Despite stemming from fairly neutral root words, they were manipulated specifically to provoke and hurt.” (1) This label was also given as a way to dehumanise black Americans as it places them in an inferior category within society and establishes the superiority of white Americans over them. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there are several accounts of different characters in the novel with different examples of the value of human life. In this essay I will explore and closely analyse the value of human life as detailed in the novel. Right at the beginning of the novel we can see how demeaning Tom and Huck are towards the “nigger” Jim. Tom comes up with the plan “… to tie Jim to the tree for fun.” (Twain 6) after he falls asleep during his stake out, after hearing a noise which was Huck and Tom trying to escape the house.
He argues that racism is not natural because there are recorded instances of camaraderie and cooperation between black slaves and white servants in escaping from and in opposing their subjugation. Chapter 3, "Persons of Mean and Vile Condition" describes Bacon's Rebellion, the economic conditions of the poor in the colonies, and opposition to their poverty. Chapter 4, "Tyranny is Tyranny" covers the movement for "leveling" (economic equality) in the colonies and the causes of the American Revolution. Zinn argues that the Founding Fathers agitated for war to distract the people from their own economic problems and stop popular movements, a strategy that he claims the country's leaders would continue to use in the future. Chapter 5, "A Kind of Revolution" covers the war and resistance to participating in war, the effects on the Native American people, and the continued inequalities in the new United States.
Fairyington writes about how if society thinks that being gay is not a choice it labels them as abnormal. She continues to make the point in her references in history. The Nazi’s labeled Jews as being inferior; colonists justified enslaving Africans because
I suggest that the US government give them a permanent residency. Those that have committed serious crimes should be deported. Those that choose to follow the Senate's proposed bill should be given citizenship as long as they pass the test. But this is true for all immigrants from any country.” http://www.wikilaw3k.org/forum/Immigration/Should-illegal-mexican-immigrants-be-allowed-to-stay-in-america-318629.htm 5.) “Yes, some do have children born here.
Jefferson’s attorney was the reason that Jefferson lost his self-respect. Jefferson’s attorney is a symbol of racism. Defending Jefferson as a “hog” because he sees him as one, he assumes he is guilty because of his race, no second thoughts, and even though the lawyer is assigned as an attorney to help him, he doesn’t care about Jefferson either way. Whites saw African Americans as unintelligent, so the attorney defends Jefferson the way the whites see him. An example would be when the lawyer says, “He does not even know the size of his clothes or his shoes”, another example of the attorney seeing Jefferson as unintelligent was when he stated “Ask him to quote one passage from the constitution or Bill of Rights.” When the lawyer says, “What you see here is a thing that acts on command.” Shows that the lawyer doesn’t show any sign of respect he has for Jefferson what so ever.
In 1607, a boat from England arrived in the New World. This boat was full of men who hoped they could make a profit of the Americas. The English comforted their consciences on the belief that everything they did in the colonies was for the benefit of the natives. They believed that as Englishmen they had a right to claim the New World as theirs. The English believed that the Native Americans were not making the land yield enough fruit and this perceived shortcoming caused the natives to forfeit their right to the land.
The racism and discrimination demonstrated by American’s contributed directly to the life styles of the immigrants coming to America. Starting with the Native Americans, the English raided their land and thought of the Natives as ignorant compared to themselves. Again, of course, with the African Americans who began as property before
In both cases, the slave trade worked to undermine the legitimacy of political institutions and sustain large gulfs between the interests of the ruling classes and those of the common people. Although the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a global system that involved several continents, the trade as a whole was controlled by European middlemen. As Walter Rodney wrote, "Only the European capitalist had such world-wide power, and they used Africans for their own purposes. "[1] However, views differ as to the causes and consequences of the African slave trade in Europe. Eric Williams' economic reductionist argument presented in his 1944 Capitalism and Slavery supported the theory that the move toward African enslaved labour in the Americas was entirely a matter of economic expedience that helped catapult Western Europe to the forefront of a new global capitalist economy.
Prejudice and Racism in Heart of Darkness Malcolm X, an African American human rights activist, once said, “You can’t hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree.” This quote exemplifies his views on the issue of racism, showing the impossibility of dividing the African Americans from their history, as well as the hidden bonds of racist ideas towards the victims. The issue of racism in culture and literature has always brought on debate among scholars, including early 20th century novels and late 20th century human rights activist speeches. Joseph Conrad, an English author, published his novel, Heart of Darkness, at the turn of the 20th century, which portrays the darkness of humanity during the time of colonialism and British imperialism. The novel is regarded as one of the most influential early Modernist novels in the Western literary canon, but there are certain critics who choose to disagree with this classification. Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, published an essay entitled, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”, making the claim that Joseph Conrad did not earn a place in the Western literary canon due to his blatant racist views and discrimination towards African history and culture.
THE APARTHEID: A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INJUSTICE South Africa is a country afflicted by a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The Europeans of Great Britain invaded the country and imposed a political system known as ‘Apartheid’. This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-white inhabitants of the country forcing them to live entirely in separation. This system of imposed racial ideas although now ended, has left an imprint on the thoughts and culture of African descendants worldwide. To be discussed are the affects that this sociopolitical system had on the indigenous peoples of South Africa, as well as the emergence of African independence across the political landscape.