Last week we had a rather intense discussion about whether slavery is something that can be made right in our current day situation. I think that this is a very important thing to discuss but not a realistic goal currently. What has been taken away from the Africans is something that can not be replaced: their identity. When slaves were brought to America, they were brought from all over Africa. They might have been brought with their family, but once they attend a slave auction, the families get torn apart and pulled away to far corners of the country. After such a long and intense separation, it will be difficult for a family to come back together. Future generations of these slaves wont be able to trace back their roots to their origins in Africa.
Even after freedom, it is not fair to this group of people that they have disadvantages because of a prejudice that has been instilled in their stereotype. Racism continues to occur all throughout America, not just in the South. No matter how hard a group of people try to eradicate racism, it will always be there because of the terrible mistakes by the white plantation owners.
Overall, I do not think that a wrong such as slavery can be corrected because the effects that are present are not like wounds where they can be healed, but they are scars that will last forever.
I definitely agree with what you said, Fatima. The last thing you said was very deep and completely true. Anything that has happend in the past isn't something that can be changed. This doesn't only apply to history, but rather all aspects. If a friend said something to me that was hurtful, I can forgive them and be friends, but the memory, or "scar", will still exist. Just to make a connection with literature, poets can't change what they have published. Copies of their work have already been published, and a much as they try to eradicate all the copies, people still have the poem's meaning embedded in their minds.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you guys (Aqsa and Fatima) but I also think there's another side to this. Yes, the past cannot be undone. What happened has happened and it's over now. But there are things we can do today to help minimize the negative impacts of that past, not to undo it but to make it truly history. I'm talking about things like the advantage given to non-Caucasian students applying for college, or different scholarships - it's not to undo the past, it's to help make the resulting racism minimal. As long as those advantages are reasonable, they're only countering a pre-existing disadvantage, rather than giving an actual advantage. This helps fight it, even if it can't be made right or undone.
ReplyDeleteI like how you took note of both the past effects of racism and slavery and also of any future effects. I agree that the wrong of slavery cannot be corrected but I believe that within the next maybe 20 years there can be a lot done to ease the pain and mend the wound. There are many disadvantages these people have like Miranda said so by trying to give everyone equal privilege, the situation can be improved.
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