The Role Of Oppression Of Slaves In Today's Society

The oppression of slaves leads to oppression in today’s world because African American slaves were often looked down upon as less than human, oppressed, and discriminated while whites were powerful, influential, and had opportunities. Thus, in today’s world, African Americans would naturally be oppressed, for example, Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till’s case, because of their past history. As shown in the slave petition, slaves were deprived of social privileges and everything necessary to make life livable. That shows that slave owners had the power to treat their slaves however they preferred. Since African Americans weren’t regarded as a human during the time of slavery in the future they would be oppressed because of their past history.

History of slavery shown

through “Nightjohn” shows that slaves were not allowed to learn how to read or else they would be beaten.

Evidence that supports this claim is shown on “Nightjohn” page. 36, “Don’t. They catch you doing that and they’ll think you’re learning to read. You learn to read and they’ll whip you till your skin hangs like torn rags. Or cut your thumb off.” This is significant because it describes that if you get caught learning how to read they would beat you until mutilated. Also, slaves were to obey their master’s words. According to "Nightjohn" pg. 14, "He wants that we should call him 'master' and they's some do when he can hear but we call him dog droppings and pig slop and worse things when he ain't listening nor close." This evidence is important because it shows that African Americans are oppressed and whites are higher-ranking and has the power to do whatever they want with their slaves.

An example of oppression today is Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin was just walking around the neighborhood at

night talking on the phone with his girlfriend when George Zimmerman, a resident of the neighborhood, reported Martin to the police because he seemed suspicious. George Zimmerman dispatcher that Martin was black, wearing a hoodie, sweatpants, and was up to no good. The dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Martin but he did. After Zimmerman followed Martin, another resident called 911 claiming that there were screaming and a gunshot. Police arrived at the scene finding out that Trayvon Martin was dead and Zimmerman admitting to the police that he killed Martin only because of self-defense. Zimmerman then was called to attend court for his verdict. The jury announced him as not guilty which caused an uprising of anger. This example affects today's world because it shows that African Americans are instantly stereotyped as suspicious when they're walking at night. Another example of oppression today is the murder of Emmett Till. One day Emmett Till whistled at a storekeeper's wife, who was white, and the storekeeper Roy Bryant found out. Four days later Bryant and his brother-in-law abducted Till from his uncle's house and beat him, shot him in the head, and tied him with a barbed wire on a 75Ib fan and threw him into the river. Till’s body was found and Bryant and his brother-in-law were sent to court but were not found as guilty. Weeks after the court session Bryant and his brother-in-law admitted to the killing, but they didn’t get arrested because they were protected by the Fifth Amendment (Double Jeopardy). This example affects today’s world because this is what sparked the civil rights movement which broke the cage of oppression for African Americans.
African Americans would forever have oppression stained on their lives in the past and in the future due to their history of slavery. As shown in “Nightjohn”, slaves suffer endless days and nights of oppression that they had to endure for the sake of living. Now African Americans still face oppression with cases like the murder of Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till. Oppression today is still ongoing and it will never stop.