HOW SLAVERY WAS PERCEIVED IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES COMPARING MERCHANTS’ VERSUS CHRISTIANS' POINTS OF VIEW In this short essay I am going to discuss two articles. Both are letters—or at least directly aimed at a certain group of people to read and to act accordingly. In comparing the articles, and in finding out what ties them together and what they have (or have not) in common, I am hoping to shed some light on how slavery was perceived in the American colonies. The first primary source I am going to discuss is titled “A letter to a Member of Parliament, concerning the African trade,” written around 1748. It is not sure whom it is written by, because the author only wrote down his initials (A.Z.
Compare, contrast and asses the ideas of Booker T, du bois, Randall and Marcus Garvey to overcome the challenges faced by African Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centauries, African Americans were suffering greatly, due to the apparent effects of segregation. In this notion legal segregation was developing in the south while natural segregation seemed clear in the north. This was down to the realisation of the indifference of wealth between the ‘Blacks’ and the ‘whites’. Inevitably this discrimination also involved much more than just indifference of colour, blacks experienced poor working conditions violent retaliation and even lynching if the status quo of white supremacy was to be challenged.
Despite efforts to define it both then and today, "black power" rests in the American imagination through a series of iconic yet fleeting images covering the whole spectrum - from gun evoking black panthers to black-gloved sprinters at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The traditional iconography of black power captures the 'triumph and tragedy' of the period. However, given the traditional negative interpretation that black power is associated with; efforts to define it have largely been arbitrary. It would come as no surprise that black power is viewed as the 'evil twin' of the civil rights movement, a plethora of angry responses to the slow pace of the struggle of civil rights. It was only until recently perspective on the movement were shaped primarily by this.
They take the reader through pivotal moments in the South and North to enumerate the chain of events that lead to the achievements and failures of the African-Americans in society. My review led me to understand the Black Power movement as an effort to overcome the colonizer. Black people need to define themselves without the influence of white society. The authors were vocal about the downfall of blacks trying to assimilate into white middle class. In a passionate effort to convey their message, they gave an overview of significant political and life altering moments in history.
He believed black people during the post-reconstruction era should be recognize through their education, crafts, and industrial skills, while still living a traditional lifestyle of being segregated. On the other hand, we have another author, W.E.B Dubois; he was born just a couple of years after Mr. Washington. He is known for being a sociological investigator toward African Americans. Dubois believed that blacks should be equal to other races. In 1903, he published his famous book “ The Soul of Black Folk” in this book he mainly target Mr. Washington position.
Founded by Wallace D Fard but led by Elijah Muhammad since 1934, the organization was built upon the belief to uplift impoverished blacks in the Detroit ghetto by fostering a sense of black pride. As a positive effect on the civil rights movement, the Nation of Islam as well as other parties helped improve lifestyle of the blacks in ghettos. This is affirmed by Adam Fairclough in his book ‘Better Day Coming’ he explains how the Nation of Islam operated a number of shops and restaurants to promote economic independence for the ethnic minorities. The group established local temples, creates
For example the typical colonoware associated with slaves were unglazed wares, which differ from the glazed wares used by wealthier Europeans. This shows the difference in financial status between the African American slaves and European land owners because “the unglazed ware is inferior to glazed wares of European and European American manufacture” (Ferguson 6). Ivor Noel Hume
the American Dream. This theory is very useful in highlighting certain points that are not explained within other theories. Albert Cohen, describes the idea of status frustration. By which he argues that deviance and crime result from the inability of those in lower classes to achieve mainstream goals. It is useful for highlighting why, in the working class, those who cannot achieve in education, they then therefore suffer from status frustration and in this process turn to other people who also cannot achieve in this institution.
The working class may be more likely to commit crime than the middle class for reasons such as the means of survival in poverty or the alienation and lack of control they have on their lives leading to frustration and committing crime. The divide in class may been seen as the cause of this, along with the influence of the media, as working class individuals may wish to obtain the consumer goods seen advertised, however the only way of acquiring these products is through utilitarian crimes such as theft. Thus, Marxists strongly link capitalism and crime around the working class's inability to attain material wealth and the issues presented around that, such as envy and competition. Marxists, also criticise functionalists in terms of the state and law as they believe the law reflects the value consensus in society. Chambliss suggests that the law serves the interests of the capital class, consequently providing laws protecting private property leading to the continuation of the capitalist economy.
All of these points will be assessed in conjunction with Malcolm-X and more importantly the short term significance of the American civil-rights movement. The traditionalist opinion of Malcolm-X would include his efforts of exploiting the failed promises by the American constitution – through his prestigious ‘Ballot or the Bullet’ speech as well as giving African-Americans an identity through his promotion of afrocentricity. However - the revisionist view of Malcolm-X can be seen as controversial due to his shifting motives towards civil-rights (His involvement and departure of NOI). His main motive was to give identity to African-Americans; however controversies included ‘revolutionary views’ against the white imperialists, shifting motives and finally ideologies of segregation. Finally; Malcolm-X’s role is significant in conjunction with advancing civil-rights, despite these controversies.