...Barbara Jeanne Fields Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of America Two years ago, a sports announcer in the United States lost his job because he enlarged indiscreetly—that is, before a television audience—upon his views about ‘racial’ differences. Asked why there are so few black coaches in basketball, Jimmy ‘the Greek’ Snyder remarked that black athletes already hold an advantage as basketball players because they have longer thighs than white athletes, their ancestors having been deliberately bred that way during slavery. ‘This goes all the way to the Civil War,’ Jimmy the Greek explained, ‘when during the slave trading . . . the owner, the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so he could have a big black kid, you see.’ Astonishing though it may seem, Snyder intended his remark as a compliment to black athletes. If black men became coaches, he said, there would be nothing left for white men to do in basketball at all. Embarrassed by such rank and open expression of racism in the most ignorant form, the network fired Jimmy the Greek from his job. Any fool, the network must have decided, should know that such things may be spoken in the privacy of the 95 locker-room in an all-white club, but not into a microphone and before a camera. Of course, Jimmy the Greek lays no claim to being educated or well informed. Before he was hired to keep audiences entertained during the slack moments of televised sports events, he was...
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...Slavery. It has been here since the beginning of civilization, and still is present to this day. As contradictory as it may seem, people have been using each other as property for a very long time. This horrible invention has been applied in several different countries all over the world. Over this time span, several different kinds of slavery have been established. Slavery has made an everlasting impact on the world today. Because of slavery we now have social, man-created concepts, such as race, gender, and class. Slavery has benefitted and disadvantaged many people of this day and time. Slavery is the main reason for the dispersal of African peoples, also known as the African Diaspora. As mentioned earlier, slavery was present almost everywhere. The main areas that affected the African Diaspora were Africa itself, the New World, and the Indian Ocean. Slavery in Africa started in approximately the 7th century and it was over religious reasons. Arab Muslims and Europeans traded in West, Central, and East Africa. Slavery existed in some of Africa’s earliest organized societies. The buying and selling of slaves were regular activities in cities along the Nile River. In Africa, early slavery resulted from warring groups taking captives. The treatment of slavery in Africa was variable. Many societies recognized slaves as merely property and some saw them as dependants who eventually might be integrated into the families of slave owners, because of this slavery was...
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...Black Slavery and the American Experience Racial tension is a virulent issue that has existed in the American epoch for eons of time. minor races such as the African-Americans in the American society have time and again sought equality and neutral and balanced racial representation in America from generation to generation. The American experience has down through the memory lane taught and engraved the conception that some races are inferior. Racial discrimination, prejudice and inequality are tenets which the African American inhabitants, predominantly known as the blacks, have had to contend with in their lifetimes in the American society(Adkins 3). An exegesis of this presumption dates back to the period of slavery when the only relationship that existed between the blacks and his white brothers was that of master and...
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... Avila 8 June 2015 Wiping Away the Scars of Centuries Human slavery is a phenomenon that has been present since the times of the Romans and the Greeks. As a common misconception, many societies, especially those in America tend to believe that slavery was always black. The question to answer here is: when did slavery become black? Throughout a period of enslavement, human beings have again and again treated slavery as an act of the “norm” embedded in human behavior, which they use in order to make a clear distinction between them and us to justify such atrocious and immortal acts. With historical examples of structural forces and cultural practices from the literary works of Harris, Painter, Roediger...
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...Throughout history many races and cultures have been discriminated against for various reasons and there have been many different methods used to discriminate against them. To focus on one race in particular the African American race was discriminated for a long period and was discriminated in various ways throughout this time. The longest and most prominent method used was slavery, then after slavery ended segregation was another method, and lastly African Americans not being treated equally or having the same rights was another method that was used to discriminate against the African American race. To start with, the first method that was used to discriminate against was slavery which was the most prominent and abrasive method used to oppress the black race for hundred of years. Slavery caused the black race to basically be treated as property and not a person for hundred of years and even when slavery finally ended blacks still were not treated equally and were discriminated against. Slavery was also the most brutal of methods used to oppress the black race and the longest method used to discriminate the black race. During slavery blacks had no rights what so ever and and no say in what they did because there masters told them what to do and when to do it and they had to follow their orders. Also, during slavery blacks were not able to be their full potential because they were not even considered to be people and were treated as property. Also, during slavery slaves couldn’t even...
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...1 Defending the Defenseless During the American Revolution, slavery was in the process of being abolished in Europe and in the Northern states of America. Even though parts of the world were willing to free slaves, the Southern states found ways to defend slavery. In Paul Finkelman’s book Defending Slavery: Proslavery Thought in the Old South, Finkelman provides the writings of many white leaders from the South who believed that slavery was essential to America’s society. The white leaders who spoke about proslavery included a broad range of defenses to justify themselves because they wanted Americans to believe that slavery had a lasting impact economically, religiously, legally, and racially. One of the defenders in Finkelman’s book was Thomas R.R. Cobb. He justified slavery by arguing the effects of abolition in the United States. Cobb said, “The emancipated negroes do not enjoy full and equal civil and political rights in any State in the union, except the State of Vermont” (Finkelman, 79). He was convinced that those who became free of slavery did not live a better life. He believed that any African American slave who is free is not capable of living successfully and “His moral condition compares unfavorably with that of the slave of the South” (Finkleman, 79). This argument states that African Americans who are enslaved are in better hands with the slave owners and therefore they should remain as slaves. Cobb’s defense was justifiable because he...
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...Hector Reyes Minorities in the US Professor Chin 02 February 2016 Summary/Personal Reflection In the article “Origin of the Idea of Race” by Audrey Smedley he talks about the word race. Smedley says in the opening paragraph ““Race” was a recent invention and that it was essentially a folk idea, not a product of scientific research and discovery.” Race was used as a term to allow slavery to exist. The article also discusses how slavery existed before African were ever brought to America as slaves. Before Africans, there were Irish people and poor white people being used as slaves. Irish were used as slaves by the English due to hostile relations in the 13th century. The English even passed laws to enslave poor white people, and using excuses as though they were doing these people a favor. Most slaves of the English were Irish, Poor white people and Indians. The article also says that at the turn of the 17th century demand for labor grew. The Irish and Indians would be build rebellions to oppose strict laws and making them difficult, not good slaves. Due to the high labor demands, slaves had to come from somewhere else. This is where race becomes made up and Africans become the target. According to the article the image of Africans were positives. Africans had a set government were farmers. English though thought they were better laborers and once brought to the New World had nowhere to go. They also were immune to the disease the English carried. The Indians...
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...Question 1: This political cartoon was made in 1800, the artist is unknown. During 1800, America had recently declared independence. The people of America were struggling to form a strong central government and often found themselves in a dispute about disagreements regarding the decisions made on taxes, slavery, and innovations in America. The political cartoon shows two scenarios of the same white man with an African American woman. In one of the scenarios, the white man is about to beat the African American women with what looks like a lash. The other scenario with the African American women, the white man is kissing the women. At the bottom of the political cartoon, it reads, “Virginian Luxuries.” These type of events were occurring in Virginia. During 1800 in the United States, Virginia was a slave state, the white man that appears on both of these scenarios is the master and African American women, the slave. The author of this cartoon printed the words “Virginia Luxuries” to make a statement about the masters and the way they could be cruel to their slaves and other days take advantage of them to please their needs. The author called it luxuries because the masters were living the best of both worlds. They could treat the slave with astonishing cruelty one day and the next make love to them. During this time period, this kind of actions with masters and their slave women was no surprise. The power that the master had over the slaves, which were simply seen as property...
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...was brought to her attention that slavery in The New World in the 1600s was not uncommon. This not only means that slavery as American's know it started much earlier than previously believed, but it proved that colonists discriminated against other races and religions. This was surprising to many because the colonists and John Winthrop believed in creating a city that was a model for the world. However, the city had no diversity and treated people in brutal and inhuman ways. While Listening to the podcast, a question that was in the back...
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...Booker T. Washington “Up from Slavery” I detected a message in the first chapter of “Up from Slavery” other than the horrors of slavery, even though that message was painfully clear. The other message that I detected is that a shallow and indulgent existence deprives a person of developing rugged individualism, character and common sense. I felt this because of the sentences, “the black man got nearly as much out of slavery as the white man did. The hurtful influences of the institution were not by any means confined to the Negro.” “The slave system on our place, in a large measure, took the spirit of self-reliance and self-help out of the white people. My old master had many boys and girls, but not one, so far as I know, ever mastered a single trade or special line of productive industry.” The slaves seemed to possess a deeper sense of self and spirituality and realized that kindness toward other human beings and honor were more rewarding than material things. I was very surprised and awed by the fact that even though the slaves were provided with abhorrent living conditions and often endured immense cruelty at the hands of their masters, they still felt love and kindness towards them and they showed compassion towards the whites when they themselves fell upon hard times. One passage that confirms the importance of honor and the feeling of compassion is “In fear of “Yankee” invasions, the silverware and other valuables were taken from the “big house,” buried...
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...Dr. Morgan HST 390 24 September 2012 Abraham Lincoln’s Political and Moral Slavery Dilemma The sixteenth President of the United States of America, the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln casts quite a historical shadow over any other competing figure. Lincoln was brought into the world on February 12th, 1809 to an incredibly modest upbringing in which he would mold himself into a successful lawyer and later a politician. Abraham received little formal education during his childhood, eventually acquainting himself with the law through the apprenticeship system. After rising through the Illinois legislature structure, Lincoln went on to serve in the House of Representatives on behalf of the state of Illinois before gaining widespread recognition from his debates with competing Senate candidate Stephen A. Douglas in 1858.The expansion of slavery into the United States new territories was the hotly contested issue of these debates, Lincoln’s stance would eventually propel him into the national spotlight and later the Presidency. Abraham Lincoln’s views on slavery were split between his political obligations and his moral beliefs, his political actions were influenced by his desire to preserve the Union, and his moral stance on the issue largely stemmed from his deep-seeded belief in the power of the Constitution, not the political or social equality of another race. Abraham Lincoln’s view on slavery was segregated in itself, between how he perceived the issue on a political...
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...questions in 100 to 250 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. • Throughout most of U.S. history, in most locations, what race has been in the majority? What is the common ancestral background of most members of this group? Throughout history whites were the majority race in most of the locations throughout U.S. History. The United States is very diverse with many different races but the whites have been the most dominante. Some American ancestors came from Europe, Africa, or Asia. The ancestors all depend on how long the family has lived in the United States, the longer they live the more diverse their ancestors will be. Many of the white race has ancestors that are of the European decent because the European immigrants have been in the United States for over 400 years. My ancestors are Native American and German. According to the text book Germans, Irish, English and Italians are some of the biggest ancestorial groups. • What are some of the larger racial minorities in U.S. history? What have been the common ancestral backgrounds of each of these groups? When did each become a significant or notable minority group? Some of the larger minoritie groups in the United States history would be the African American race, Native American race, and Asian Americans. The ancestors of the African American race would have come from South America and the African continent. For Native Americans, their ancestors would have come from North American. The...
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...him to write the book because he was surprised to fully understand how secession was related to racism and white supremacy. However, his Confederate-minded childhood could also be a source of bias insofar as his interpretations of secession and the controversies surrounding the Civil War, in addition to the documents he used to write this particular book. Chapter 1 2. What are the controversies surrounding the mural of Robert E. Lee and Confederate History Month in Virginia (hint: they are related to the same issue!)? There were a series of debates surrounding whether or not a mural of Robert E. Lee should be placed by Canal Way built along the James River. The NAACP spoke against the mural, saying that Lee was an advocate for slavery since he fought for the Confederacy. Pro-Lee advocates, including former Ku Klux Klan leader, David Duke, voted in favor of the mural. The court finally decided to make the mural. The other controversy was the one about Confederate History Month. Republican governor, James S. Gilmore, and his predecessor wanted to declare April as Confederate History Month. The NAACP spoke...
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...designations of race are created and manipulated. When dealing with racial formation, one dominant group always has the power to impose racial definitions onto others. In America’s history, this one dominant group has been Caucasians. In the book, “Ethnic Notions,” Marlon Riggs explores the evolution of caricatures imposed on African Americans throughout the history, claiming the impact of such caricatures “did as much harm as any lynch mob.” In many ways, this claim speaks the truth. The mammy, sambo, pickaninny, zip coon, and uncle are a few important caricatures that prove white America’s innermost fears regarding race and white superiority. The mammy caricature is one that defeminizes African American women. Drawn as a smiling, hefty servant, her loyalty to her white owner’s family trumps that to her own children. The mammy was used as evidence of the “humanity” of slavery’s institution, for she was posited as content with her lowly position. This caricature reflects the fear of mixing races. By desexualizing African American women, like the mammy, then white men would then be less likely to become sexually involved with them. Many blues artists in the 1920s-30s stood up against the mammy caricature, such as Ma Rainey; her image stood to sexualize the mammy. The sambo caricature was depicted as a perpetual child, one who was incapable of living an independent life outside of the institution of slavery. This loyal servant was offered as a defense for slavery, for if...
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...Despite many beliefs, race only became a dominant factor in slavery until the mid-17th century. Early 17th-century indentured servitude and slavery shared many qualities such as neither were strictly race-based, and the people were treated like commodities; they differed in that indentured servitude was not permanent and resulted in awards, unlike slavery. Indentured servants were people without means that made agreements to work for usually 5-7 years in exchange for their “freedom dues.” These were people without means who had no other options but to agree to this harsh labor and race was often not a factor until Bacon’s Rebellion caused the Virginia legislature to grant greater powers to white indentured slaves in spite, thereby creating...
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