Kindred Timed Essay
Slavery was a very important part of history that has affected modern day America and how it works. Octavia Butlers Kindred is a book about a young modern day black woman who is forced to travel back into the past to save an ancestor, where she then goes through the trials and tribulations of slavery, in which she is forever scarred .In Butlers Kindred, it reveals that the American legacy of physical slavery has transformed into mental slavery in present day society. The evidence used to support this is Octavia Kindred, and the Facing History Ourselves Resource book.
Physical slavery and its legacy is a cause of modern day resentment amongst blacks and whites. Dana found out that Rufus lied about sending her letters to her husband, so she decided to run away, but soon got caught. Octavia Butlers Kindred reads, “Weilyn ripped my clothes off and began to beat me. He beat me until I swung back and forth by my wrist, half crazy with pain, unable to find my footing, unable to stand the pressure” (176). Due to such harsh things that happened to blacks during slavery, blacks are now mentally enslaved to believe that that all whites are racist and to resent them. It is hard to see someone as your “equal” when for hundreds of years you were their opposite. In modern day black society, blacks are for the most part united, and consider themselves as as community, or family. They are so mentally enslaved to the point where they don’t want to associate with other races besides their own, unless needed to. This mindset causes blacks to feel as if they are constantly targeted and looked down upon, due to them always being at the bottom of the social ladder. Another example of modern day resentment between blacks and whites ...
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...k are so mentally enslaved in believing that being black is bad that they have decided to hide and abandon their heritage. This mindset causes a feeling of worthlessness and not belonging. The people who could not pass as white felt as if they were missing out on something because their own people chose to disregard their heritage instead of embracing it.
The American legacy of physical slavery has had a huge impact on the mental enslavement in present day society. It has caused two races who are quite similar to have resentment and hatred toward one another. It has caused degrading stereotypes that will most likely never go away. Finally, it has made people feel as if they need to change who they are and where they come from to fit in with present day society, though they will never be accepted in society whether they change or not because thats how society works.
Over the years most of us have read a great deal about the institution of slavery and it’s effects on this country and the African American race as a whole. The fact of the matter is most of us have only learned certain information about slavery. There are only certain facts and historical figures that we lean about. No to say that the information we get is wrong, but we were not taught the whole story. This could be due to the approach of different instructors or because school curriculums are supposed to focus on the interesting facts and stories about slavery. The fact of the matter is there are some areas that go untouched when learning about slavery in most schools. Reading the book Black Southerners was something different for me. It was like some one opened a door and when I entered in I found hidden facts and knowledge about an institution that has a tremendous effect on my country and this history of race.
Expanded and strengthened state private insurance companies are to be expected since more younger Texans enter the market thanks to the premium support. Texas can expect savings through more proper use of medical care, lower numbers in Medicaid, and savings from increased recipient cost sharing. Texas must refuse to comply with the new high-risk pools. There are many reasons Texas should not comply but the main reason is poor design. Currently, eighteen states have decided not to participate in these pools, Texas is undecided. Any person with a pre-existing medical disorder whom has been without insurance for six month will qualify. The law gave the Department of Health discretion in determining with conditions qualifies. Theoretically, the Department of Health could say the flu is a pre existing medical condition. If Texas does not refuse to comply with these pools it is only a matter of time before the demand will exceed the supply. A huge concern is when the funding is gone what do the state politicians do. I see two options. One, state officials will end the coverage all together and pull the plug. Two, continue to allow the program to run with the use of state tax dollars.
As a struggling country, America’s south discovered slavery as a way to gain financial stability. Except, slavery grew into much more than a need for money. It became a social thing and also a controversial topic among politicians, especially with the emergence of abolitionism. Even after slavery, it became a great learning opportunity to ensure that it never happens again.
Race was a very important factor in American slavery. In other nations, slaves would be of the same race as their master. An ex-slave could re-enter society with their past forgotten and be accepted once again. On the other hand, American slavery was closely connected to racial differences that led to racial segregation and discrimination. Master and slave could physically be distinguished from one another, which ultimately distinguished one as human and the other as chattel.
Slavery was one of the most horrific and in human acts ever instilled on a race of people ever in our world's history. People were stolen from their homelands, broken apart from their families, and were thrust into a lifestyle that inhibited their every move and instilled harsh punishments on them. It is almost impossible for many of us to comprehend the mindsets that these slave owners possessed, but history paints a truly horrific and emotional picture for us all to see.
In the past, it is true that African American have suffered injustice, however, today there are still some wounds that needs healing from harsh treatment blacks people experience from whites people back during the civil right movement. Now, some whites are in positions where they are able to use their authority and demand unnecessary respect from minorities in certain situations, just so they could be in control. “In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived, had no moral ground on which to stand” (Baldwin, 2000, p31). For instance, threatening to fire or suspend someone for not allowing them to be in control is the same attitude people had back then. Because of this, some blacks feel that they need to respond in any way possible to make their point. In other words, the attitude that some blacks have express at some point could be aggressive at time.
In 1619 a well-known issue was brought to life that is now known as an American catastrophe. In the book Black Southerners, the author John B. Boles doesn’t just provide background of how slavery began or who started it, and doesn’t just rant about the past and how mistreated the African American race was; he goes on to explain how as slavery and racism boosted the families of these slaves began to grow closer to a community and the efficiency and profitability of slavery. He also shows the perspective of not just the slaves, but the bondsmen as well to show the different perspectives throughout this point in time. As far as my generation goes, we all picture slavery as African American’s picking cotton, or doing chores around the house, going
Slavery is one of the biggest global issues that have been impacting many lives of African-Americans. Long ago during the 16th century the very first slave ship arrived in the Americas. On the dock of Jamestown, Virginia 1619.( 3 ). During the 16th century 11,363,000 African Americans were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. (Facts about the slave Trade and Slavery). Slave exports grew to 36,000 slaves annually during the seventeen hundreds to almost 80,000 slaves a year during the eighteen hundreds. (Facts about the slave Trade and Slavery) This was just the begging for slavery all around the globe.
Frederick Douglass, the author of the book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, said “I saw more clearly than ever the brutalizing effects of slavery upon both slave and slaveholder” (Douglass, p.71). Modern people can fairly and easily understand the negative effects of slavery upon slave. People have the idea of slaves that they are not allow to learn which makes them unable to read and write and also they don’t have enough time to take a rest and recover their injuries. However, the negative effects upon slaveholder are less obvious to modern people. People usually think about the positive effects of slavery upon slaveholder, such as getting inexpensive labor. In the book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass also shows modern readers some brutalizing impact upon the owner of the slaves. He talks about Thomas Auld and Edward Covey who are his masters and also talks about Sophia Auld who is his mistress. We will talk about those three characters in the book which will help us to find out if there were the negative influences upon the owner of the slaves or not. Also, we will talk about the power that the slaveholders got from controlling their slaves and the fear that the slaveholders maybe had to understand how they were changed.
When one thinks of slavery, they may consider chains holding captives, beaten into submission, and forced to work indefinitely for no money. The other thing that often comes to mind? Stereotypical African slaves, shipped to America in the seventeenth century. The kind of slavery that was outlawed by the 18th amendment, nearly a century and a half ago. As author of Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People, Kevin Bales, states, the stereotypes surrounding slavery often confuse and blur the reality of slavery. Although slavery surely consists of physical chains, beatings, and forced labor, there is much more depth to the issue, making slavery much more complex today than ever before.
Hesiod’s Theogony and the Babylonian Enuma Elish are both myths that begin as creation myths, explaining how the universe and, later on, humans came to be. These types of myths exist in every culture and, while the account of creation in Hesiod’s Theogony and the Enuma Elish share many similarities, the two myths differ in many ways as well. Both myths begin creation from where the universe is a formless state, from which the primordial gods emerge. The idea of the earth and sky beginning as one and then being separated is also expressed in both myths.
The history of slavery in America is one that has reminders of the institution and its oppressive state of African Americans in modern times. The slaveholders and the slaves were intertwined in a cruel system of oppression that did not yield to either side. The white slaveholders along with their black slaves became codependent amongst each other due to societal pressures and the consequences that would follow if slaves were emancipated with race relations at a high level of danger. This codependency between the oppressed and the oppressor has survived throughout time and is prevalent in many racial relationships. The relationship between the oppressed and the oppressor can clearly be seen in Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred. In this novel, the protagonist Dana Franklin, a black woman, time travels between her present day 1977 and the antebellum era of 19th century Maryland. Throughout her journeys back to the past, Dana comes in contact with her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin, a white slave owner and Dana ultimately saves his life and intermingles with the people of the time. Butler’s story of Dana and her relationship with Rufus and other whites as she travels between the past and the present reveals how slaveholders and slaves depended on and influenced one other throughout the slaves bondage. Ultimately, the institution of slavery reveals how the oppressed and the oppressor are co-dependent; they need each other in order to survive.
During the 18th and 19th centuries slavery was economically efficient, but more importantly a social aspect of almost everyone’s life. There was an extreme importance depending on the existence of slavery in the majority of white land owners and also the South’s economy. Slaves also greatly contributed and were an important role to America’s history. Another important aspect of slavery was the nature of their life in America, their culture, and how this intertwined into the slave’s relationship with their master. Culture contributed a great deal in their religion and family as well. As many slaves as there were, conflict would very easily ignite with other slaves, but even more so with a master, which often lead to slave revolts or slave resistance. Slaves not only left a historical footprint on early America, but they also formed an important foundation for the country we know today.
Slavery was a condition that no human being should ever endure. It is a mechanism that shaped every aspect of everyone living at that time period. Common and the most powerful critiques of this institution was that it broke up families, resulted in poor living conditions, and shaped the lives of everyone involved from youth to their adulth