Statement of the Problem
America is the current super power in the world because of the greatest power the country possess in terms of military, financial and health care protection for her people. The nation boasts of the best performing economy in the world with an economy robust in every sector be it agriculture, health, infrastructure, military among other sectors. The country’s vast economy is majorly dependent on the works that was done by the slaves during slavery period. Slavery was the practice of using blacks exploitive without pay to lay he current infrastructure that the current generation enjoys and misuses for their own pleasure and will. Slavery was a practice that was in play way before colonial era. The white man settled in Africa before colonial period and were strictly conducting missionary works as well as discovery works (Español, 2014). These adventures made the white man to discover Africa in extents never thought before. The white man was actively involved in spreading the gospel of Christ to the native people while teaching the black folks civilization. The white man opened the black man’s view of the world by introducing the blacks to reading and literature. The existing literature was primarily the literature of the bible and religion where the white man would show the blacks Jesus Christ as the son of God who had lived in the world for a couple of years constantly dong miracles and improving the lives of sinners giving them a second chance in life and in the second life after death (Wood, 2013). The black man was fascinated with the new wave of knowledge and sophisticated gifts that the white had brought to him and as a result he was going to follow the white man’s way of life without thinking of the consequences of their actions. The white man was quick to notice the weaknesses of the black man such as lack of knowledge, and the white man used this to his advantage by duping the blacks that the future was bright underlined by greatness. The administrative part of the missionary men also came to Africa and set up base in Africa where they made their intentions clear that they were here to obtain the strong black folks for labor back in their country regardless of how the blacks felt about the whole abduction experience. The whites were mainly abducting the young and strong Africans forcefully and the women were abducted for house chores and limited prostitution purposes (Wood, 2013). The abducted lot would be chained and arraigned in extensive slave boats where they would be taken to America to work the corn fields, rail way construction among many other forms of construction. The slaves did not cost anything and worked for everything due to extreme torture and killings. The blacks put in the work for America to be great as it is today. The current generation of blacks in the country also face situations similar to those of the natives only that the degree of intimidation and torture is reduced compared to the way it used to be during the slavery period.
Central Research Question and Research Hypothesis
The nation of America is known to thrive economically more so in every sector contributing to the economy. The foundations for these growth and development are highly reliant on the efforts of the black slaves that were introduce to the country before civilization. Nonetheless, the black man would acquire the Whiteman’s knowledge and way of life and rise above the hate standards to set the pace for new developments (Notes, 2014). Regardless of how the blacks rose to have so much power and ability to control things, the white man was predominantly obsessed with the idea that the black man was under their jurisdiction and that their rise should have never been permitted that way they would still get the services they used to receive for free. The current American Black man is constantly facing racial discrimination in the hands of the white man even though the slavery error is all done and gone. The white man still views the blacks as second class citizen who should not have equal rights as the whites in the current American society. It still is the underlying hypothesis that the blacks are second class to the white man in the current American society (Wood, 2013). The white man is never pleased that the current constitution treats the blacks as equals to the whites. The hypothesis is that the white man is equal to the black man while the reality of the matter is racial profiling of the blacks is quite intense in the country that the blacks are feeling like it is the slavery error all over again.
Major Concepts and Theoretical Underpinnings
The blacks form a huge part of the American population and on everyday lives, the hostility between the blacks and the whites continues to grow more specifically because the blacks feel that the whites are constantly taking advantage of them slowly driving them back to the age of slavery. The blacks feel that as much as the constitution insists that the two races are equal the situation at the ground is quite different to the theoretical settings. The whites have dominated the white collar jobs in the economy way far than the blacks. The whites also occupy the vast of the managerial positions in most companies in the economy while the blacks are pushed to occupy the lower positions that are labor intensive and less paying while their white counterparts occupy the top managerial positions giving orders and less pay to the black community (Wood, 2013). The blacks have been known to experience acute racial profiling in the hands of the white man where they have been referred to monkeys. The blacks are also experiencing a lot of hate from the whites and are rarely given the chance to lead the people. A case in point is when a governor went ahead to call the first lady Michelle Obama a monkey in the white house (Wood, 2013). Such an action goes ahead to show the extent to which blacks of all economic and social status go through in the hands of the white man. The president elect of US one Donald Trump has had incidences of racial profiling the blacks as well as passing messages of hate on the black community which takes the black community back to the slavery era where they were purely second class citizens of the great nation of America. In sports the blacks have suffered extensively in the hands of the whites in terms of racial profiling where the whites have been seen throwing banana peels at the black sportsmen to suggest that they are monkeys and that they should go back to their savage ways of living. Currently the blacks have started a movement dubbed black lives matter which focuses on the brutality that the black community go through in the hands of the Federal police. The police have been caught on camera shooting and killing a host of young black people alleging that they are criminals (Thibodeaux, 2013). The movement is meant to protect the blacks from such extrajudicial killings in the hands of the white police men. Ironically, the majority of the jailed population is composed of the blacks even though the black community has a lesser population in comparison to the whites. The whites have also selected their own communities where the blacks are not allowed to rent or own property in such areas making it practically difficult for the blacks to live as they would wish to in the free country of America. When it comes to learning, there are pure black schools and white schools where the whites will try to their level best to avoid taking their children to black schools while the blacks will also have no chance of learning in the white man school. Although constitutionally the learning institutions should be shared equally by both races it has been established that the two races do not mix in such learning institution. Such preferences given to the white man greatly oppress the blacks in the American society.
Research Methods
The issue of blacks being picked second to the whites is very rampant in America and therefore, a research on the issue is quite easy as information about the issue is readily available. The easiest of the research methods is by observation where it is quite evident from the streets that police brutality and killings are majorly on the black folks more than the whites. It is also easily observable that the jail statistics show the blacks as being the majority in these institutions than the whites which goes on to paint the picture that the blacks are being oppressed by the white theoretical master under their noses. Additionally, there is plenty of information of 21st century blacks being treated as slaves in the internet where an endless list of the events that culminate to blacks being second to the whites are rampant (Dipietro, 2016). The internet gives the statistics of the whites occupying top positions in organizations and the numbers of the blacks that are occupying the lower manual positions in the same organizations. There are books that have been written to highlight the cases of police brutality on blacks more than the blacks. The recent initiative of black lives matter documents the various times the law has descended on the black folks unfairly causing damage, injuries and eventual death to the black community. Further, interviews from the elite of the black community like musicians, actors and sportsmen have gone ahead to draw a clear picture of the underlying situation that the blacks go through in every day to day lives. To climax the research methods is the interview of the sitting president where he talks of how the blacks are unfairly treated in the society and how he, himself has suffered discrimination as a black person which reminds him of the slavery days where the whites were discriminating and even oppressing the blacks due to slavery.
Existing Literature
The subject of blacks and slavery is very old and therefore, research has been done in relation to the matter and the findings have been documented in various archives. The underlying literature supports the hypothesis that the whites have in the past mistreated the blacks and still do until to date but on a lower scale than it used be in the past. The existing literature goes back in time to highlight the plight of slavery and how the blacks were acutely mistreated by their whites’ counterparts. It goes on to show that the poor in the American society are the blacks due to working manual jobs that have a limited pay as compared to the top positions occupied by the whites who are paid handsomely. The literature goes on to highlight the poor neighborhoods that have been left for the blacks while the whites occupy the posh areas of Beverly Hills among other posh areas. Such literature is key to show that as much as times have changed the subject of whites being superior to blacks is quite evident (Wood, 2013). There is extensive literature on the sports field where America has made history of picking gold medals in elite competitions such as the Olympics where mostly the contenders are blacks. It is more so like this because the whites get to keep the white collar jobs while the black folks are pushed to the field just like it was in the past where the slaves would work the corn fields and construction fields while the white man sat in the office doing the easy job. Existing literature highlights the plight of the black community in the hands of the police where it has been identified that most of the American jails are predominantly occupied by the blacks. It is such statistics that clearly point out that the police are harsher on the black folks than they are of the white people in the streets. The existing literature also holds the numbers that most of the blacks are running the manual jobs in many companies receiving little pay to support their livelihoods as compared to the white folks who own extensive land property to suggest that they are the owners of the country and that the blacks are merely occupants who do not deserve to enjoy equal rights to their white counterparts (Wood, 2013). The existing literature holds bulk of records that show blacks as second class humans to the whites in the current American society which adds to the fact that current blacks are feeling more of slaves than free citizens of the United States of America.
Statement of significance of the research
The United States constitution is very adamant that all citizens are equal and so each citizen should treat each other with equal measure of justice and fairness. The research on current blacks feeling like slaves is very instrumental in highlighting the plight of the blacks in the hands of the white man. The study highlights how the blacks work for long hours in the whites factories with little pay and little appreciation. It touches on the pain of being black in America where you are either discriminated by fellow white man or extremely abused in the hands of the police where the results are either jail or hospitalization (Wood, 2013). Almost every detail of slavery has been studied and documented in the past and the records are quite evident. However, this research goes a step ahead to include the plight of blacks who are suffering quietly in bad situations and do not have the voice to speak out. The paper adds a new gist to the population that makes up jail in mates where it is categorical in finding that the majority of inmates are blacks who have been arrested and charged for minor offences. The paper adds the knowledge that it is not only the ordinary black folks who suffer these kinds of brutality rather, it is everyone including the first lady of the country (Dipietro, 2016). It is quite disappointing to find out that these kind of treatments are still persistent in the US when the fore fathers sacrificed their lives and efforts to make a better living for the future generations. It is also disappointing too see that the elite leaders of the country such as the first lady of the country is also subjected to slavery when she fights to offer a good life for the entire American citizens. The government should instill strict measures such as jail terms for those found propagating racial divisions among the citizens of the country. The government should also invest more in educating the people on the importance of each American citizen more so the blacks because of their great contribution to making united States of America a great nation. The current generation should be made to realize the great in put that the black slaves made to laying of infrastructure and working the fields to make the economy a greater one. Such emphasis might change the view the current generation holds against the blacks as being lazy immigrants.
Statement on the structure of the presentation of the research
The study is divided into eight different subsections with an introduction to the subject of discussion and the stating of the variables that are present in the case. It is more specific on the plight of blacks in the current society and the difficulties they have to go through in order to make ends meet (Thibodeaux, 2013). The first section is keener on introduction where it talks of how slavery began and the process through which slaves came into America. It also speaks of the areas that the slaves worked once they got to America in addition to the treatments they received from their masters. The second section introduces us to the subject matter of current blacks feeling like they are slaves in their own free country. It highlights different occasions that have made the blacks to feel segregated in the society. The third section is key to highlight the underlying hypothesis in relation to blacks and slavery. It widely talks of how the slavery regime has been carried on to the current society. The forth section highlights the real issues facing the blacks citing different diverse examples such as the jail population among others that are among the plight of blacks in the current society. The fifth section is about methods of data collection which include web research, library books as well as interviews from blacks who have suffered form of slavery in the current society (Dipietro, 2016). The sixth subtopic is clear on the existing literature that documents the sufferings of the black community in the current situation. The seventh sub section is about the readers view of the subject matter where the writer express disgust in the way the society treat the blacks alongside giving opinion of what should be done to rectify the situation. Generally the blacks in the American society are viewed as second class to the whites and this makes them slaves of current society.
References
- The Voice and the Silence of Slavery. (2014). Survivors of Slavery. doi:10.7312/murp16422-009
- Dipietro, W. (2016). Potential Sources of Modern Day Slavery. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 3(1). doi:10.14738/assrj.31.1793
- Notes. (2014). Survivors of Slavery. doi:10.7312/murp16422-016
- Epilogue. Twenty-first-Century Abolitionists—What You Can Do to End Slavery. (2014). Survivors of Slavery. doi:10.7312/murp16422-012
- Español, M. A. (2014). Archaeology of Slavery in the Province of Neiva, Colombia. Current Perspectives on the Archaeology of African Slavery in Latin America SpringerBriefs in Archaeology, 23-44. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-1264-3_3
- Wood, M. (2013). Photography and Slavery in America and Brazil. Black Milk, 189-339. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274574.003.0005
- Current Perspectives on the Archaeology of African Slavery in Latin America. (2015). SpringerBriefs in Archaeology. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-1264-3
- Thibodeaux, J. (2013). Slavery. Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia. doi:10.4135/9781452276274.n799