Those that hold zero to twenty slaves supported slavery in the hopes that they one day will become part of the "Planter's Elite." It is the holding onto that hope that they support slavery. The belief that the white race is superior to the black also played a role in retaining slavery in the south. If the south emancipated all the slaves then they would have to give all the rights of a free citizen to the black. This would lead to equality between the races, which the "superior" whites can not stand.
“The right to have a slave implies the right in some one to make a slave; that right must be equal and mutual, and this would resolve society into a state of perpetual war.” Senator William Steward, an anti-slavery supporter, issued this claim in his “There is a Higher Law than the Constitution” speech. Steward, like all abolitionist, viewed all of man as equals. This equality came from the “higher law” that is the Bible. Since all men were created by God then all men were equals in God’s eyes. Abolitionist believed that whites had no more right to make a slave out of a African American than the African American had to make a slave out of a white man.
They both fought for their people, King however fought peacefully with white people, who in return were cruel. This comparing Jefferson's and King's fought for freedom, different skin color demonstrates racism causing unfairness to this day still exists because the fight for justice and rights still exist which calls for a social contract. Every single human being has a right to life, civil rights, and freedom. This is a right that Americans base their government on. Jefferson states that "all men are created equal" and man should naturally stand for every single person, no matter what color or sex they are.
In the article, “Nature and Environmental Justice” Mei Mei Evans believes that white supremacy had a large impact in what is natural in society. European settlers implemented slavery to purposely show to the minority group who was at top of the social class. Through the ideology of European Settlers, the gap they created when they implemented slavery created the aftermath of stereotypes that affects African Americans wanting to better themselves. “This ideological construction creates a representation paradigm whereby heterosexual white manhood is constructed as …the identity most deserving” (Evans 183). Dunbar the writer had to be helped by his friend, who was a white editor, in order to sell his stories because of his limitation of being African American.
Therefore, the South argued that the sudden end to the slave economy would have a profound impact as slavery served as the backbone of the southern economy. Slavery was an integral part of the South’s way of life that they did not want to relinquish. In fact, Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin transformed the South and made slavery even more important. Therefore, in an effort to convince the other states to secede, Southern commissioners traveled to the states to give speeches in which they would use emotion in order to gain support from the states. First, Southern commissioners feared racial equality and claimed that “our fathers made this a government for the white man.” (604) Secondly, the commissioners feared that the Northern Republicans would infiltrate the South “to excite the slave to cut the throat of his master.” (605) Lastly, the commissioners feared interracial amalgamation and matrimony.
“Eugenics justified social policies by encouraging the reproduction of ‘fit’ individuals while denying any reproduction to ‘unfit’ individuals” . The dominant upper-class white society used social Darwinism... ... middle of paper ... ...r president. African American ancestors that had given up on using their right to vote because of the many restriction may have unknowingly taught their child to do the same, giving African Americans even less of a voice in the government. Works Cited Michael Omi & Howard Winant, “Racial Formation,” in Race Critical Theories (2002), 125 James A. Tyner, “The Geopolitics of Eugenics and the Exclusion of Philippine Immigrants from the United States,” The Geographical Review, 89, no. 1 (1999), 54 James A. Tyner, “The Geopolitics of Eugenics and the Exclusion of Philippine Immigrants from the United States,” The Geographical Review, 89, no.
Frederickson’s title “The Black Imagine in the White Mind” leaves little doubt regarding which side of the argument the author takes on this subject. Within his essay, he stresses the point that racism under the doctrine of “white supremacy” had a vast influence on the failure of Reconstruction. This doctrine of white supremacy stated that white men were superior to colored men, although colored men were now freedmen. Frederickson contends that although the Civil War was over, racism within the south did not disappear overnight which lead to strong opposition from southerners to conform to the North’s pursuit of equality among all races. Southerners were extremely bitter with the fact that colored men would have civil rights equal to theirs.
Even though Henry A. Wallace was a white man he still supported the abolition of “Jim Crow” laws. Why? What was the need for these cruel laws? What was his reason for supporting the black people? The “Jim Crow” laws were established by the government of many Southern states because of the controversy between the white and black people there.
He not only stereotyped African Americans as lazy and schemers he influenced society’s outlook on whites too. He made society see white citizens as the hard working people who were the backbone of the United States. He used this to his advantage to receive the white vote. Reagan brought back race-baiting in an aggressive way. Race-baiting destroys the middle class but that is not the first thought on politician’s minds; politicians just want to be elected and reelected.
The notion that slavery was an institution of civilization and that genetically whites were superior to African Americans were the major factors that led whites to believe they were superior. The last factor that led to the myth is the religion of the South. Being one of the most religious areas of the country the clergy had a strong influence on southern society. The clergy sought to shift blame away from the Confederacy turning the South into a victim. The leaders of the Confederacy were turned into heroic figures that were fighting a noble fight for their people.