Where Have We Been Where Are We Going Analysis

794 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Slavery in American society

Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going? Growing up in the South, I was raised in a middle class home segregated from any contact with white people. I would hear adults talking but was more concerned, at that time, with playing and having fun! It was when I started school and boldly faces to face with the hatred and intolerance presented at Wrens Elementary school in Wrens Georgia,(if memory serves me correctly) The past is constantly mirrored in the present-day. I am dismayed that an enormous quantity of Black minority today are discrediting all those that came previously before them and made such strides in changing the world so that they would have better opportunities. There are many factors, I know. But my perception is that it is destructive …show more content…

Traveling into the aspect of slavery, slavery seems distant from the discussions over concerns that split white and black people in the world currently. Slavery was not just a unique aspect of American culture for three centuries; it has been a critical fragment of our nation’s life. African-American history has played an essential role in the shaping of politics, economics, and culture in the United States. As slavery developed in colonial America and the United States, so do slave codes laws that defined the low position of slaves in the United States. The instructions different on or after state to state and from time to time and were not always enforced. “Slaves could not marry or even meet with a free Black.” “A slave could not leave a plantation without a pass nothing his or her destination and time of return.” “And no one, including Whites, was to teach a slave (in some areas, even a free Black) to read or write or to give a slave a book, including the Bible.” “Violations of these rules were dealt with in a variety of ways.” Even though the slave was defenseless to his or her owner’s desires, slavery as a body was defenseless to outer view. The future of what will not change is the Issue of …show more content…

We can see it in the nation’s Capital and the White House, which were built with slaves’ labor, but we can also see it in the enduring poverty that grips a large proportion of the descendants of slavery.” (Page 172) African Americans have made earth-shattering progress in many areas. A March took place in Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The energy from the people generated by the March in Washington changed the America people. It helped to stimulate the country. Education comes after the March of “I Have A Dream” speech, the African American

Show More
Related

  • Understanding Slavery: Its Impact on American Psyche and Economy

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    When reading about the institution of slavery in the United States, it is easy to focus on life for the slaves on the plantations—the places where the millions of people purchased to serve as slaves in the United States lived, made families, and eventually died. Most of the information we seek is about what daily life was like for these people, and what went “wrong” in our country’s collective psyche that allowed us to normalize the practice of keeping human beings as property, no more or less valuable than the machines in the factories which bolstered industrialized economies at the time. Many of us want to find information that assuages our own personal feelings of discomfort or even guilt over the practice which kept Southern life moving

    Read More

  • The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    Assumptions from the beginning, presumed the Jim Crow laws went hand in hand with slavery. Slavery, though, contained an intimacy between the races that the Jim Crow South did not possess. Woodward used another historian’s quote to illustrate the familiarity of blacks and whites in the South during slavery, “In every city in Dixie,’ writes Wade, ‘blacks and whites lived side by side, sharing the same premises if not equal facilities and living constantly in each other’s presence.” (14) Slavery brought about horrible consequences for blacks, but also showed a white tolerance towards blacks. Woodward explained the effect created from the proximity between white owners and slaves was, “an overlapping of freedom and bondage that menaced the institution of slavery and promoted a familiarity and association between black and white that challenged caste taboos.” (15) The lifestyle between slaves and white owners were familiar, because of the permissiveness of their relationship. His quote displayed how interlocked blacks...

    Read More

  • Were Black Americans Made Free and Equal by the Abolition of Slavery, 1865-1915?

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    While the formal abolition of slavery, on the 6th of December 1865 freed black Americans from their slave labour, they were still unequal to and discriminated by white Americans for the next century. This ‘freedom’, meant that black Americans ‘felt like a bird out of a cage’ , but this freedom from slavery did not equate to their complete liberty, rather they were kept in destitute through their economic, social, and political state.

    Read More

  • Fannie Lou Hamer and Malcolm X

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...actions on the part of Black activists empowered a generation to struggle for their most basic civil rights.

    Read More

  • Racism and Discrimination in the US

    1628 Words  | 4 Pages

    As time goes on, people have gone to great lengths to try to improve relations with blacks, and to fix the errors of the past. Laws have been made to try to give African Americans the same opportunities as whites, but as hard as people try, there is always going to be some ignorant people who will not obey these laws and make no efforts to be friends with them. If parents teach their children at young ages about racism, there might be a chance for the upcoming generations to live in a society where people are not judged by the color of their skin.

    Read More

  • Slavery Should Be Abolished Dbq Essay

    441 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout history, the institution slavery was the major issue that faced the United States, especially in the South. Such valuable property required rules to protect it. However, many individuals were against slavery and promoted abolition in a variety of ways. At the same time, the government created rules to handle the issue of slavery. It is important to understand how people could impose such deprivation and inequity on others. We as people, should take acknowledge of this inhumane period of our history so that it does not occur again.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the midst of a heartbreak, crisis, celebration, or milestone, we use music to help express the emotions that we feel or may have felt during that time. Music allows for us to escape our reality, though only for a moment in time. It has an adverse reaction on our emotions. Music can trigger feelings regarding a past experience, a loved one, etc. Music is universal. Regardless of the lyrics, tone, or time period of the song music is an incredibly powerful work of art deeply connected with human emotions. Joyce Carol Oates uses pop music as a symbol and motif throughout her short story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” In her short story, Joyce Carol Oates' music references illustrate Connie's life and journey throughout the story.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

    1594 Words  | 4 Pages

    Connie is your typical 15 year old girl growing up in an American suburb during the 1960s. Moral and social conventions were being challenged during this decade and even issues such as feminism, sexual freedom, and adolescent sexuality were becoming hot topics of controversy. Connie is a good representation of adolescent sexuality. She depicts girls who are growing up too fast and making the transition from being daddy’s little girl into a young woman. Connie spends her time preoccupied in front of the mirror, making herself sexually attractive to get attention from boys. This works for Connie, however, she gets the attention from the wrong boy, Arnold Friend who is much older than she is. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, I believe Arnold represents a fear all young

    Read More

  • African American History in America

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    In From Slavery to Freedom (2007), it was said that “the transition from slavery to freedom represents one of the major themes in the history of African Diaspora in the Americas” (para. 1). African American history plays an important role in American history not only because the Civil Rights Movement, but because of the strength and courage of Afro-Americans struggling to live a good life in America. Afro-Americans have been present in this country since the early 1600’s, and have been making history since. We as Americans have studied American history all throughout school, and took one Month out of the year to studied African American history. Of course we learn some things about the important people and events in African American history, but some of the most important things remain untold which will take more than a month to learn about.

    Read More

  • Martin Luther King's Successful Philosophy

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nearly three centuries ago, black men and women from Africa were brought to America and put into slavery. They were treated more cruelly in the United States than in any other country that had practiced slavery. African Americans didn’t gain their freedom until after the Civil War, nearly one-hundred years later. Even though African Americans were freed and the constitution was amended to guarantee racial equality, they were still not treated the same as whites and were thought of as second class citizens. One man had the right idea on how to change America, Martin Luther King Jr. had the best philosophy for advancing civil rights, he preached nonviolence to express the need for change in America and he united both African Americans and whites together to fight for economic and social equality.

    Read More

  • Slavery as the Cause of the American Civil War

    1746 Words  | 4 Pages

    Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict. Slavery has existed in the New World since the seventeenth century prior to it being exclusive to race. During those times there were few social and political concerns about slavery. Initially, slaves were considered indentured servants who will eventually be set free after paying their debt(s) to the owner. In some cases, the owners were African with white servants. However, over time the slavery became exclusive to Africans and was no limited to a specific timeframe, but life. In addition, the treatment of slaves worsens from the Atlantic Slave trade to th...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of I Have A Dream Speech

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    This march was where thousands of Americans stood in Washington DC, as a rally to enforce change to the lives of African Americans. The March on Washington is where King gave his iconic “I have a Dream” speech, which is known as one of the best speeches in American history. Although I didn’t listen to the speech until recently, I knew the moral of the message was a vision of change. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 still has a great significance to America, because it gives the nation understanding of what today’s society hasn’t experienced. I look at his speech as if he was building a house. Of course, before you build a house, you plan and negotiate with the contractors, which would be America. Upon the request of the homeowner, Martin Luther King, the construction process then starts with the foundation. The foundation were the problems that King wanted to soon come to an end. This speech truly shows the

    Read More

  • Modern Day Slavery Essay

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery has been a part of human practices for centuries and dates back to the world’s ancient civilizations. In order for us to recognize modern day slavery we must take a look and understand slavery in the American south before the 1860’s, also known as antebellum slavery. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary defines a slave as, “a man who is by law deprived of his liberty for life, and becomes the property of another” (B.J.R, pg. 479). In the period of antebellum slavery, African Americans were enslaved on small farms, large plantations, in cities and towns, homes, out on fields, industries and transportation. By law, slaves were the perso...

    Read More

  • Essay On Civil Rights Movement

    2889 Words  | 6 Pages

    Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...

    Read More

  • The Characterism Of Slavery In Roots, By Alex Haley

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery was exercised throughout the American community in the 17th and 18th centuries, and African slaves helped form the new nation an powerhouse through the management of beneficial goods such as tobacco and cotton. By the mid-19th centenary, America’s westward development and the abolition drive angered a amazing debate over slavery that would rip the nation apart in the bloody civil war. Through the Union victory freed the nation’s four million slaves, the heirloom of slavery continued to altered African American history, from modernization era to the civil rights act that began a century afterwards emancipation. Slaves in the colonial South constituted around one-third of the Southern populace. Most slaves endured on broad plantations or cramped farms; loads of master bought fewer than 50 slaves. Slave masters sought to make their captives completely helpless on them, and a order confining codes governed life amongst captives. They were mainly prohibited from knowledge to read and write, and their behavior and movement was restricted. Lots of owners accepted sexual liberties with captives women, and repaid obedient captives behavior with favors, while rebellious captives were brutally punished. A harsh hierarchy amony captives from elite house captives and adept artisans below to lowly field hands helped carry them split and less likely to arrange against their owners. Captives weddings had no allowable basis, btu captives did marry and increased enormous families; most slave masters cheered this practice, but nonetheless did not usually be uncertain to divide slave families by sale or removal. Slave dissents did occur within the system greatly ones led by Gabriel Prosser in Richmond in 1800 and by Denmark Vesey in Charleston in 1822 but hardly any were successful. Even after he’s kidnapped and enslaved, kunta is well acquainted

    Read More

More about Where Have We Been Where Are We Going Analysis

Open Document