Abstract The paper examines the issue of racism in Mark Twain's
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". It discusses the controversy which has surrounded this novel for some time, largely because of the setting--the South--and the inclusion of the black man Jim, a slave who is seen by some as a stereotyped house slave always ready to do the bidding of white masters. The paper argues that this is a wrong reading of the book, which is structured in a way that brings Jim into equal prominence with the main character, Huckleberry Finn, and elevates him in terms of native intelligence about the dreamer and romantic, Tom Sawyer. It shows that there is no doubt that Twain is depicting a racist society, for that is what he saw when he looked around at the South of his day. He suggests this through several different characters who are found along the journey undertaken by Huck and Jim. The fact that the novel includes racism does not make it racist itself. The paper shows that another reason why some charge that the book is racist is because of the use of the word "nigger" throughout the book. The author of the paper surmizes that whether the book is seen as combating or reinforcing racist attitudes depends on how much understanding the reader brings to the task of reading the book.
From the Paper "This contrast persists in terms of racial attitudes as well. At first, Huck accepts the way society views slaves. However, the more he travels with Jim down the river, the more he comes to see Jim as a human being. This causes the boy great pain because of the way he has been raised, and here Twain shows graphically how racist attitudes are passed down through the generations. Nichols shows in his essay that Twain saw society as a force that could overcome the natural innocence and goodness Twain believed Americans possessed. Nichols suggests that the book says much that is valuable about the society of the time even though it also exaggerates other elements."
From the Paper "Case number one on the Supreme Court docket for the October Term, 1953, bore the simple and unassuming title of Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al. This simply titled case would give rise to one of the most important judicial decisions of this century; racial segregation in the public schools was a violation of the constitution and therefore, unconstitutional. This case was a landmark victory for those seeking integration in the United States. This paper will discuss the Brown case and the Court's decision which was handed down on the afternoon of May 17, 1954.
Five separate legal suits were sent to the Supreme Court at approximately the same time and they all dealt with the same single basic issue --- school segregation. The cases were grouped together under the Brown Case. So it was by accident of(...)"
From the Paper "In Black Majority, Peter H. Wood argues that West African slaves impacted the development of South Carolina sharply; rather than exerting a minor influence on labor, West African slaves played a pivotal role in developing the colony's economy. He claims that specific skills localized in the black slave community enhanced the colony's economic prosperity and that slaves played and active role as the ultimate majority in that social and political structure. Moreover, argues Wood, not only would South Carolina's development have been difficult without slave labor; it would have been almost impossible without the know-how the slaves brought with them from West Africa. This paper focuses on the this knowledge and on the expanding role of slavery in the development of South Carolina from the inception of the colony to the period that directly precipitated the ..."
Abstract This paper looks at Frederick Douglass' autobiography which describes his childhood of slavery. It is shown how Douglass confronts the ideas of power, family, knowledge, home, violence, and having a sense of self. The author illustrates how Douglass attempts to warn Americans about the dire effects that slavery is going to have on the whole nation and how his book makes astounding progress in the fight to abolish slavery.
From the Paper "The power a slave owner has over slaves is broad ? Douglass explains how slavery itself narrows opportunities for slaves to have any sense of self. Like many slaves, Douglass did not know his birth date, which strips him of his own identity from a young age. Slave owners purposely withhold this personal information, attempting to keep slaves from feeling human ? they don?t want slaves to have the power of human rights. To the slaveholders, they are just property, like cows, horses and sheep. The slaveholders utilize their power by keeping children away from their parents, too, because any sense of family would have given slaves security, and camaraderie ? both of which could have caused rebellion against the cruelty of slavery. Douglass knew little of his mother, which prevented him from knowing about his history, his ancestry."
Tags: autobiography Douglass, Frederick Abolitionism slave narratives
Abstract This paper discusses the life of Olaudah Equiano, through his autobiography, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano". The paper outlines Equiano's life as a slave, illustrating how during his lifetime, he was bought and sold like a commodity. The atrocities, cruelties and hardships of slavery are portrayed as they were witnessed by Equiano. The paper points out that Equiano tells his story with an unbiased, fair and accurate historical tone.
From the Paper "Equiano was born in 1745 in an Ibo village in Nigeria. In 1756 he was kidnapped by British slave traders and taken to the West Indies. He eventually ended up on a Virginia Plantation. Equiano lived through the Seven Year's War, which was one of the most important naval battles in history. During this battle, he was owned by a British man, Lt. Michael Henry Pascal, who had bought him as a gift for his cousin in London. Equiano fought for the British during the seven-year war against France. Even though he had earned his freedom by fighting in the war, Pascal would not allow Equiano his freedom. Instead he took away all of Equiano's books and sold him to the captain of a slave ship in 1763. He was then sold to Robert King, a Quaker who eventually sold him his freedom for forty pounds."
Abstract Examines the death penalty & its impact on African Americans. Discusses which States have the death penalty; the ratio of African Americans to other races on death row. Ratio of African Americans to other races put to death in Capital Punishment states. Concludes blacks are disproportiantly executed or sentenced to death compares to whites. Charts of statistics.
From the Paper "This research examines the death penalty in the US, especially its impact on African-Americans. The research will set forth the context in which the issue of capital punishment has met the experience of African-Americans, and then discuss the states that have the death penalty, the ratio of African-Americans to other races on death row in each state, and the ratio of African-Americans to other races put to death in each capital-punishment state in the last 10 years.
To understand the impact of the death penalty on African-Americans in recent years it is necessary to examine the structure of capital punishment that has emerged in recent American history, which in significant part has organized itself around the impact of racism on civil society. Historically, nonwhites were likely to receive death-penalty sentences and were..."
Abstract This paper looks at the history of the inclusion of blacks in the film industry since the early 20th century. It discusses major players in the field, especially women, beginning with the all-black film movement that started in the silent era with the Lincoln Motion Picture company in Los Angeles in 1916. The writer mentions the hardships and hurdles that the African-Americans faced in the form of discrimination and racism before they could establish themselves in the film industry. The paper also examines the changing image of how African-Americans were portrayed in movies in the past.
From the Paper "In recent years, both blacks and women have had to fight to become recognized in the film industry and to achieve any form of power. There are now a handful of black film directors, and a few women directors as well. In the silent era, though, when the economics of filmmaking were quite different, there were a number of women in the director's chair, many forgotten today, just as there were many black directors not in mainstream Hollywood filmmaking but in the all-black film movement. A number of these black directors were in fact women as well, and they constituted an early challenge both to white and male dominance of filmmaking."
This paper discusses that the real heroes of the civil rights movement were the children and that desegregation in the schools is in danger of being overturned.
Abstract This paper reviews the classic school segregation cases: Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, the "Little Rock Nine" at Arkansas' Central High School and six-year old Ruby Bridges, the first black student to be admitted to the William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, after the Supreme Court ruled to integrate the public schools. The author is concerned that today desegregation is facing serious problems: The proportion of blacks in black-majority schools is on the rise and desegregation orders have been lifted in many cities, resulting in the halting of court-supervised school integration.
From the Paper "Perhaps the best-known test of desegregation in practice was undertaken by the "Little Rock Nine" -- the nine black pupils who integrated Arkansas' Central High School for the first time in 1957. Greeted by a howling mob -- and the 101st Airborne sent in by President Dwight Eisenhower -- the students confronted a concentrated and vicious campaign to drive them from the school. They decided to stay, however, and, eventually prevailed, "leaving an indelible mark on the time and the times" ."
Abstract The writer analyzes the film and the methods used by the filmmaker to subtly introduce ideology into the plot and character development. The paper claims that although the work is strong in its message, the viewer is still left to make up his or her mind about what has been seen. The paper gives examples from the plot that illustrate this claim.
From the Paper "The 'hood of the title is the neighborhood in which young Tre Styles grows up, a neighborhood in South-Central Los Angeles. The script covers about seven years in the boy's life, beginning in the mid-1980s. The problems of urban crime in black neighborhoods is evoked in the title cards at the beginning emphasizing how many young black males are murdered and the fact that most are murdered by other young black males. Tre is the central character, and also important are his two friends, the brothers Ricky and Doughboy. Tre is 10 years old when his mother decides that he needs a man's influence, so she hands him over to her ex-husband, Furious Styles. She hopes that the father will be able to teach the boy what he needs to know to be a man and to resist the forces in the neighborhood which push boys the wrong way. Furious does try to be a good father, and he plays ball with the boy, takes him on long walks, talks to him, and offers him lessons in life. The father is somewhat stern, but he is also loving and reasonable."
Abstract A recent study showed that nine out of every ten blacks (91 percent) who live to 75 years of age will have experienced poverty for at least one year during their lifetime, compared with only 50% of whites. Many of the children living in poverty in America are the children of African-American families headed by single females. This paper reviews the current literature on the social problem of poverty and single African American females.
From the Paper "Despite this gloomy assessment of poverty among Blacks, reports on the poverty rates among Blacks and Hispanics (Black poverty, 1998; Simms, 1998; Wilson, 1987) showed that there was a continued decline in the poverty rates. They indicated that the number of poor Blacks had dropped by 600,000 to 9.1 million as the poverty rate dropped from 28.4 percent to 26.5 percent in 1997, down from a staggering 35.7 percent in 1983. These numbers drove down the overall poverty rate for Americans from 13.7 percent in 1996 to 13.3 percent, according to the Census Bureau's annual income and poverty report."
Abstract This paper discusses Dr. Blassigame's text, a modern examination of the enslavement of native Africans and African-Americans in the southern United States from the mid-Eighteenth Century to the mid-Nineteenth Century. The paper shows how Blassigame makes use of slave autobiographies, travel narratives and interviews with plantation owners in order to analyze the structural components of slave life in the United States, as well as the psychological underpinnings of the institution of slavery.
From the Paper "In The Slave Community, Blassingame's main thesis is that the personalities of enslaved African peoples were complex and shaped by many social and cultural factors. He argues that the maintenance of separate living quarters, traditional family structures, and a strong spiritual foundation allowed enslaved Africans and African Americans to maintain a degree of personal autonomy and create meaningful cultural traditions. By underscoring the individuality, independence, and creativity of individual slaves in their response to slavery, Blassingame
deflates the common stereotype of the lazy, docile, and broken 'Sambo' personality type so promoted by slave owners and perpetuated in popular culture in the century after slavery."
Abstract This paper offers a short literary review of "Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison. Ralph Ellison's short story, "Battle Royal", is mainly an account of the African-American struggle for equality and identity. The writer concludes that the recurrent theme of "Battle Royal" is that of a struggle for one's rights against overwhelming odds. Instances of this struggle are found throughout the story.
From the Paper "At first, the boys are taken to a room where a nude woman is dancing. When the boys turn their heads away, they are yelled at for not looking. The tone of the rebuke implies that the blacks were not entitled to most of the "good" things being white could bring them and that they weren?t really good enough for them. The boys then compete in the Battle Royal [Essay Bank notes on Ralph Ellison Battle Royal, 2003]. This classic example of symbolism shows the fight African Americans have been putting up against an oppressive system over time and how it was necessary to persevere and have courage even when hope diminished."
Abstract The contact zone has been described as a social place where cultures meet, clash and grapple with each other. This occurs when two different cultures with different amounts of power clash. One good example of this is the clash between white and black people, which has been an ongoing struggle from the days of slavery to the present. The paper shows that while this struggle is a difficult one, it should be recognized that there are also benefits to the contact zone. The struggle that occurs allows for growth and for people to come to terms with the world and adjust themselves to it. In "Notes of a Native Son", James Baldwin describes his clash of cultures. An analysis of this work shows the benefits that come from the contact zone. One of the important things shown is that Baldwin is not only clashing with the white society of the time, he is also clashing with the past history of the black person and what it means to be black. The paper shows that through these two struggles, Baldwin is able to integrate himself with his identity as a black person and his place in the society of the time. This awareness and personal growth is a good example of how the contact zone is beneficial. It may cause conflict, as cultures clash, but through dealing with this conflict, cultural growth becomes possible.
From the Paper "Baldwin's struggle against his black culture is only part of the story because he is also struggling against the white culture. In the beginning, he is not even aware that a cultural conflict exists. As he notes, "I knew about the south, of course, and about how southerners treated Negroes and how they expected them to behave, but it never entered my mind that anyone would look at me and expect me to behave that way" (56). Baldwin then becomes aware that he is naive in thinking there is no conflict between whites and blacks. In New Jersey he finally realizes that he is defined by the color of his skin and not welcome in the same places that black people are. His initial reaction is to reject the unspoken rules and go to all the places he knows he is not welcome. This is the beginnings of his realization that he is not considered equal and the start of the sense of anger toward the situation."
Abstract This paper examines the impact of the Harlem Renaissance on the United States, especially in terms of providing a new medium of self- expression for the members of the African American community.
Abstract This paper will discuss Randy Roberts' book, "Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes" and seek to understand this boxer in light of the research that Roberts has done him. By understanding the life of a black boxer in the early years of the sport, we can see how this creative work uncover sthe racism and attitude of the boxing world in the era of Papa Jack.
