Concrete Responses The essays included present a compelling but biased study within the context of class, race and gender. History shows racism has been clearly practiced in the past; however much has been done to correct the unbridgeable and immutable differences in race, gender and class status in the United States. Rothenberg emphasizes, in the collection of essays, past views of Euro-Americans’ superiority in intelligence and abilities over darker skinned races. Throughout the history of the United States, discrimination against race and gender has been documented thus creating various classes according to race and gender. Racism has been defined as “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010).
The Civil War was a fight to defend a way of life. The issue of uniting was fundamental to the survival of American democracy. The two different opinions on how the Union should be governed shaped America in a way that would have great effect on the states, this brought about Sectionalism between the North and South. The major reason of the conflict between the North and South were their different views on slavery and the treatment of the African Americans during the Mid-19th Century. This wasn’t the only trigger to cause the Civil War another encountering component of this war was the economic, social and political differences between the North and South.
The inequalities that people of various genders and races experienced and dealt with in the early days of racism is validated through the texts of Oliver Cromwell and Anne McClintock. Through their eyes one is able to grasp the development and methods used in order to understand the historical context of racism and how racial antagonism and racial antipathy influenced the social attitudes of our society. To understand racism, the lack of equal treatment that many encountered in the past, one also needs to understand how race aggression played a pivotal role. In the late 19th Century, some important aspects to ponder were albeit, racial exploitation, assimilation, lynching and marriage restrictions, as well as gender inequality, which ultimately led to the expansion of racial stratification. In conclusion, "making sense of the meaning of race and the character of race relations in American life requires an understanding of capitalism as a social system and it's specific history of this country."
Discrimination: Still Present Today In today’s society discrimination is a particularly controversial issue. From the end of the 19th century, women’s growth of education, and demands for greater equality of opportunity has increased. [1] The Gender Discrimination Act in 1975 prohibits discrimination against a certain gender in areas of employment. [2] Another highly debatable topic is amount of ethnic minority in the media and its visible under representation as well as stereotypes in news. Minorities use to be slaves, and had very little status in society, but that status was built up to the point where there now suppose to be equals.
Desperate for Control Humans fear what they cannot control. Thus, for their own security and peace of mind, they constantly seek control. The characters in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon are no different. In fact, they feel the instinctive desire for control more poignantly than others because they are African Americans living in the South under white oppression. Because of this situation, characters utilize countless devices to gain feelings of control in their lives.
c.) The varying interpretations indicate the use of “presentism” throughout the periods in which the affair has been analyzed. During the civil rights movement, use of the term “blacks” to describe the slave population was seen as one of the main points of insensitivity, because African Americans of the time had such little cultural footing in America. After the 60s, students began to reflect on Jefferson’s unwillingness to see integration as an option, because African Americans were still struggling to integrate after the civil rights movements. Modern day, the concern lies in Jefferson’s blatant stereotyping of slaves as lesser and even as “musical”. These all reflect the current ideals of the time in
African Americans and the Quest to Attain Equality and Civil Rights The Fight for African Americans to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain equality and civil rights has been a long hard and more often than what we would like to think a somewhat violent campaign. One would think that something as simple as the treatment of another human being would be a simple thing to accomplish. However, as we can see throughout history it has not been as generation after generation, have taught their children to hate and for what? Something as simple and ridiculous as the color of one’s skin, this consequently became a vicious cycle of hatred and intolerance. We have to ask ourselves, how, did we come to a place where one race felt they were superior to not only African Americans, but American Indians and Asians as well based solely on the color of their skin.
The definition of Civil rights is, “The rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality.” Many blacks fought for freedom from slavery and then fought for equality and an end to segregation. A large number of politicians and educators, white and black, fought and risked their lives to get rights and equality for blacks. African Americans were treated very badly, and had to suffer through segregation, racism, and violence. Booker T. Washington was one of the most influential black educators who fought for equality. Booker Taliaferro Washington was born on April 5, 1856.
African Americans and Their Fight for Freedom By Jennifer E DeLaney HIS 204 Instructor Henderson September 25, 2011 Page 1: African Americans and Their Fight for Freedom African Americans have gone a long way and to great lengths to be accepted into society. They are merely people like you and I and have endured many hardships to be recognized and looked upon past their skin color. The following paper will describe some of these hardships when dealing with segregation, discrimination, and isolation and what they did to overcome it. African Americans went through a lot of segregation, but with much patience they fought for their right to be considered an equal. In 1896, the Court set forth its famous “separate but equal doctrine” which provided the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.
Most likely these successes or disappointments were determined by an external factors which were beyond their control. America was the dream land for the new comers and the land of slavery and bad memories that haunted the African Americans, however in some occasions the dream land was a nightmare for the immigrants, and the land of slavery was the land where African Americans were ready to pay their lives to protect their freedom. Immigrants who came to America in last decades of the 18th century and early 19th century didn't differ much from their predecessors. Escaping racial, religious, and political persecution, or seeking relief from a lack of economic opportunity or famine were the main reasons that pushed many immigrants out of their homelands. They imagined the United States as a land of freedom, where all persons enjoys equality before the law, could worship as they pleased , enjoyed economic opportunity.