Racism And Slavery Essay Research Paper The

Racism And Slavery Essay, Research Paper

The Never-ending Battle

Slavery has been a controversial issue in the United States for hundreds of

years. Since the rise of slavery in the America, there have been numerous

accounts of resistance and opposition. Some of the more famous accounts of

resistance against slavery and racism are Harriet Tubman, the mastermind behind

the Underground Railroad, Rosa Parks, who refused to relinquish her seat on a

public bus to a White man, and Martin Luther King Jr.?s movement and most

famous speech I Have A Dream. Although slavery is illegal in the United States

today, I believe that the fight against slavery will never end. Slavery in the

United States is about more than taking Black?s freedom; it is about equal

rights for all races and ethnicities. Sadly, there is too much hatred and greed

in the world to abolish slavery and racism forever.

Frederick Douglass? Independence Day Speech at Rochester in 1852, is one of

the most profound speeches of American history. It is unthinkable that a Black

man would speak out so strongly against slavery and Whites during a time when

there was so much tension between the Blacks and Whites. Douglass was the ideal

person to give such a speech due to his experiences as a slave. With his

personal life experiences, combined with his education achieved in England, he

was able to present himself with dignity and authority. Through his speech,

Douglass reveals the hypocrisy of America. The best example of this is the last

line of the speech, which states, ??for the revolting barbarity and

shameless hypocrisy, America reins without a rival? (Douglass 5)

Douglass plainly explains how phony the white leaders of that time were. This

is my favorite quote from this article because he points out the hypocrisy of

the laws written by the white male property owners. ?What is this but the

acknowledgment that the slave is a moral, intellectual, and responsible being?

(Douglass 3). Douglass is explaining that a Black man can be put to death for

seventy-two crimes in the state of Virginia when a White man can be put to death

for only two. If a being, such as a Black man, committed any of these crimes,

then doesn?t that classify that being as intellectual and responsible? And if

by law, that the White man wrote, Blacks are considered to be intellectual and

responsible beings, then how can Blacks be considered by White men to be the ?beasts

of the field? (Douglass 3)? Therefore, law defines Blacks not only as men

equal to whites, but as human beings too.

Because the confederate flag has long been a part of southern heritage, it is

still hung over many businesses and government agencies. There has been a

dispute about this for many years, but was not heavily covered by the media

until the beginning of 2000. There are many mixed opinions about the Confederate

flag. Numerous White southerners believe that the flag should fly over the state

Capital because, to them, it represents the freedom that was just out of reach

during the Civil War. For many others including myself, the Confederate flag

symbolizes more than the Confederate States of America. It stands for the

persecution of the Black race as well as other minority groups, in every way,

shape, and form. Joe Neal, Black Caucus vice-chairman, has similar thoughts in

Lisa Goddard?s article entitled South Carolina Governor Signs Confederate Flag

Compromise of WIS-TV in Columbia South. In it Neal states ??The flag

represents the Confederacy that enslaved, exploited, murdered, raped and killed