how do you feel about slavery essay

how do you feel about slavery essay

The Injustice of Slavery: A Call for Action

1. Introduction

Slavery has been forbidden for hundreds of years, yet people are still held captive. More than 27 million people are enslaved today, even though it is illegal in every nation across the world, old or young, man or female. It is not predicted to be a fast change, and it has become such an usual way of life, people no longer see it as bad. This is one of the biggest problems we face in today’s society – only with the help of others will we be able to help these people. Slavery is keeping a person as property – and the slaves are forced to work for no pay. It is an issue of the abuse of power and it results in severe violations of human rights. At a more individual level, slavery destroys a person’s basic human rights to life, to be free, and to protect themselves from violence and harm. It is a shocking fact that there are more slaves now than were seized from Africa to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. According to the American Anti-Slavery Group, “slaves are a real growth industry.” This horrendous trade brings in vast profits at a very low risk to those involved in enslaving others. A slave can be sold at a price of less than $90 and although the average slave in Asia works for 14 hours a day, their value is only 12 cents. This simply should not be the way we treat people – and change is essential.

2. Historical Overview of Slavery

The history of slavery is a most significant piece of world history. The history of world civilization shows the incidence of slavery taking place as a specially established institution where a part of outside human group is being utilised unselfishly and systematically. This pattern is different from occasional and temporary use of a group of peoples as slaves, because they are prisoners of wars, defeated or captured in revolt. Such episodes happened in different societies and ages and were due to economic, political and other conditions, but the slavery fundamental problem is due to the fact of some people being slaves by birth and inheritance due to social, racial, caste or gender status. This later type of slavery was based on the principle of inequality among men and it resulted in grave social, cultural, and moral or spiritual harm to a large number of people of the subject society. The social status of the subject society was also perpetually bounded with a certain inferior group and there was lack of any real feeling of unity and homogeneity between the people of the dominant and subject society and this condition had at times resulted in adverse conditions in the form of domination, exploitation, and conflict between the rulers and the ruled.

3. The Impact of Slavery on Society

The many achievements of African American culture in the United States are not so much contributions to American society as they are a demonstration of what can result from a marginal and excluded existence. The effects of exclusion have prevented the African American race from ascending the social ladder as classic American ideologies would suggest is possible for all “free” citizens. After generations of exclusion from equitable educational and economic opportunity, blacks are still mired at the bottom of the American social structure. These effects have been the hardest to erase and continue to manifest themselves in various forms of racism and prejudice in the modern era.

Permanent exclusion from mainstream society was a result of enslavement that has continued to marginalize the position of the African American in the United States. When society itself is a closed system, any changes taking place within that society will not impact those who are excluded from it. This was the case with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the eventual conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. Although it effectively ended the institution of slavery, much of the country’s white population was able to maintain its previous attitudes and treatment of slaves. The results of this new form of racism and the segregation that soon codified it were economic and social in nature.

Slavery’s inhumanity divides social classes in a way that indentured servitude does not. Slavery, by definition, is a condition that reduces individuals to the status of property which can be bought and sold like any other commodity. The most decisive and permanent impact was the separation of the slave population from the rest of society. This separation was invoked by racist theories that supposed that members of the African race were inherently inferior to members of the white race. These theories provided a pseudo-justification for the status of a slave, and the resulting impact was an exclusion of the entire race from normal participation in social institutions.

4. The Moral Imperative to End Slavery

The concept of humanity is reflected by the possession of human rights, and it is only when a person is stripped of his or her human rights that the concept is diminished and the person is no longer able to identify himself as a person. While the loss of identity as a person may be convenient for hypocritical racist individuals, it is clear that humanity and rights belong to all people, and that slavery is a violation of these rights.

This argument has no defense against it, and while it is possible to define a person in terms of societal stereotypes, it is impossible to define them in any sort of absolute, scientific way. It is not the attributes of a person – mental or physical – that make him or her a person, but rather humanity itself. The concept of humanity is a philosophical and intellectual idea that each and every person has about themselves, and it is what allows a person to identify themselves as a person.

It is clear that the humanity and morality of a person is not linked to his or her appearance. Therefore, if all people are equal and deserve equal rights, any institution depriving a person of these rights is wrong. This is a valid argument in opposition to the enslavement of every person, however it fails to satisfy those who are racist and even some who are not. They will agree that all people deserve the same rights, but claim that some people are not, in fact, people.

Slavery is a violation of the universal human rights of a person, and is a crime against the dignity of the human race. The moral and ethical justifications are also obvious. Slavery is often founded upon the belief that some people are not equal and do not deserve the same rights as others. The belief that some people are not equal is false, as there are no innate biological attributes distinguishing one race of people from another. Though there may be societal or cultural differences, these have no relevance in the equal rights of individuals.

The injustice of slavery

A call for international reform

Obstacles to ending slavery

The moral imperative to end slavery

The perpetuity of the injustice of slavery

Human rights belong to all human beings

Slavery – an abhorrent institution

The injustice of slavery

5. Conclusion: Working Towards a Just Society

The concept of slavery presented by Omi and Winant and the results of racial identity being the primary aspect in deciding opportunities and status is similar to the conditions many years ago when blacks were slaves. It is a known fact that for any immigrant to the US, it takes quite a few generations before they are fully assimilated and their racial identity not being a factor in deciding their status. Omi and Winant make it clear that, for the blacks and other non-whites, assimilation is not a process where they blend with the whites and their racial identity slowly disappears. Instead, it is a process of acculturation, where they must accept that their place in society will always be below the whites and that they must strive to be like the whites in their culture and values. This is mainly due to the white habitus being considered the legitimate and dominant culture, and the general consensus is that the closer a culture is to the white habitus, the better off it is. This kind of reasoning is very unjust and only creates an inferior/superior status hierarchy among the different racial groups. Measures need to be taken to disaffect this kind of thinking and educate generations to come that every race is as good as the next and that there should be no discrimination based on race in any type of opportunity.

If the color of our skin is the complete identity of our status, treatment, and fate, then a change in society is absolutely necessary. We have seen the darkest hours of our history when African Americans were treated as slaves. This horrendous activity cannot be undone, but the results can be changed. Today, the blacks are better off in terms of rights and freedom, but the effect of being slaves still lurks in the corners. It has not been long since they were given equal rights and treatment, and even today they are not in line with the whites in the equal opportunity race. Steps need to be taken to ensure that after all the suffering they and their ancestors had to endure, they are given a fair and just chance to live in this world.