Racism In Huckleberry Finn And Dances With Wolves

Throughout the 1800s, racism evolved to be less violent. As seen in Huckleberry Finn and Dances with Wolves, it became more acceptable for blacks and Native Americans to coincide without blatant and harsh interactions. Both Huckleberry Finn and Dances with Wolves illustrate the positive growth between both minorities and whites over the past hundred years. While racism is not totally eradicated, these sources foreshadow the future and a country without segregation.

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain sets the scene as to how rampant racism and the slave trade truly were in the 19th century. The whites believed that the blacks were not human beings. Instead, they saw them as animals or property, only meant to do the dirty work of plantation owners in the South. In 1857, in the Dred Scott vs. Sandford case, the Supreme Court Justice ruled that blacks were not citizens; therefore, they did not have any rights or say in how they were treated. In

In Dances with Wolves, Michael Blake, the screenwriter, illustrated the cruelty and disrespect shown to the Native Americans. In the early 1800s, when settlers began moving westward for land, they discovered the homes of several tribes. Just like the blacks, the Native Americans were not thought of as human beings. Once the settlers made contact with these individuals, war broke out. Historically, Native Americans have been viewed lower than whites. While Dances with Wolves is a fictional depiction of the treatment of Native Americans, The Trail of Tears is a non-fictional depiction of forced migration. Early settlers forced Native tribes to move westward and forced them to live on sections of land that was not conducive to farming or hunting. Native Americans were not seen seen as citizens of the United States, but more as beggars and thieves who were not given the same rights and privileges as