Jefferson owned slaves and Franklin, for most of his life, adamantly believed that African Americans were lesser. b.) But, quite unlike the mainstream ideals of their time, both men held strong ideals of equality. Franklin did at the end of his life reverse his ideas about African Americans, and dedicated many of his later years to equality for blacks. Jefferson also believed slavery to be an atrocious blot on the face of America.
But it seem like we are unsuccessful to end racial discrimination as well, the author pointed out “The number of middle-class and upper-middle-class African American families is rising, but for whatever reason - racism, psychological comfort – these families tend to congregate in predominantly black neighborhoods” (332). And not only African
Vitor Milagres James McMacthy 11/19/2013 The Dialect of African-American According to writer James Baldwin in his article “If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” published in the New York Times in 1979, he express his disagreement about people who think that black English is a dialect and not a language. Although some of what he said is accurate, as a whole he is wrong. It is affirmed based on history and a simple dictionary definition. Baldwin made strong and obvious comments about the language like: “[It has] different realities to articulate” or “language is … a political instrument, … the most … crucial key to identify”. But the thing is it is a good explanation to language, but it´s not applied to Black English and you will understand why.
The Constitution, until recently, did not apply to blacks; blacks feel they deserve payments from 310 years of slavery, destruction to their minds and culture. Dr. Martin Luther King's dilemma in the United States was of a different kind. He was torn between his identity as a Black man of African descent and his identity as an American. He urged Americans to judge based on the content of the character not by skin color and also believed in non-violent protests. Martin Luther King Jr’s main perspective during the fight on racism was equality.
Vonnegut not only satirizes the mistaken of equality in the American culture but rather he may also be satirizing the misunderstanding of what leveling and equality could ultimately entail. More specifically, this text could be thought of as a parody to America’s Cold War misconception of not just communism but socialism as well. The story begins with this definition of the narrator’s twisted yet addled utopian view on equality. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law.
In the early 20th Century even though black people were no longer slaves they still remained second-class citizens. There were many factors that contributed to black people remaining second-class citizens under the white supremacy. For example the Jim Crow Laws. Between 1890 and 1910, southern states introduced legal segregation. This was achieved by passing local laws, which denied black Americans access to facilities used by white Americans.
Moral vs Influence: Huck's journey “How can a society that debases human lives on a mass scale consider itself civilized?” This comes from an article, Twain in 85 by Shelly Fishkin, that articulated the irony of the morals of civil society as a whole. It directly criticizes racism which was not “allowed” because slavery was considered justifiable. Mark Twain, originally named Samuel Clemens, was one of the few who questioned the morals and ideas of society because he believed that they weren't right. He used Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to characterize the irony he saw in societies clashing standards that decided slavery as right but thought that every human had inalienable rights such liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Huck's moral and the development of that moral is advanced through Jim's search for freedom where it can be seen him growing as a person by accepting Jim, a slave, and the stages of his development: absence of morality and clashes of societies standards with his own.
The malicious acts committed by Malcolm X reflect the idea that people ignore truth to conform to society. Known for having strong opinions, Malcolm X seems to be an unlikely victim of blind conformity. However, as shown in his essay, “My First Conk”, Malcolm X was victimized by this need to conform. Changing to look or behave like another because it is more desired by the public is due to a disregarding of self-claimed morals and values, an over emphasis of the media and outside opinions, and an insecurity. In “My First Conk”, Malcolm X assured that black people were being brainwashed to believe that they actually were inferior to white people, thus they conked their hair; which was a hair straightener gel made from lye popular among African-American men from the 1920s to the 1960s.
I thought this was a very interesting article. I don’t really know much about our economy or the technical workings of the government sponsored diversity programs Webb is talking about, but my gut reaction is to think that he is pretty off base. Webb writes that he is dedicated to bringing fairness to America’s economy and work force, but how can he do this if he is against the programs that are working towards that fairness? My basic understanding of his point of view is that he believes that today, government-directed diversity programs that favor people of color are unfair because they give an unnecessary and unfair advantage to certain groups, while ignoring whites who might need just as much help. I disagree; I think that these programs are necessary to balance out the unfair advantage whites automatically get just by being white.
Finally, it brings one to the idea that an America not separated by race, may still be separated by class and social acceptance. If this separation cannot be guided in a common direction or motivation of acceptance, and if people lack the desire to communicate, then it is difficult to contemplate where America will be in the future. It is obvious that the America today is vastly different than the America of the 1950’s and of earlier generations. Racism, although not completely out of the picture, has become taboo almost to the point where it is a non factor. Hua Hsu uses the example of Sean Combs, a famous R&B artist, to express the differences in today’s world.