The narrated video Without Sanctuary expressed the previous physical pain that African American’s were forced to endure in this country’s earlier years. The photographs of blacks being lynched made me cringe at first sight. However, while watching this film several thoughts went through my head. Thoughts correlating with the shocking fact that a human would treat another human different because of the color of their skin. Once my thoughts shifted from the feeling of disgust and confusion of the treatment of blacks, I then realized how much hate someone has to have in their heart to commit such heinous behavior towards another person.
Initially while watching this video and analyzing the photographs included, I felt disgusted by the history of America. However, during my time watching this video I felt very overwhelmed as saturated feelings of unintentional angry thoughts of white people crowded my head. In each picture, I felt a connection as if I were standing in front of each lynching. With the narrator in the background speaking in such a nonchalant tone I could not completely focus and take in the reality of what my ancestors were suspected to. Therefore, I ended up watching the video
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One reason being to promote the education of black history in America, and the actuality of the treatment of African American’s. I am interested in the opinions of others on the rationality of slavery, as well as their thoughts and feelings towards the era. Therefore, a second reason for sharing this video, or website with others would be for my own personal gain. By this I mean, I am curious of the array of responses and reactions to these particular photographs throughout the video, as well as the general topic of black enslavement and mistreatment. I am also interested in whether other blacks feel they have a biological connection to the era of slavery and mistreatment of
John Jay Chapman’s essay, “Coatesville”, describes a crime committed by a small mob. The author verbalizes his anger towards the torture and burning alive of a black man named Zachariah Walker in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, while there were hundreds of American citizens that stood by aimlessly witnessing the event happen. In 1912, the author constructed a prayer meeting in which he gave a speech about the crime. He went on to implying that we shouldn’t just hold the people who committed the crime responsible but the nation itself. Convinced that these crimes still exist till this day because our nation hasn’t given up racism or being prejudice. He gives this speech to make the people more aware of their mistakes and provides them with ways to fix them.
He wants his readers to imagine the pain and humiliation of the ill treatment that African Americans endure on a daily basis. King writes of vicious mobs lynching people’s mothers and fathers, policemen killing people’s brothers and sisters, a man and his wife not receiving the proper respect they deserve because of their skin color, and the notion that African Americans feel insignificant within their communities; this is why these peaceful demonstrators of whom the clergymen attack “find it difficult to wait” (King, 20). However, King believes that soon, injustice will be exposed, like “a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up” (King, 30). This vivid description helps arouse an emotional response, driving shame into the hearts of his white readers.
“Vicious mobs lynch” and “drown your sisters and brothers” shows the fear that individuals live through each day. Equally, the “hate-filled policemen” support these unjust actions, meaning African-Americans lack any support and protection. Citing “twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty” reveals the hardships they must endure due to this discrimination. Similarly, King reminisces:
The Shadow of Hate helps illustrate the evergoing history of racism that is portrayed within the United States. It emphasizes that since the beginning of United States history to the present day, racism still remains a critical topic that many individuals need to be informed about. While this film talks about racism in the United States as a whole, it goes deeper in pinpointing specific racial groups that received the cruelest treatment throughout U.S. history. Once finishing the film, I found myself mesmerized by the fascinating stories and clear depiction on how the severity of racism has had an impact on the past as well as how it will influence the future. It truly shows that racism is still prominent in society, considering people from the past condoned to this type of behavior. When finding the points made throughout the film, I was able to categorize them and look at them through all three sociological perspectives- the interactionist, the functionalist, and the conflict paradigms-to understand the deeper meaning behind them.
After the emergence of this “new racism”, the lack of comfortability and control is displaying itself today in examples of racially motivated violence that mirror several racist events in pre-Civil Rights history. In August of 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago who arrived in rural Mississippi to unknowingly change the dynamic of racism in America, at least he did then. The story goes that while he was in a store, he whistled at a white woman, the wife of storeowner Roy Bryant, who was not present. The woman, Carolyn Bryant, testified later under oath that Emmett asked her for a date, made crude gestures, and then some resulting in Emmett being chased out of the store. A few days later, Emmett was tracked down by Roy Bryant, was
In the new proactive book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander dives into the not so complicated racial issues that plague this country that we tend to ignore. In all of history, African Americans have had to constantly fight for their freedoms and the right to be considered a human being in this society. It’s very troubling looking back and seeing where we have failed people in this country. At the turn of the century, when people began to think that we had left our old ways behind, this book reminds us that we are wrong. Racism is still alive today in every way, just in different forms.
The discriminating social stratification in 1950’s developed a set of servile behavior on the blacks. They were thought to be inferior to whites, and were treated accordingly. Moreover, different parts of the country had various ranges of sensitivities while dealing with the blacks. For example, in Mississippi things were particularly tense after the Parker lynch case. No black man would dare look into any white man’s eyes in fear of the repercussions. On the bus, a man warned Griffin to watch himself closely until he caught onto Mississippi’s ways. In an extreme case like this, it was vital to learn about their roles and behave accordingly.
Racism is one of the biggest problems today. As we look back, a considerable measure of our history is based on racial discrimination, hatred, and African Americans being treated as slaves. The Shadow of Hate revolves around a history of intolerance in America, and how the origins of race affected American people. The Shadow of Hate was an eye opener as it shows how the native Americans, Japanese Americans, African Americans, Jews, and Hispanics were treated back in the days. In this paper, I am going to summarize the documentary and compose my perspectives on what I think about it.
“The brutality with which official would have quelled the black individual became impotent when it could not be pursued with stealth and remain unobserved. It was caught—as a fugitive from a penitentiary is often caught—in gigantic circling spotlights. It was imprisoned in a luminous glare revealing the naked truth to the whole world” – Martin Luther King (8, Kasher)
Recently, an L.A. Times article (dated 2/13/00) reviewed a new book entitled "Without Sanctuary", a collection of photographs from lynchings throughout America. During the course of the article, the author, Benjamin Schwarz, outlined some very interesting and disturbing facts related to this gruesome act of violence: Between 1882 and 1930, more than 3,000 people were lynched in the U.S., with approximately 80% of them taking place in the South. Though most people think only African Americans were victims of lynchings, during those years, about 25% were white. Data indicates that mobs in the West lynched 447 whites and 38 blacks; in the Midwest there were 181 white victims and 79 black; and in the South, people lynched 291
For many centuries racism has being an ongoing problem and occurrence in many societies, especially in America. Many different measures have been taken to try and diminish the racism that clearly infests this beloved country, but none have ever truly worked. Although these measures have never effectively worked to erase racism out of our society as a whole, some have opened people's’ eyes in creative ways to understand that it is no joke. One measure that has somewhat worked is through media and the arts such as cinema, literature, and paintings. An example of cinema is Jordan Peele’s movie, “Get Out” that portrays racism through a sense of horror that captivates a viewer's mind to see and understand the underlying theme of it all. “Get Out” is about a young African-American man named Chris who falls for a young Caucasian woman named Rose. Together they are going up to meet Rose’s family who put on an act to make it seem like they are somewhat normal, but in reality lure young African-Americans into their home every year to auction them off to a group of older white people so they can use their bodies for pseudo-immortality. Peele’s horrific movie “Get Out” opens a viewer's eyes and mind to the different concepts of racism and how brutal and unjust it is to people of color.
“You are a nothing little nigger” is one of the demeaning phrases African American human beings have heard over the years in an effort to keep them in a state of persecution. This paper will discuss the persecution of the African American. The following documents the struggles, gut wrenching pain, and heart ache of African American people have endured and are still suffering with today.
Both racism and violence are large themes of not just, Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space, but also of America during the mid-1900’s. Unfortunately, there still exists the same themes in today’s world even though the population is becoming increasingly more educated. Hate and discrimination are taught evils, not innate ones, and in order to prevent the need for stories such as Brent Staples’ to be told, society as a whole must band together to eliminate the occurrence of such a destructive, devastating
Over 400 hundred years there has been slavery, racism, and discrimination in America with blacks, and other minorities. A famous man once said “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word” – Martin Luther King Jr (brain quote). The movies ‘Miracle at St. Anna’ directed by Spike Lee, and ’12 Years a Slave’ directed by Steve McQueen both show the struggle African Americans went through during a tough racial period in American history. Even today in Modern society African Americans still deal with racism. Spike
I was very shocked to see how the video showed how the movie Birth of Nation and how race opporates in the U.S are still prevelant today. We are still living a place where people of color are still thrown under the bus for things either they did'nt commit or just because it can be done to them because they are considered a minority and are known as second class citizens. An yes Jim Crows Laws still exsist today in a more discrete form, however, alot of people see it as well. Only difference is now people can join together as a movement to seek some sort of justice. That will probably never happen, since issues such as them ones shown in the video have been going on for years and may still go on for years to come. I believe out of all the information