Most slave owners were of white descent and for them to turn their back on their own kind is awfully inhumane, you could tell immediately that these people had no type of conviction or mercy within their own race. As much as Frederick Douglass had been beaten and worked, he would not talk against
But if we think about it, without the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, things might have never of changed. African Americans could still be treated like slaves and not treated like human beings. America would still be a very segregated place. Freedom Summer was a very dark time in American history but all in all, America has turned out pretty good. It’s no doubt that America was not the most favorable place during this time period for most, if not all African Americans.
Racism is a means to an end, as oppressors employ racist measures in order to achieve power over another group. Wright shows numerous times throughout the novel that racism breeds irrational actions, and points out many times when Southern whites abuse blacks for no reason other than to vent their own frustration. This abuse and subordination of blacks also serves an economic function for the whites, as the blacks are the basic laborers who almost single-handedly support the white economy, for meager pay. Whites abuse blacks in order to keep them in a position where their service would empower
Before World War 2 the world accepted racism as being normal, empires being necessary, and inequalities being brought about by accident of birth. These were facts of life and no one ever could have thought something should be done about it. Everything was very racially indifferent and the world was known to be a hateful place. The Holocaust had brought those feelings that a lot of people had, into the light of day. After the Civil War the abolishment of slaved black Americans had an uphill battle that would, and in many ways, continue to this day.
While many whites did not want blacks to be able to own property and have homes around them, as seen by new Jim Crow Laws, they insisted on having workers that lived inside their houses to do domestic labor. This would make it very easy for them to give their workers orders and get work done as quickly as possible. In an act of defiance, black workers deliberately found homes that were not their bosses but were close enough that they could still walk on foot to their jobs. Many domestic black laborers moved away together and created satellite communities. These communities consisted of people that all worked for white owners but wanted to live away.
Some black males were not allowed to vote, while others lost employment opportunities. These harsh laws followed up underneath the Fugitive Slave Law. The constant undermining view of African Americans being inferior to white people in every way continued to spread throughout the northern states. During 1820-1860, the American society was very selfish. The average American focus was not on the inhumane treat against the black people but the competiveness that was caused because of the black people.
There would be holding and selling of Africans as slaves. Some people had thought they were fit to be enslaved. There was a ranking of importance and white men would be first, then white women onto African men, and last African women. There was no respect for any Africans. They had a struggle of being called Mister or Miss, they had struggles getting into school, and also had a struggle of getting into political roles.
Ultimately in the late eighteenth century, “the society had begun setting up African Free Schools in New York City. Their goal: to “rescue the minds of the descendants of Africa… and to make the quiet and orderly citizens”. (pg 79 Wolff) The schools would on serve less the 500 students a year, but a different education arose at the same time the public school opened, “Over a million people in America were being educated to be slaves.” (pg 79 Wolff). The only person that public education would not benefit would be slave owners. They would no longer have slaves to tend to their every need, or to take care of their daily duties.
Everybody in Maycomb county is affected by racism in one way or another; however there are three people who are particularly affected by it. Calpurnia, the black maid in the Finch residence, must lead two separate lives, one with black people and one with whites; they can never inter-mingle. Mister Dolphus Raymond is suppressed into pretending to be a drunk because he is a white man who marries a black woman, and has interracial children. Tom Robinson must suffer the most, he is seen as guilty for a crime he does not commit and sentenced to death, all because of the jury’s prejudice towards black people. Indeed, everyone in Maycomb County, whether they are black or white, is affected by racism, and sometimes all it takes to see it is a child.
HistorySlavery was an institution that victimized as well as other cultures due to being in a controlled environment. Every suffered in their own way due to racial prejudice and fear of growing numbers. Masters which were also called Slave "owners" believed that treating another human being of another color like an animal was right. The children of the slave owners were being victimized as well due to following what their parent’s doings were right in treating another human being in such a manner. Slavery was so victimized that it still affects the society to the extent that black people blame the whites , and white people still agree that black people need to be slaves.