No Such Thing As Rest

Jeffery Cain

Sociology 100

Slave history in the United States goes back to 1619 when a Dutch trading ship brought twenty Africans, Virginia. Many more ships with Africans laborers followed. Being of African descents on these shores soon became virtually synonymous with being a slave. In 1661, Virginia enacted the first law in the new colonies recognizing slavery (Sowell, 1981). Slavery was the foundation of the southern colonies’ plantation system. White people ran plantations using slave labor, and until 1808, some were also slave traders. Traders –Europeans, Africans, and north Americans-forcibly transported some 10 million Africans to various countries in the Americas, including 400,000 to the United States. On small sailing ship, hundreds of slaves were chained together for the several weeks it took to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Filth and disease killed many and drove others to suicide. Overall, perhaps half died en route. In sum, for nearly 400 years, people of African ancestry in the United States have struggled for social equality. As a nation, we have come far in this pursuit. Overt discrimination is now illegal, and research documents a long term decline in prejudice against African American (Firebaugh & Davis, 1988; J.Q. Wilson, 1992; NORC, 2007).

Depending on how the term is defined, as many as 230 million people around the globe are virtual slaves. The US state department, for instance, defines modern slavery to include forms of forced labor, involuntary domestic servitude, sex trafficking and child soldiers. American sociologist Kevin bales is probably the world’s foremost expert on slavery. He puts the number of enslaved people at 247 million – and that’s using a narrow definition. “This is about people who cannot walk away, who are forced to work without pay and who are operating 24/7 under the threat of violence,” bales said in highly publicized public lecture earlier this year.

The difference in modern-day slavery, he added, is the drastic drop in prices paid for slaves, with the world average being $90 (70 Euros).

In today’s society many factors contribute to racial prejudice and discriminations against African Americans. For instance many people who were in the slave era and in this current era may be big reason slavery are still so wide spread today. They may try to guide others to think and commit racist acts. Social scientist has also identified some common social factors that may contribute to the presence of prejudice and discrimination. In my opinion the three main one’s that target out African Americans are socialization, conforming behaviors, and economic benefits. Socialization is the concept that many prejudices may seem to be passed on from parents to children. Conforming behaviors state that prejudices may bring support from significant others; so rejecting prejudices may lead to losing social support. The pressures to conform to the views of family, friends, and associates can be formidable. Economic benefits states that social studies have confirmed that prejudices rises when groups are in direct competition for a job. This may explain why prejudices rise dramatically during times of economic and social stress.

Prejudice and discrimination can form a very vicious cycle in numerous ways. For example when people know they are being discriminated against, they often behave negatively, which then can confirm the original stereotype of the person doing the discriminating. Another example; social group A believes that social group B always engages in theft. Therefore, group A doesn’t hire anyone in group B. without jobs, group B has no money, and therefore may have to steal in order to eat and get shelter. In this scenario, group B is engaging in the behavior suspected by group A, but only because of group A’s original prejudice. In this way it can be a very vicious cycle indeed.

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