Theme Of Oppression In America

One theme theme that was prevalent throughout many of the course readings was the constant theme of oppression. This was evident throughout various pieces of works that were written in various time periods. Some argue that the oppression that plagued many of American’s during America’s early years is no longer an issue. However, that claim is not true it is just disguised in different manners and towards different people.

Thus the oppression that has plagued many Americans still exists today.

Evidence of oppression was documented in one of the earliest writings regarding the discovery of the new lands which later became known to be America. In his First

Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage Christopher Columbus states “I

understood

Here Equiano discusses the inhumane way they were treated as slaves. This form of oppression was later deemed illegal and unconstitutional. However, that did not end oppression in America.

Oppression of African Americans did not end when slaves were freed, but nearly two hundred years later African Americans still face oppression just in different forms.

Oppression towards African Americans today is still prevalent in multiple areas. One common form of oppression towards African Americans today is through police brutality.

In recent years there has been a spike in the use of excessive force towards African

Americans by police. This has led to multiple murders of innocent African Americans through out the country. Many may argue that African Americans are not oppressed anymore however the trend of oppression towards African Americans has not gone away.

Just as the oppression in early days of America shifted from Native Americans to

African Americans, oppression today has changed direction towards other minorities or populations. One commonly oppressed minority is the LGBTQ community. Over the past few years America has seen an increased number of incidents that brought to light

Although many Americans might argue that oppression is no longer a problem in

America, oppression is still a prevalent issue in America it has just changed in many forms. In the early years, as documented from course readings, oppression was a very clear and prevalent thing done towards races as a whole. Oppression was seen in the invading of the Native American’s homelands and forcing them out of them and forcing their culture out of their lifestyles. This oppression was even seen to the point where races as a whole were relocated and forced to work for little to no pay for someone else all due to their race. The oppression has simply changed from major wide overarching oppressive actions done to an entire race to more subtle and less often forms. Another

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way the theme of oppression has changed was from its population or culture it targets.

Oppression in America originally was just due to someone’s race or color but now it has extended to ones beliefs and or actions. On the other hand, historical oppression is still similar to today’s in some ways. For example, oppression is oppression in other