In the first weeks of class we discussed how in the telling of history, there is always more than one “historical truth” and in these “truths” history has been edited to benefit different agendas. Because history can be easily manipulated, the lecture stressed how significant these revisions can be in the formation of master narratives. However, we reviewed how through recovery projects, counter-narratives have started to refute these previously “truths.” In these contested recollections we acknowledged at times this new information can be hard to emotionally process. This brings me to the topic of slavery. Up until a few months ago, slavery never crossed my mind as anything other than a horrible and dark chapter in both Northern American and European history. I understood that…
Ta-Nehisa Coats “The case for reparations” was able to explain the two hundred fifty long and hard years of slavery. The very long ninety years of Jim Crow, and the depressing thirty-five years of racist housing policy. I completely and total agree with this strong article written by Ta-Nehisa Coats. The part of the article I agreed with the most and want to expand on more was the racist housing policy.…
“The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a powerful article discussing many reasons on why african americans should receive some form of reparations from the united states of america. Before diving into his reasoning let's take a look at Ta-Nehisi Coates background. Ta-Nehisi, born September 30, 1975, in Baltimore, Maryland. Ta-Nehisi’s father Paul Coates is a Vietnam War veteran and former Black Panther. His mother, Cheryl Waters is a teacher. Ta-Nehisi attended Howard University where he would study journalism. Currently Coates is a national correspondent for the magazine the Atlantic. Coates has also contributed to the washington post, washington monthly, and the new york times. Ta-Nehsi background alone establishes credibility…
Winston Churchill once said, “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” By this he meant that he intended to win World War II and by being the victor, history would be on his side. While history often does take the side of the vanquisher, it can, by the influence of a dedicated few, sympathize or even support the lost voice of the vanquished. Although both Stephanie Smallwood and Olaudah Equiano did not write their descriptions of slavery in the late sixteenth century to mid seventeenth century from direct experience, they both created valuable documents that were as relevant to all readers’ lives then as they are now.…
For a nation to grow and come together there must be reparations in various form to correct these past injustices. He presents several types of reparations that could ease the white guilt, as well as acknowledging the effects of racism towards African Americans. One type of reparation he discusses is a financial one involving calculating the wag gape between white and black Americans, the difference would go to African Americans for perhaps ten years or so (Coates). A financial reparation not only recognizes the past of discrimination in the workforce that largely caused poverty in black communities but it would also aide poor black Americans that have suffered because of this discrimination. Another form is a bill that has been proposed in congress serval times called the HR 40, the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act (Coates).…
Undoubtedly the aim of his oppressors has been to convince him that his history is unimportant so as to deprive him of the sense of pride that is so necessary to feel wholly human. By espousing that “he has no worthwile past, that his race has done nothing significant since the beginning of time, and that there is no evidence that he will ever achieve anything great” (Woodson 6), his oppressors can be sure that the African American will continue down the path of mis-education that so allows for his subservience to a system that cares nothing for him. However, “if you teach the Negro that he has accomplished as much good as any other race he will aspire to equality and justice without regard to race.” (Woodson 6) The core purpose of African American studies is to take back from obscurity that piece of the historical puzzle without which the African American would be amidst an endless identity…
Let us know that the European Americans didn’t care on how blacks felt. It showed us that they didn’t care if black people died or got hurt. They didn’t care if people told black people cruel things. I don’t think that they should have done that to them because they wouldn’t like it if it happened to them. They would think that it was unfair or it’s not right.…
Both “The Case for Reparations” and The Marrow of Tradition, examine the issue of reparations in return for the egregious injustices committed in the form of slavery by our predecessors. The cornerstone of this problem is that after years of generational oppression and discrimination, what form will this reparation end up taking? A reparation that is based on doling out mere financial support for those that endured the brutality of slavery is unreasonable. It is an insult to the blacks that were subjugated in the slave economy of the past under the guise of racial superiority. Simply treating this issue in a one-dimensional viewpoint that can be solved through a monetary basis will not suffice and is stripping from it the aspect of humanity.…
George Santayana once said that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (Santayana). In her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs chronicles many problems she faced during her tenure as a slave. However, after reading Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, it appears that the world today does not remember the past and may be condemned to repeat it. Many of the atrocities described by Jacob remain prominent and relevant in today’s society. The issues that Jacobs details unfortunately remain relevant more than 200 years after the abolishment of slavery in 1865. (U.S. Constitution). Specifically, significant matters detailed in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl remain visible in aspects…
Walker wrote “Lest we forget: The Tuskegee Experiment” to inform the public about what the government did to African Americans in the 1930s, and what the government is doing today in hopes of righting their wrongs. Walker attempted to bridge the gap between the affected and non-affected by writing article that shows the evil of the experiment and the good the government is doing in attempt to apologize. Walker used statistics proportionally throughout the essay to maintain a balanced, unopinionated essay. Walker did a magnificent job of keeping his personal beliefs out of the paper.…
Reparations have been used before in many situations, and have both worked and failed. These slavery reparations should take a social policies form. If someone were to give individual checks to all the descendants of slaves there would be many issues, how would they find all the descendants of the millions of slaves born and brought into the United States , and where would the money needed come from? The most effective way is a “ financial reparation should be paid not to individuals but lumped together into a fund dedicated to improving the lives of African Americans today”. They should do this because they do not know what these individuals will spend the money on and if the goal is to help them, the most effective way is to have a fund.…
You just want reparation talked about don't you? It's like their have been 3 mass marches of Blacks to Washington and the only thing took place was Blacks talking with no beneficial outcome because Blacks love to talk and then do nothing. No one ever demand for us to do anything, what about us making chairs, an electric range, a toilet or a light bulb. Hell no all required of us is to meet, march and protest.…
The significance of knowing the magnitude of African American women and impact they had during the Revolutionary War will changed many people point of view of the war and get a understanding how important this particular group of women…
Unequal pay is something that has been an issue in America for a very long time. Gender has been one of the main culprits that played a factor in the wage gap between men and women, but race may have a role as well. The wage gap is expressed as a percentage (e.g., in 2013, women earned 78.3% as much as men aged 16 and over) and is calculated by dividing the median annual earnings for women by the median annual earnings for men. (“The Wage Gap”)…
Human rights are believed to be universal within our nation. But is it really universal if others are given exclusive rights? This paper will focus on the human rights violations of African-Americans within the United States, as well as explore units of organizations and legislative branches of Government that are working towards solving such issues. African - American human rights are violated in several ways, including but not limited to employment opportunities, mass incarceration rates, police brutality, and unfair trials which will be further discussed to paint a picture of how the criminal justice system operates. Individuals within the African - American communities are stopped and frisked for no apparent reason, whether they are walking…