Should African Americans Work Harder

From the 17th to the 19th century, Europeans expedited African people to perform exhausting labor, thus restricting their freedom. In a People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn described the development of slavery by stating the contributing factors. For instance, European settlers coming from Europe and Spain would station at Africa to force Africans to return to America and work on plantations. African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. In addition, to being plantation workers, slaves could also work in the houses of their owners as butlers, cooks, and nurses for children. Furthermore, slaves were taken away from their

Throughout time, in all places, there is an upper class and a lower class. During the 16th to 19th century in America people came from all over Europe. People from Europe found America as an escape from their life; a new start. Some could not afford to take a boat ride across the Atlantic with their whole family. Because of this, some people became indentured servants. Later on, the South revolutionized America by bringing in black slaves and getting rid of indentured servitude. Slaves generated the economy for the South, but was also the main cause of the civil war. Both slaves and indentured servants were treated badly, however, black slaves were much more expensive and had to work for life,

Throughout history, many groups of people have been forced to work without pay. The Jewish people of the holocaust and African American people are no different. In Germany and Europe in 1933 to 1945. Hitler went to power and gathered people support. Hitler and Nazis want to kill the Jewish people from Germany and soon expanded to Europe. Millions of Jewish people were forced out of the homes and sent to camps to work until death. Similarly, to the slavery, when African American were forced out of Africa and out of their homes to America because Americans wanted free labor, so they could make more money. They were brought them to the southern part of America and sold to other Americans. Although the Holocaust and slavery both forced people to work hours every day, there are many differences including the cause of the events.

The dream of achieving a college education and reaching for the stars in an attempt to achieve lifelong dreams became a dream deferred for many African Americans in the early years of this great nation. Dreams of becoming a doctor, an attorney, or an engineer were completely off limits for African Americans because of this country's rigid caste system. Because of slavery and Jim Crow laws, society forced Blacks to do menial jobs, which kept the majority of them stuck in the country's lower class, praying for a day when equality would be available for all.

In Genovese´s ¨The Black Work Ethic¨, Genovese explains how slaves were generally lazy when it came to performing work for their masters but when it came to doing work for themselves they were more than happy to do it. Genovese also explains how enslaved people came together as a community and developed a culture in spite of being enslaved. Similar to Stampp, Genovese explains actions displayed by slaves that were performed as a retaliation to being enslaved. Dr. Du Bois explains that the white and black work ethic are two very different things. ¨ The white worker worked hard not only to avoid starvation but to avoid disgracing himself and his family, whereas the black worker, ¨ looked upon work as a necessary evil and maintained his right to balance the

(Newman and Pedulla, 2010). This number is twice as much as whites. Even if they had a job, many African Americans work for the low quality jobs. This means low levels of income relatively whites. And also nearly 50% of the wage differences between blacks and whites result from the racial discrimination. (Greene and Rogers, 1994). So, we can say that discrimination of wages between blacks and whites play a key role to determinate the income status of blacks. Also underemployment is serious as unemployment for many Americans especially for African Americans, because generally they work in that kind of positions. In March, almost 6 percent of workers had worked part time involuntary jobs. (Newman and Pedulla, 2010).

During slavery, most black slaves were denied proper education and many laws were passed in the South prohibiting slave literacy. Even free blacks in the century before and after the Civil War were limited in their access to quality education and career training.

Thus, slavery pulled white workers down in two ways: one, by direct competition with slave labor in the South, and two, by associating all the industrious efforts of workers with those of the degraded slaves.”

The issue of slavery has been in infamous part of American history since it first started in the 1600’s in Jamestown, Virginia. During the colonial era, white male landowners needed help on their land taking care of crops, so they would purchase the African slaves after they arrived by boat and have them work the land as well as other tasks that needed to be done such as tending to

It was a hot blistering summer day not a leaf in sight or a hint of shade to be found. Mouth is dry as cotton from thirst and hands bleeding and blistering from a hard days work, exhausted from fatigue and hunger, because Master had me out here since the crack of dawn. Tending to the crops in the field and told me not come until every last crop has been tended which is about three football fields long. This is some of the Vigorous work that slaves had to endure. Slavery is a big part of American history. Many of the African Americans you see today are descendants of the 500,000 plus Africans who were sent to North America as slaves. To work

Some people may argue that “Only a tiny minority of Americans ever owned slaves. This is true even for those who lived in the ante-bellum South where only one white in five was a slaveholder. Why should their descendants owe a debt? What about the descendants of the 350,000 Union soldiers who died to free the slaves? They gave their lives. What possible moral principle would ask them to pay (through their descendants) again?”( Horowitz) Unfortunately i disagree with this argument because African American had to face cruel punishment but

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 another sense, there are other minorities who have suffered a great deal due inequality in America. That would be the Hispanic culture, who will do most work other culture refuse to do for less pay. Some Mexican who comes from parts of Mexico that is so poor that they are willingly and ready to work for almost nothing. Many of them work here in the United States illegally, picking tomatoes or other crops. Although they earn less than the minimum wage, it is better than earning nothing back home. While it is true that Mexican immigrants worked very hard, it does not necessary mean that they should be subject to work for a very low wage. Above all, they work long hours in the hot beaming sun, until their skin turns three shades darker than it was before they

When in the course of life events, it becomes necessary that all ethnicities be treated equally. The powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitled them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The majority of slave work was accomplished by African men, women, and children. The North was fighting to free the slaves and after the war was finished there was still much work needed to secure the freedmen’s’ futures.