African American Slavery Essay

It is painful for me to think that I have a part in the oppression of African Americans in the USA. I read books about Reconstruction, The Civil War, lynching, and the Jim Crow laws, and think, “thank god, we don’t live in that world anymore.” Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that we do live in a world where there in still slavery, it is just more subverted then in the 1900’s. Not all people are lawyers and can commit themselves to legal battles. There needs to be a way that white people, and the working class, can stand to change the ways this country oppresses minorities.

Reparations Slavery began in America when the first African slaves brought the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. Through 250 years of enslavement, African Americans feel like reparations, which are amends for a wrong doing, by paying money or helping those who have been wronged, should be in recognition. “The Case for Reparations” by Ta- Nehisi Coates provides the malevolent, segregated history of the Negro population in the United States. Coates explains all the political and economic issues that Negroes have faced and still endure. White America has left the Negro population at an unfair advantage socially, economically, and politically.

The truth—the unpleasant, horrible truth—must be known because it is so significant. This has been one of the most impactful readings in school because it doesn't hold back. Although learning about slavery is neither joyful or simple, it reveals the truth that slavery still has a bearing on Black Americans' lives and experiences. Despite the need of educating about slavery, it appears that classroom discussions regarding the subject are doomed to failure in some classrooms. There are petitions to remove slavery from textbooks all around America.

Slavery Divorce is hell! Often times the pair has been unhappy for years and tried many ways to save the marriage so the family can remain intact, especially when there are children. The Southern States began to divorce the United States when South Carolina seceded after Lincoln was elected President in 1860. Like a family split into by divorce, the United States soon became divided into two separate units (the United States or the Union and the Confederacy) and saw more bloodshed and lives lost than it had before or would ever since the 1860s.

In the article by Jim Crow, it is clear that black Americans are today facing the challenge of the legacies that slavery left behind. In the article, Coates adds that the African Americans need reparation from the government. During the talk to defend the article, Coates discussed his motive for the paper and presented the future of the article. This paper aims at presenting the reasons for the Coates’ argument that reparation should be done.

According to Woodson (1933), “The oppressor…teaches the negro that he has no worth-while past, that his race has done nothing significant since the beginning of time, and that there is no evidence that he will achieve anything great. (page #”) In other words, Woodson implies that throughout history, negroes were deceived of their past and were wrongfully taught that they contributed nothing to society except for their role as slaves; more specifically their history was subjugated. The course, Introduction to African American Studies is designed to recover the subjugated history of African Americans. It is also formed to give an overview of the culture, race, racism, family, and other specific topics such as women and voting rights in America.

Douglass’s wish has been granted. Slavery is gone and through the civil rights movement African Americans were able to earn basic rights. While it is true that African Americans aren’t treated as well as whites by some people, as they are still trusted less simply due to their skin color, the worst inequality is gone. African Americans are also still treated overall better than when they were “free” in the North. Back then they didn’t have basic rights “and could only have the most menial jobs” (Pearson).

The plight of the African Americans to abolish slavery and racial discrimination has left American history with a lot of lessons and ruminations regarding humanity. People, when left with power and authority, has the ability to oppress the weak, and to aggress the strong. This makes the divide stronger, and thus disunity to pervade within human society. This also shows that human frailty is a very powerful influence to humanity; the way that these frailties enable man to oppress another man, and the way that power makes man greedy for more, shows that humanity’s flaws is the same exact measure which can destroy it. The lessons the world has learned from the way that the African Americans have struggled for freedom and unity in the United States

Moreover, he points out directly the most painful history of African Americans, “So we are all black people, so-called Negroes, second-class citizens, ex-slaves. You are nothing but a ex-slave. You don’t like to be told that. But what else are you? You are ex-slaves.”

Slavery began long before the colonization of North America. This was an issue in ancient Egypt, as well as other times and places throughout history. In discussing the evolution of African slavery from its origins, the resistance and abolitionist efforts through the start of the Civil War, it is found to have resulted in many conflicts within our nation. In 1619, the first Africans in America arrived in Jamestown on a Dutch ship.

In the book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome written by Dr.Joy DeGruy she explains how the past events in American history has lead to post traumatic slave syndrome. She explains that the way African Americans were treated during the slave era and after has had an everlasting effect on African Americans. The book goes on to describe how America has been denying its past and has not helped to integrated and level all the playing fields for African Americans. The book brings to light how we can try to contribute in making America a fair and equal place for all as most claim it to be. Through the book DeGruy talks about the four major contributing factors for the reason why America is the way it is.

As we examine the mending topic of slavery reparations, it is essential remember the reason why repairing the negative consequences done to the all the different minorities who have experienced discrimination can do more harm than good. The best method is to help set up a better future for by insuring that money is spent on improving their lives through education and job opportunities. Not only this will guarantee the increased well-being of everyone who felt these effects, but this will also set equality between the different racial groups in

Reparations for slavery is an ongoing debate, the idea that descendants of Africans who had been enslaved by the Atlantic Slave Trade should receive a compensatory payment is ridicules to many. Author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “The Case for Reparations”, and he argues that the idea of reparations is what is important. Coates begins building his argument with personal facts and reliable sources, overall successfully creating an emotional appeal to his readers. Throughout his article he builds a strong argument arguing that we need to start considering what the nation might owe the African American population after everything that’s been done to them. Throughout his article his attempts to appeal to the readers emotions helps build his argument against reparations.

From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.

As noted by Malcolm X in his essay Learning to Read, self-education can help bring awareness to the United States’ appalling history of oppression effectuated against African-Americans. In relation to the reading, Malcolm X assimilated prominent examples of oppression through personal anecdotes that descriptively stated what the “evil white men with whips and clubs and chains and guns” did (193). Correspondingly, the negative consequences society has put into place can be stemmed back to the history of European colonization.