Throughout the course of history we have seen Ignorance play a huge role on our society. Due to ignorance we have seen certain groups of people being treated as less. For example we have seen Africans, African Americans and many other races being treated badly mostly due to the believe they are below the white race. We have seen many tragedies like slavery which is one of the most disgusting act done by humans which has led o most of today’s racism. Many lives have been taken away after slavery due to racism many leaders have tried to fight this issue one being Malcom X. However we see the whole world effected to the extent of wars going on that force kids to join the army and fight for their lives. There has also been cartoons made in order …show more content…
Ignorance is what has fueled many of these issues however there are still people who want to help and make a difference or at least help people learn about history and help end ignorance.
Slavery has been a huge part of history it has become the source of racism all over the world. Although many people try to defend slavery it was a disgusting act what makes things worst is it was done by humans to humans. In the film “12 years of slave” which is based on a true story we see how a free man named Solomon is tricked by two white men with the promise to perform but ended up being sold as a slave. Solomon was taken away from his family from his kids from his wife all for the greed of couple people. It is obvious that Solomon is not a slave in the way that he talks to white people and the way he acts. He is bought by a owner named Ford. His owner is a nice slave master in the sense he wasn’t cruel like other slave masters. Master Ford realizes that Solomon is not a slave but he tells him he can’t just let him go. Due to him not growing up a slave he starts talking back and bumping heads with one of the white plantation workers. This tension between the two caused a conflict between them that forced Master Ford to sell him. He would be
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In the film Beast of No Nation we see how a young boy named Agu is separated from his family thanks to a war going on and joins the NDF. The commandant adopts Agu as his child and teaches him how to survive. In the film we see Agu hesitant to kill at first but then uses the hatred he had from seeing his brother and father shot to start killing. Strika a fellow kid solder never speaks because he was raped by the Commandant. Agu is chosen to be the Commandant’s new pupil and manipulates him with the promise to find his mother to also rape him. Strika then helps Agu after he’s raped because he understands his pain. Agu is then forced to take heroin to help with his depression but they call it morale booster. What is most sickening is that this was all happening to kids who at one point where innocent and pure but now part of an army fighting for they’re life. Commandant then separates from the NDF and now was at war with two sides. With no recourses from anyone they eventually run out of bullets and food all the soldier leave to surrender. We see how a little boy had to stop being with his family and friends to be a part of a war he didn’t decide to be a part of. It’s sad to see how the ignorance of some people would end up changing the lives of many innocent
The book 12 Years a Slave follows the story of Solomon Northup, a free man that was sold into slavery in 1841. The work describes his inner most thoughts and feelings as he finds himself being beaten and forced to work. He is given a new name that robs him of his identity and pushes him to forget about his freedom in New York as well as the family that he left behind. The book discusses the depth of slavery and what went on in Solomon’s twelve years of entrapment. It also explores the lives of other slaves and how they were treated by their masters. Throughout the book, these characters demonstrate the ups and downs of slavery as well as the reality of being held captive. Overall, Solomon Northup's book depicts the diversity in tasks and treatment
Solomon had the unique experience of being a free man for decades before being captured and enslaved, and that greatly challenges proslavery claims made by the Southern whites stating that slaves could never survive on their own without them. Solomon’s first owner, William Ford, could be compared to proslavery claims of how well slaveholders treat their slaves. Ford treated his slaves well and Solomon believed if Ford had grown up under different influences, he would not be a slaveholder at all because he was such an honorable man. Solomon’s second master, John Tibeats, was the complete opposite image of what proslavery southerners were trying to prove. “He was ignorant, withal, and of a revengeful disposition…Certain it is, it was a most unlucky day, for me that brought us together”. Solomon was barely allowed to have any rest, worked long hours, and was never spoken to politely by Tibeats. Harriet Jacobs also had similar experiences as Solomon, but was even more oppressed than others because she was a woman. Jacobs was sexually exploited by her master for years and treated like she was property. There was not one recollection of Harriet Jacobs experiencing anything enjoyable about slavery; only suffering and punishment which threatens proslavery claims. Many slaves tried to challenge the notion of slavery by escaping or fighting back. Solomon fought back by whipping
Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. People are so set on their ideas they set in the past, that they do not want to face the present or future. People that are racist and prejudice are ignorant. Ignorance is passed on and spread, therefore there will always be a person in America who are ignorant, and we will never achieve racial equality. Martin
From Douglass’s narrative, we can conclude that slavery brings out the worst in slave owners. Although one human should not treat another in such tortuous ways, slave owners’ actions towards their slaves deemed socially acceptable among their community. Keeping other human beings as property presumed natural. Slave owners retained wealth from this economic opportunity, resulting in the most valuable possession of all—power. Eventually, the authority they possessed over other human beings led to their abuse of power. Their addiction to dominate diminished all traces of their morality, and unfortunately, transformed them into tyrants. Moreover, the curse of slavery created immoral beings out of even the most virtuous men and women.
The topic of slavery in the United States has always been controversial, as many people living in the South were supportive of it and many people living in the North were against it. Even though it was abolished by the Civil War before the start of the 20th century, there are still different views on the subject today. Written in 1853, the book Twelve Years a Slave is a first person account of what it was like for Solomon Northup to be taken captive from his free life in the North and sold to a plantation as a slave in the South, and his struggle to regain his freedom. Through writing about themes of namelessness, inhumanity, suffering, distrust, defiance, and the desire for freedom, Northup was able to expose the experiences and realities of slavery.
In today’s society many technological advances have contributed to advanced communication. While these are advantageous and can improve communication across the globe, they have become a hindrance to critical thinking. With the advancement of technology throughout the world human beings are able to think less while still “functioning.” Literacy is thrown to the wayside and texting “lingo” runs rampant. Why read a book when you can watch the movie? Students are becoming less interested in language, reading, and writing and more involved with surfing the web for answers. This shift in the value of literacy opens the world up to many dangers that if not confronted and demolished could lead to a society unable to think for themselves.
...ay to stop the spread of racism. Children are the answer. Children are not set in their ways. They learn from what they see and hear. If they see their parents or teachers discriminating against someone, they will also discriminate against that person.
Racism and prejudice has been present in almost every civilization and society throughout history. Even though the world has progressed greatly in the last couple of decades, both socially and technologically, racism, hatred and prejudice still exists today, deeply embedded in old-fashioned, narrow-minded traditions and values.
The honesty and depth of 12 Years a Slave is what teaches today’s people the true history of apartheid and slavery and McQueen deserves a round of applause for this. It is the director’s job to evoke the viewer’s emotions - though they do not have to be of enjoyment and happiness. McQueen has done exactly this in an extraordinary way to teach the horrendousness of our own past to today’s society. In his past movies, he hasn’t been known to be too scared to make the audience feel uncomfortable and that he isn’t willing to sugar-coat the story for the viewers. Why should we not be exposed to the true facts of our past? The film portrayed Solomon Northup’s family (a black family) as living wealthily and happily in New York amongst the white people and having no issues. This is not commonly seen in a film of this time period. Although being a long film, McQueen managed to keep viewers fully interested and focused throughout the whole duration of the
Slavery has been a part of human practices for centuries and dates back to the world’s ancient civilizations. In order for us to recognize modern day slavery we must take a look and understand slavery in the American south before the 1860’s, also known as antebellum slavery. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary defines a slave as, “a man who is by law deprived of his liberty for life, and becomes the property of another” (B.J.R, pg. 479). In the period of antebellum slavery, African Americans were enslaved on small farms, large plantations, in cities and towns, homes, out on fields, industries and transportation. By law, slaves were the perso...
Since the 17th century, slavery helped build the United States by strengthening the economy, but also ruined many African American’s lives. Slavery especially effected the South and their economy, politics and laws, and the culture. Many whites did not see an unethical problem with the slave trade, especially if they treated their slaves well, but that is wrong. African Americans tried extremely hard to hold onto their culture and their lives before slavery. African Americans, free or not, suffered immensely because of the prejudice put upon them merely because of the color of their skin.
12 Years a Slave is a very iconic movie about Solomon Northrup and his being kidnapped into slavery. Northrup was a free man, a professional violinist, and a farmer. After being drugged, he was shipped away from his family and forced to work in New Orleans. During his slavery, he was forced to pick cotton and endure many hardships for 12 years. Eventually, he was freed and returned to his family. The people who captured and enslaved him served no punishment for their crimes since blacks were not allowed to sue white people at that time. Solomon was stripped of all his rights not only as a human, but also as an American and was illegally put into slavery for 12 years.
In the world today, racism and discrimination is one of the major issues being faced with. Racism has existed throughout the world for centuries and has been the primary reasons for wars, conflicts, and other human calamities all over the planet. It has been a part of America since the European colonization of North America beginning in the 17th century. Many people are not aware of how much racism still exist in our schools, workforces, and anywhere else that social lives are occurring. It started from slavery in America to caste partiality in India, down to the Holocaust in Europe during World War II.
Racism is a huge social problem in the world today. Many races today are being discriminated for being a certain race. Racism has been a social problem for a quite long time now, and it is still a social problem. The vast majority are being discriminated because of a certain group of a race, or person, done something that was awful, but this does not mean the whole race is to blame for the actions of others. Other races are looked down upon because of the color of their skin or maybe because they look very different. Racism has led up to genocide because one group fears another, or because of the way a race looks. A person who is racist is not born racist, they are taught to be racist or they see other people being racist, and they want to
Ignorance is a huge problem, it is one of the biggest factors responsible for issues such as racism and sexism. Luckily, ignorance, generally speaking, is a relatively easy issue to fix. The obvious answer here would be more education, but this is not necessarily the case. In order to eliminate much of the racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice that arise due to ignorance, it is necessary to look at education from another perspective: one that encourages togetherness and development alongside people of all races and genders. One quote by Grace Boggs book The Next American Revolution summarizes the issue perfectly. “Just imagine what our neighborhoods would be like if, instead of keeping our children isolated in classrooms for twelve years and more, we engaged them in community-building activities with the same audacity with which the civil rights movement engaged them in desegregation activities fifty years ago! ...Our children will be absorbing naturally and normally the values of social responsibility and cooperation at the same time that they are being inspired to learn the skills and acquire the information necessary to solve real problems” (Boggs 158). So, the main point here is that prejudice, against all sexes, genders, and creeds, can be eliminated via education that encourages cooperation with the largest variety of people. In order to understand this concept, it is necessary to look at it from a few different perspectives to analyze its viability in modern society.