African Americans In Slavery Essay Research Paper — страница 3

  • Просмотров 361
  • Скачиваний 12
  • Размер файла 17
    Кб

modest, and yet my past, my diet, my hunger, had snatched it from before my eyes. But these self-doubts did not last long; I dulled the sense of loss through reading, reading, writing and more writing.” (“Black Boy American Hunger” page331) They all considered their minds their most important muscle on their body and they would deem it weak if it was not exercised as often as possible. Information gathered from a web site concerning a musical group named the Jubilee Singers, (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/singers.html) contained the story of Dr. George White who attempted to open the first educational facility for African Americans. Here is an excerpt from a letter Dr. White wrote expressing his concern for the education of slaves, “We spare no pains or expense in the

education of the people. I write thus plainly and earnestly — yet kindly — because a great and good enterprise is in danger of being crippled by this lack of prompt fulfillment of your obligations.” Dr White knew the importance of education because he knew it would lead to religion by empowering African Americans to read the Bible and not have to have it interpreted by anyone. With Religion came hope and under the circumstances, for the slaves, hope was the only thing giving them the will to go on. Even though African American people have been discriminated against for many years it pales in comparison to how long women, white or black, have been oppressed for. Women were not even given the right to vote and chose their leaders until the 1920’s. So one can only imagine

how hard it would be to be an African American woman during this time. At the very least when male slaves were freed they were sometimes able to obtain paying jobs through a trade they might have learned along the way. Slave women, on the other hand, had to struggle and scrounge to scrap together enough to survive and feed their children at the same time. Finding jobs after becoming “free” was so difficult that many slaves preferred to be enslaved because it was the only way they could provide food and shelter for their children. What other choice were they given? Freedom accompanied by extreme poverty or slavery linked with brute punishment and the overall position of being a piece of property to be sold or traded at anytime perhaps separated from your family. In conclusion

there is obviously enough information in these writings and throughout history of slavery to prove that African American women received far worse treatment during the years of slavery America than the African American Males. Not to down play the treatment of any slave as being fair or even humane male or female, but more to point out the factors that played into the gender roles of each and every individual slave. The power these women upheld with their hope, their faith, and above all their love was absolutely unbelievable and inspirational to anyone who has read about their sufferings. The injustices women withstand both in slavery and freedom will forever be placed atop any other despicable acts in America’s or any other nations history forever. One last note on this subject

is to point out throughout all of these readings the feeling that the women in slavery put more effort into their education then any of the men was extremely evident in their style of writing, their grammar, and their overall intelligence in relating to certain topics. This is one last credit to all women and the incredible triumphs they have had and the thousands of apologies owed to them by men throughout history. in text