African American History
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African American History
History has a way of repeating itself or rather rhyming. Even though most of the time the conditions are not exactly the same, the happenings are the same and this makes it very easy for us to notice what is happening and how exactly we should deal with them. The same applies to Africa Americans’ history in the United States from the time of slavery up to the current time when so many changes have happened but still the spirit of discrimination still exists (Corbett et al, 2017). The African Americans right now are somehow better off but not in the best position. It all goes back to the 18th century when the issue of slavery was too much and the only thing that the black people in America at that time did to the British colonists was to serve them. After that, the constitution declared slavery unconstitutional and then immediately some whites rejected it while the blacks found it too difficult to handle the freedom. After that, the African got to realize they should be free and began to fight for their justice and inclusion. This paper discusses the changes that have happened to African Americans throughout history and how most of the time the happenings have been a repetition of activities.
Firstly, the African Americans did not willingly leave their African continent but were bought like goods. At that time the value placed on the life of a black was so small such that a person could be bought. This was the beginning of slavery in the United States. Even during the revolutionary war, the articles of confederation, and the creation of the constitution, the black man was still a slave. In fact, the constitution stated clearly whites could own black people. In the southern part of the United States, the slaves were majorly used to work on the cotton plantations among other things (Corbett et al, 2017). They could also work for their masters in basically any job that they were given to do. This was a difficult part of their everyday life as it was not satisfactory. This was the beginning of the process of history repeating itself.
Even when the American constitution declared slavery unconstitutional and a violation of human rights, some whites never wanted to hear this and this was what led to the civil war as the southern part of the United States did not want the black people to be free as they feared what they would do without their labor to work on their coffee farms (Corbett et al, 2017). This was a continuation and indeed a reflection of the slavery which existed before and which was toxic. After the civil war, there was a need for black people to be taken away from the society as they were not needed and slavery once again repeated itself as a lot of jails were put up and most of the people who were in jail were black people.
After that period the black person realized that they should not be treated in a way that is not good for a human being. Therefore, people like Nat Turner disobeyed the rules of their masters and even killed them and escaped. Therefore, the history of black men being in danger and being enslaved has always repeated itself in a lot of ways. The other period is when people like Martin Luther King came out openly to fight for the rights of the black people. During the time of Martin Luther King, junior history repeated itself when he began his campaign and desire to make African be at the same level as whites. He even got stabbed by a woman he did not know just because of the particular reason that he wanted to liberate the black people. It, therefore, means that if the issue of discrimination came up to the time of Martin Luther it was always present but dormant. At the same time, it also means that it is very difficult to get them thinking of black Americans that they are oppressed easily (Corbett et al, 2017). It is also very difficult to convince a white man that a black man has stopped being black and that they should sit at the same table or even the black man to be more important than the white man. Even though that happens sometimes, it does not always happen.
In conclusion, history has been repeating itself when it comes to the issue of slavery and African Americans within the United States. It is not the best story and history of the United States but still at the same time steps are being made towards making sure that everything can be shared equally between all kinds of people.
References
Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T. J., Vickery, P. S., & Roberts, O. (2017). US history. OpenStax.
