The Benefits Of Slave Codes

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Every day we look around and we see people of a different race or color and forget about their pasts. Most of them have been oppressed or hurt by society in one way. In class, we look at how wrong these people were treated. Most teens these days shrug or fall asleep during the topic of racism or white “superiority”, yet they don’t realize that by doing that they are showing their own ignorance. If you heard the word Black Codes, what would come to your mind? What comes to my mind is restrictions. Restrictions on rights or freedom for the black citizens of the United States after the Civil War. But what makes these codes so controversial? Well the 14th amendment was supposed to “free” the slaves. What they didn’t realize was that it just…show more content…
They were forced into a life of labor, either in prison or working for a white man. They had courts where they were in front of a white judge and would not be allowed to testify against a white. Whites were essentially given so many privileges over the blacks. But the 14th amendment? Why was it there? Just for show or was it actually meant to be enforced? And where was Abraham Lincoln when this was going on? Lincoln knew about the slave codes for sure. So where was he when all this went down? Yet, this is not where black oppression ends, they suffer through segregation through all of the civil rights movement and such harsh racism all over the country. It’s like having to go through high school again and again and again, generation after generation, but never getting out and having absolutely no rights at all. Yeah, pretty unfair, I know. And yet, the black race has stayed strong. Many of them are not bitter about the past or hold grudges even though they still are susceptible to racism and prejudice in today’s…show more content…
We can be so racist to certain people and judgmental about things when it’s not needed. And the fact is everyone has done it once in their life. No one is free of it. White superiority was never something we asked for, it just happened that way. Sometimes human beings can lose compassion for other human beings. It happens all throughout history. And its nature to us now. The only way we can fix this is by taking one step back. Take one step back and look at the world through a different perspective. Try and put yourself in the shoes of someone else. Maybe they are Indian, African American, Mexican, it doesn’t really matter. Think about their past and their life and think about the way they were treated. Maybe even learn about their cultures and open yourself up to the world. Because what you find might really surprise you. And help you realize that there is more to the story than it may
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