slavery essay conclusion

slavery essay conclusion

The Legacy of Slavery: A Call to Action

1. Introduction

The shadow of the toxicity of slavery has been cast upon various generations of the African-American community and has had a detrimental effect on their lifestyles. Slavery has led to the stigmatization of the African-American race. The fallacy that the African-American race is innately inferior to the Caucasian race has been the basis of many derogatory and blatantly racist beliefs. This belief still exists to this very day and it has a very negative effect on the way African-Americans are treated in society. From the institutional racism in the form of employment discrimination to the blatant hate crimes against African-Americans, this country has a long way to go in order to cure the sickness of racism. Slavery is the very root of this problem, it created a backwards evolutionary building of ideologies which still plagues the American public. During slavery, African-Americans were seen as the very definition of subordinate which led to the cessation of opportunities for them in many walks of life. This ideology is still seen today, African-Americans are disproportionately in lower socioeconomic classes and are constantly struggling to break the glass ceiling of discrimination. This history of slavery predisposes African-Americans as well, as other people, to have negative stereotypes of African-Americans. Often times African-Americans will even accept these stereotypes as being true. There have been many instances in police interrogations when an innocent African-American who is suspect of a crime has made self-deprecating statements alluding that he is guilty. This phenomenon is often called the self-fulfilling prophecy, and it is deeply rooted in the psychology of stereotypes and African-Americans. The stigmatization that has been placed on African-Americans because of slavery is one of the biggest reasons why it is so hard for them to progress socioeconomically. An example of this would be the good hair bad hair dichotomy that is preached amongst many African-American families. This is the belief that African-Americans with ‘good hair’ which is usually defined as soft and straight hair, are more beautiful and refined than African-Americans with ‘bad hair’ which is usually defined as nappy or kinky hair. This ideology has caused many African-Americans, especially women, to try and change their natural hair to look more European. This internally creates a divide in the race and it hinders the progress of the race as a whole.

2. Understanding the Historical Context

It is at this stage, then, that the ideologies of white supremacy that continue to affect race relations in the present were first developed, and the development of these ideologies and the reciprocal comparison of the position of whites and blacks proved to be a significant factor in the changing fate of African people in the New World. This period also roughly corresponds to a global division of the Americas between a predominantly Latin European South and a predominantly Anglo-Saxon North, a division which has continued to affect the relative social and economic positions of black people in the different areas of the Americas. The gradual emergence of a specifically race-based slavery and a concept of black people as a set apart and inherently inferior class also roughly track the process by which the African people in the diaspora ceased actively contributing elements to a common Western culture and became thought of as fundamentally alien to the culture of the whites, although we should avoid assuming too sharp a distinction between this cultural process and the histories of specific laws and acts.

At any rate, it was towards this more stringent type of slavery that the Atlantic slave system gradually developed. Closing off at first all possibility of social mobility of any sort and reducing the slave to mere property, whites first came to distinguish slavery from other forms of labor by legally excluding all non-whites (especially black Africans) from the possibilities of obtaining or maintaining their freedom. This was nominally accomplished by making any non-white person who was not already free into a slave for life, punishing runaways by extending their term of service and even making their children serve, and eliminating the position of free black people in society from the 1660s onwards in all areas where slavery was prevalent. It was only after this formalization of slavery as an exclusively non-white and ascriptive status that ideologies attempting to rationalize racial slavery and to create an elaborate social structure based on race rather than on bound/free status began to emerge in the late 17th century, for the most part in response to a growing black population and signs of resistance on the part of poor whites to the existing order. From this point on until the abolition of slavery in the New World, whites generally succeeded in distinguishing themselves from blacks as a single superior group and ensuring the collective subordination of black people to themselves.

Slavery flourished in the New World for well over two centuries before Britain was able to end the slave trade in 1807 and over three before she abolished slavery in the Caribbean, a process that began in 1834 and was not completed until 1840. This finally took place under pressure from the slaves themselves, as well as the fact that maintaining slavery had become less and less economic as a result of a growing abolitionist movement and a general decline in the profitability of sugar. It was only with this loss of a safe possibility of involuntarily ending up on a plantation (or, in the case of African women, involuntary concubinage) and being forced to labor till death under threat of the whip that slavery as an ascriptively-achieved status solidified. It should be remembered, then, that the better part of slaves’ experiences in the New World, as well as the experiences of the generations eventually born to slavery, occurred under a more stringent form of slavery than that which was experienced by the first generation of slaves during the 17th century.

3. Confronting the Lingering Effects of Slavery

There have been intense cultural and racial issues that are correlated to the practice of slavery. Slavery has undoubtedly caused views of racial inequalities to exist. The dominant race at the time of the Civil War, in which slavery was abolished, the whites, still believed that they were superior to the African Americans. This racial view was also held during the time of the Jim Crow laws and their segregation, which lasted until the 1970s. Today, the views have improved, but there are still cases where racial inequalities are evident. Many of the racial views that exist today are results of cultural learning that occurred because of the past practices of slavery. In order to resolve these racial issues, the entire nation must become aware of the causes and effects of racial problems. They must understand that in order to advance the African American race, there needs to be equal opportunities and rights offered to all people. While this appears simple and easily accomplishable, it is an issue that still holds prevalence and will take much effort to change.

Slavery and injustice have been major concerns in the world since ancient history. Humans were forced to work and treated through violence throughout the world. In the United States, a country with a long history of slavery, the journey to end the practice of slavery is one that has procured vast and monumental effects on the subjugated groups. The end of slavery did create a sense of freedom and independence for all slaves, but due to the lasting effects that have been caused by slavery, worries of a young and troubled African American race that is still living in oppression are present. Cultural views, the economic system, and effects in the justice and education system are all results of the practice of slavery that have had negative effects on African Americans. In order to confront this issue of continuing oppression for the African American community, the recognition and removal of these lasting effects must be accomplished in order to clear the way for the advancement of the African American into the country’s society.

4. Promoting Social Justice and Equality

White privilege is the other side of the coin of racism; it exists in individual and systemic forms. From the system we have just outlined, it is clear that Parrenas’ education and marriage are white privileged. White people are the dominant racial group and white cultural norms and values are seen as normal. Any person can possess white privilege. White privilege is not something a white person necessarily chooses to have, although they can choose to give it up. Due to migration of European people to the U.S., there are many ethnicities of white people and they each have their own specific privileges, dependent on parameters such as how long their family has been in the U.S. and how closely they resemble the dominant group’s phenotype. White privilege is always to the detriment of people of color, it affects how one is treated in society, what resources are available to them and how others perceive them. For example, a study has shown that with everything else being equal, white people with criminal records are more likely to get a job than black people without criminal records.

The concept of white supremacy is an American invention. The founding idea of white supremacy has always been that white people are more valuable than others. This idea was the stated rationale for European colonialism. European colonizers were able to dehumanize and enslave African people and eliminate native populations because they saw themselves as innately more valuable.

5. Creating a Better Future for All

Equality is essential. A just society will require commitment to ensuring equal rights and opportunities for all people. The legacy of slavery and racism, embodied in both societal and institutional practices, must be undone. To that end, our society must strive to value diversity. We envision a society in which there are shared power relationships and economic and social benefits. We must work towards a massive investment in the poorest and most marginalized communities in our nation and the world. This effort, global in its reach, must provide a remedy for the effects of slavery and the continuing subordination of people of African descent. While these are our targeted beneficiaries, the proposed changes can have a positive impact on the quality of life and the degree of social justice for all people. This work can also help build better alliances between the U.S. and other nations by focusing together on an issue that is common to the world community. This can provide an opportunity for the U.S. to look at its own behavior related to global human rights and to be a partner rather than a dominator in the world community.

A Vision of a More Just Society