Abstract This paper describes the life story of a slave girl, as told in Harriet Jacob's autobiographical narrative. The paper looks at how Jacob's book touches upon the female experience of slavery, an aspect often missing from other slave narratives, and the way blacks had to contend with the scourge of racial inequality, even in the free states and after the Emancipation Proclamation.
From the Paper "Harriet Jacob's autobiographical narrative, published as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is a poignant account of one woman's experiences living in bondage. Linda Brent (Jacob's pseudonym) was born as a household slave to a relatively kind mistress who taught her how to read and write by the time she was twelve. When her mistress died, however, she did not grant Linda her freedom: As a result, Linda was sent to Dr. Flint's home, where she suffered the immeasurable brutality described in the bulk of the book. Written to alert a mostly Northern audience to the plight of slaves, the narrative effectively illustrates the horrors not only of slavery as an evil institution but also of the traumas endured on a daily basis by enslaved men and women. Moreover, what makes Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl so unique and historically significant is that it offers special insight into the experiences of female slaves, who encounter such gender-based traumas as sexual assault and the pain of being separated from their children. Jacobs peppers her account with details but changes person and place names to protect them and herself, for she eventually escaped and fled to the North."
This paper reviews Elijah Anderson's "Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner City", which describes inner city black culture.
1,725 words (approx. 6.9 pages), 0 sources, 2004, $ 55.95
Abstract This paper examines Elijah Anderson's "Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner City", extensive interviews with people who live in an area he describes as a "hyperghetto" in "North Philadelphia". The author relates that Anderson points out that, only one generation ago, the neighborhood contained numerous manufacturing jobs; men who wanted to be decent parents could get a job that provided their family with a living wage. The paper concludes that Anderson's book, using full, unedited quotes from the people who live in North Philadelphia, managed to be analytical without being impersonal; he gives readers who have never been anywhere near such a neighborhood an understanding of both its strengths and its weaknesses.
From the Paper "The attitude of street families has at least some roots in the perception and reality of racism. Street families believe that there's one kind of justice for whites, and another for blacks, and so they will have to right any wrongs done to them on their own. Power comes from having a large group of people who will back you up in a dispute, no questions asked. The fewer people you can count on to call to your side, the weaker, and more vulnerable, you are. Having respect means not that you work hard or are trying to raise your family well, but that you are capable of vengeance and will not hesitate to seek it."
Abstract This paper explains that King uses emotion, appeals to authority, and a sense of goodwill to establish a certain atmosphere within the first three paragraphs of his letter to help him win over his audience. The author points out that by the first paragraph with ?My dear fellow clergymen", King appeals to the authority or reputation of his audience because the use of the word "dear" first allows his audience to be clear that his intentions are not negative. The paper relates that King uses terms such as "dear", "good will", "genuine", "sincere", "patient", and "reasonable" to convey a sense of goodwill and friendliness.
From the Paper "Still another strategy King uses is emotional appeal. In paragraph one, we see King's reference to his position as ?confined here in the Birmingham city jail.? (King, 1963, paragraph 1). King does not accuse anyone of blame for his position, but appeals to their emotions through his statement of the obvious. King continues with this strategy through his description of the criticisms he receives on a regular basis for his work. Again, he does not blame anyone for that, but gently reminds his audience that he is frequently criticized."
Abstract This paper discusses the poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes, written during the period of vast growth for African-American literature. The paper examines the underlying factors that brought about the Harlem Renaissance. The paper describes the poem as an attempt to describe the search for identity as an African-American artist and the depth of heritage that belonged to the American Negro. The paper outlines the imagery used in the poem.
From the Paper "Langston Hughes is often referred to as the Poet Laureate or Shakespeare of the Negro Race. He was also one of the chief artists responsible for the flowering of African American literature, known as the Harlem Renaissance. The poetry of Langston Hughes is representative of a period that saw cultural growth and expansion in consciousness, and the increase of self-identity issues of the Black or Negro culture in the United States. The idea of searching for one's cultural roots was a dominant factor in the search for identify and meaning in the Harlem Renaissance."
Abstract This paper examines how "Jubilee" was the crowning achievement of Margaret Walker's career. A sprawling novel about Civil War-era blacks, the novel is simultaneously a preservation of Walker's family history and an historically accurate portrayal of slavery life for many blacks of the times. In particular, the novel is a testament to Walker as a creative survivor, which she discusses in her essay, ?How I Wrote 'Jubilee'.? It explores how Margaret Walker can be considered a creative survivor in three ways. First, through her dedication and diligence, she kept the "Jubilee" project alive over a span of many years. Secondly, "Jubilee" is the representation of the survival of Walker's heritage; the novel is her creative way of preserving, not only the history of her family, but also the history of black Americans in the face of historical whitewashing. Finally, in "How I Wrote Jubilee", Walker shows how important the creative process is to her own personal survival; it is the lens through which she sees the world and without her creative outlets, she herself could not survive.
From the Paper "Walker as a creative survivor is also evident in the fact that the project itself is a way to preserve the author's own history and that of her family. From the beginning, the novel was a labor of love for Walker and her inspiration to write it had more to do with her love for her family than anything else. "Most of my life I have been involved with writing this story about my great-grandmother, and even if Jubilee were never considered an artistic or commercial success I would still be happy just to have finished it" (Walker 50). The story of the novel was intensely personal, and Walker believed it was her duty to preserve this oral history that had been passed down from her great-grandmother."
Abstract Laura Wexler's novel, ?Fire in a Canebrake: The Last Mass Lynching in America", describes the events surrounding the infamous Moore Ford lynching, where a crowd of white men executed two black men and two black women. This paper examines how, in the book, Wexler describes the political and racial climate of the time and creates a disturbing portrait of an America that is clearly divided by race. The paper shows how simmering undercurrents of racial tension are described in this portrayal of the Moore's Ford lynching, revealing the powerful impact of both race and violence.
From the Paper "The killings in Walton County became national news, notes Wexler, and even spurred President Harry Truman to emphasize the importance of the civil rights movement. Despite this intense scrutiny and publicity, law enforcement officials were unable to identify the killers. To this day, Wexler notes that no individuals have been convicted of the killings, and yet officials continue to search for the killers. In 2001, the governor of Georgia offered a reward for information that led to the arrest of those responsible for the lynchings. Wexler notes that several of the original suspects are still alive, and that there is no statue of limitations on the crime of murder."
Abstract This paper focuses on the historical personage of Ida B. Wells as displayed through secondary and primary reports, with special attention given to the public and social interconnection of her political goals.
From the Paper "In her early life, a more personal attenuation can perhaps be attributed to the life of Ida B. Wells in terms of the absence of her standing within political organizations, but she was still very concerned with social networks from a young age, and showed herself to be unflagging in her efforts to advance the cause of black women everywhere through her
own individual example. Wells became an orphan at a young age but remained dedicated to education, and when her family was split up after a Yellow Fever epidemic in Mississippi, she fought to retain control of her siblings and keep her family together by getting a teaching position. This shows that family and togetherness were important to Wells from an early age; she did not profess individualism and the conviction that she would be able to "make it on her own" as an orphan, but instead struggled to keep her family network together by making personal sacrifices."
Abstract This paper examines Fannie Flagg's novel "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" written in 1987 which contains many social issues like gender equality and racism and the 1991 film version of the same name. It connects the film to the novel by examining racism between whites and blacks with the thesis statement that Hollywood keeps perpetuating the stereotype of blacks and it doesn't show the treatments they really received in the early 1900's and before as the novel does.
From the Paper "The book shows Evelyn Couch, a mid-aged Alabama 80's woman who is unhappy and bored tries to 'transform' herself into, well, being happy and to add some excitement in her life. In the book, she has a daughter while in the movie she is childless. The book makes a funny reference about her smoking weed from her own daughter. While trying to transform, she takes advice from Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly woman that tells her a story about the Whistle Stop Cafe and thus Evelyn tries to become more like Idgie Threadgoode who is a very interesting character that does everything she wants, whenever she wants to. Evelyn, in order to get out of that current mental state she is in, will have to overcome her fears."
Abstract This paper addresses the theme of the importance of family in the play, "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. The paper draws several examples from the play to prove the theme. It also includes a very brief plot summary.
From the Paper "Mama also uses dialogue to attempt to convince her children that their family should always come first. After Mama realizes Ruth is pregnant and considering getting an abortion, she tell Walter Lee. When his response is silence she says, "I'm waiting to hear how you be your father's son. Be the man he was... You wife say she going to destroy you child. And I'm waiting to hear you say we a people that give children life, not destroy them(1653-4)." Mama is hoping Walter Lee will stand up and take action like his father would have, and she is hoping he will see that regardless his financial situation, he should take his new child and do the best he can. She wants him to understand that family is important enough to struggle for; because, in the end, his family will be his happiness. She knows he has created life, and she feels he must now take responsibility for his actions."
Abstract This paper explains that, although the Declaration of Independence states, "All men are created equal," in the writing of the Constitution, slaves, Native Americans, and women were not counted as citizens, although indentured servants, who were usually white, were. The author points out that, at the end of the 19th century, in the case of "Plessy vs. Ferguson", the Supreme Court ruled that a court ruling could not force equality if one race were inferior to the other and refused to reverse segregation rules; this justified all sorts of horrific practices, including segregated schools, which were separate but often not equal. The paper concludes that, at the dawn of the 21st century, the idea that all people are inherently equal and that racism is intolerable finally has become part of our society's values.
Table of Contents
How Did the Constitution Initially Recognize the Relations between Whites and Blacks in the Late 18th Century?
What Were the Changes, through Supreme Court Interpretations, in the First Half of the 19th Century?
What Changes Were Written into the Constitution and How Were They Interpreted in the Last Half of the 19th Century?
What Was the State of Race Relations at the Turn of the Century?
Anticipate the 21st Century
From the Paper "After the Civil War, The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution were added. These amendments were vital to the stability of the country, because they made the abolition of slavery the law of the land. The 13th amendment specifically banned slavery. In 1968. the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. That amendment decreed that no state shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.""
Abstract This paper argues that, despite arguments to the contrary, decadence was not the message that 1960s-era rock stars communicated to society; the message was acceptance of the equality of races and the legitimacy of the demands of the Civil Rights Movement.
Outline
Pre-1960s: Attitude Towards the American Blacks
History of the Blacks in America
Music and Civil Rights Movement
Black Musicians and Contributions
"Troubadours of Conscience"
Elvis Presley's Contribution
Baez and Dylan
From the Paper "When the Civil Rights Movement began, it did so in an atmosphere that very strongly believed that the Black person was extremely inferior to the White person, and music became the best means of changing the dominant attitudes towards the Blacks. Music contributed to the Civil Rights Movement's cause for equality in two main ways. First was through the songs and musical style of popular white singers such as Elvis Presley, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan. Second was through the popularity achieved by Black entertainers as the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations and many others, among the White people themselves."
Abstract This paper examines the play, "A Raisin in the Sun," by Lorraine Hansberry and, in particular, looks at how the characters of Walter Lee, Lena Younger, and Beneatha provide a good representation of the trials and tribulations that the majority of the black population was facing during the 1950s and even the 1960s. It shows how each of them either persevered and reached his or her ultimate goal in the face of adversity or at least maintained hope in the eventual actualization of that goal.
From the Paper "From the onset of the play it is made known that Walter Lee, the man or father of the household is underpaid and unappreciated as the chauffeur for a white man. Walter has begun the planning phases of a joint opportunity for investment into and the opening of a liquor store. His goals include the ability to provide a better life for his family and to be able to attain their residence, currently they are living with his mother and sister in an apartment. "I got a boy who sleeps in the living room and all I got to give him is stories about how rich white people live..." (1777). Walter also wants to show his son that a black man or woman can be successful and work for themselves and not have to work for the white man."
Abstract This paper explains that racism can exist and foster an environment and an attitude that sanction an institution like slavery. However, slavery itself can and has brought out the worst in people, including undiscovered feelings of supremacy over another race. It discusses how slavery has engrained in people's minds the thought that since such a practice is allowable and even easy to maintain, it must be right. The paper concludes that this concept may imply a new idea that slavery encourages racism, in as much as racism establishes slavery.
From the Paper "In investigating this concept, we turn towards the past United States enslavement of black people. This particular institution of slavery seems to be aligned perfectly with and idea of dual causality. Its establishment was based in economic possibilities, and was fostered by a division among races. The first element mentioned finds its roots in the Renaissance and Commercial Revolution of Europe. With the rise of towns, the increased centrality of interests in commercial activities, the focus on capital strength, and the fall of feudalism, Europe reinvented its societies to become much more competitive, and focus its attention on individual's prosperity. From England specifically, came the already established aristocrats who ventured to the open land of America to expand their wealth. To do so required a cultivation of the land. Agriculture was the main venue towards wealth, however the already wealthy were not going to perform their own labor. As such, people of lower social statuses searching for greater prosperity, who ventured to the open America, found an opportunity to prosper, by becoming an indentured servant to the wealthy landowner. These servants, who were primarily young white men, would work for a sustained period and at the end of their required servitude, they would be granted land of their own."
Speaks of the parallels between the oppression that existed before the civil rights movement as spoken of in Ernest J. Gaine's famous novel, "A Lesson Before Dying", and the societal oppression that is still felt today in 2005.
Abstract Ernest J. Gaines' famous novel, "A Lesson Before Dying" accents the tension inherent among African-Americans across the country during the 1940s. This essay draws parallels between the societal oppression felt by African-Americans before and during the civil rights movement and the oppression that is still felt by young Americans today.
From the Paper "Gaines's novel examines the difficulties facing African Americans in the rural South during the 1940s, but the historical content covers nearly a century. Between 1910 and 1970, more than six million blacks left the South. During this time, the Civil Rights Movement did much to increase civil equality among the races. But, these strides did not come without blood, sweat, and tears. Jefferson's struggle in the novel parallels the paramount effort, determination, and persistence made by many African Americans during the Civil Rights movement. The road was long, but the benefits of staying the course were innumerable. College students can learn a lot from Gaines's novel. Discrimination and oppression still exist in 2005 even though it has taken on new forms and faces. No fight worth fighting is ever easy, and if college students want to change society, they must stand for their rights and use their voices."
Tags: discrimination, oppression, racial, tension, Jefferson
Abstract This paper explains that Ira Berlin's book "Many Thousands Gone" demonstrates that the meaning of slavery and of race itself was constantly changing as the nation moved toward independence: (1) Beginning in the early seventeenth century, the Charter Generation of slavery was a society with "black" slaves, indentured servants and Atlantic creoles whose position was determined by social and economic status and not by color; (2) The Plantation Generation, whose wearing labor was the sole meaning of black society and, (3) finally, the Revolutionary Generation who represent a freed black society. The author points out that, even in the worst of circumstances, slaves always held a strong card, the threat of rebellion; and, through negotiation, slaves not only carved out an independent social sphere but also they created their own world. The paper relates that, in each generation, slaves' and masters' correlation and co-dependence as well as the political and economical influence of slavery were important influences in the history-making of America.
From the Paper "Ira Berlin described the political impact in all three generations. The primary reason for slaves, indentured servants and Atlantic Creoles to be imported into America was to work the hard fields and other tasks white colonials could not do. Although in the Charter Generation slaves could become masters and own slaves, whites did not allowed too long for this inferior society to compete with them. For example, Anthony Johnson, an Atlantic Creole who gained his freedom after many years of labor, struggled to negotiate and deal with white colonials. "Vulnerable black people paid premium prices for goods and services that white men and women bought cheaply," Berlin described."
