till some of [their] bones were broken.” In The Biography of Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, Baquaqua was “whipped… most unmercifully, and beat… about the head and face with a heacy stick, then shook… by the neck, and [had his] head struck against the door’s posts.” Slave owners did not hesitate to beat their slaves without mercy. It is not

“Only by experience can any one realize how deep, and dark, and foul is that pit of abominations.” (Jacobs, 120). These words are spoken by Harriet Jacobs (also known as Linda Brent) and after reading about her life experience as a slave, I have come to believe that slavery was far worse for women than it ever was for men. Jacobs never states that black slave men had it easy during the slave years, in fact she tells a few stories about how some slave men were beaten. She also tells about the life experience of a slave girl, herself. Her own experiences made me feel blessed that I was never born as a black woman during the time of slavery. I do not think that I would have been strong enough to endure