Essay Example on Slave Trade & Slavery in US: A Historical Perspective

Introduction

The slave trade and slavery in the United States is one of the most discussed topics in the history of the nation. It involved owning another human being and using them for the purposes of facilitating one's own economic production. Throughout the 17th and 18th century, people were kidnapped from the continent of Africa and forced into slavery in the American colonies where they were exploited to work as the indentured servants and laborers in the production of the crop such as the cotton and tobacco. While it is evident that numerous efforts and laws were historically to bring the slavery to an end towards the end of the 16th century, the effects of slavery on the African Americans can still be felt. Both the federal and state governments of the United States have played critical role in promoting racial equality in all the aspects of the American lives, this has not been achieved.

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For nearly two and half centuries now, the members of the African-American community have continued to face harsh treatment and inequality even in the provision of the basic fundamentals in the United States. The pain, suffering and misery associated with slavery have continued to affect the African Americans even today. The America, being predominantly inhabited by the white majority, have also continued to subject the African Americans harsh treatment. Because of the idea of white supremacy that had been deep rooted to the African's treatment by the whites during the slavery, the some whites in the current America have continued to infringe the fundamental rights of the people of color. They have been denied full access to equal education, healthcare, employment and criminal justice systems. In this paper, I provide an analysis of various ways in which the slaves affect the Afr8can American today.

Slavery and its Effects on Racism and Discrimination

In addition to their bleak perspective on the progress made by the federal government of the United States, studies have shown that the members of the African-American communities are skeptical about the prospects for the racial equality in future as hinted by the government. While it is evident that a number of the Black Americans accept and acknowledge the fact that America has taken critical step in promoting the equality, 64 percent still believe that the nation will never achieve the racial equality. However, a greater number of the white population still believe that the government will still be able to achieve its goals.

It is critical to note that the idea of effects of slavery still continue to shape the dynamics of the American society. Ideally, this is not a new concept, based on the fact that there are numerous instances where the members of African American have been subjected to open mistreatment based on their origin and color. While it is often said that slavery was something that occurred long time ago and that the African Americans have been subjected to the sufficient freedom and opportunity through emancipation, this is not the case. Both the historical and current issues faced by the blacks is enough indication that the Negro people have never been indemnified, either economically, politically, socially or psychologically for the two centuries that they have been subjected in bondage. The model tested by Ruef and Fletcher (2004) about the durable inequality. As part of the findings, which suggested that the antebellum regime was regenerated even after slavery. Additionally, the barriers to status mobility can be linked to legacies of slavery. Through the control of the current demography, economic conditions, racialised wealth disparities and racism, other studies have found that the residuals of slavery are linked to present day economic disparities that are exhibited between the members of African Americans and Caucasians groups.

Effects of Slavery on Current Labor Market and Employment

The studies have linked the present employment discrimination to the historical racial stereotypes associated with slavery and slave trade. Although federal government of the US has continued to implement the appropriate policies towards the enhancement of the equality and inequality across various sectors, much has not been achieved. The implantation of the affirmative action and the minimum wage policies have been critical in reducing the income gaps across various racial groups. The African Americans and the Hispanics communities have been able to get accessed to the appropriate treatment and compensation as a result. While this is evident, the employment discrimination have still been reported across various sectors. In fact, studies have shown that the racial and caste discrimination continues to be pervasive especially in cultures throughout the world.

There have been numerous incidences where workers or groups of workers are subjected to different treatment in terms of recruitment, pay, benefits and promotion from other workers or groups. Such differences have been caused by their non-economic individualities that broadly integrates gender, race, religion and age. This further implies that while majority of the employees may demonstrate equal level of productivity, they are not treated the same. It is critical to note that the treatment may be positive, implying that particular groups are favoured.

On the others side, it may be negative, meaning that are treated less favourably. The African Americans have continued to suffer as a result of a negative stereotype that was previously directed to their ancestors. Those who argued that their employers discriminated against them cited either the prejudice or perception that race acted as a determiner for the productivity levels. Other have suggested that the discrimination is a relic of the past. As such, the employers disregarded the already established policies that guarded and enhanced equal employment and recruitment. The federal government has however attempted to reduce these inequalities through the establishment of the equal employment policies.

Slavery, Racism, and the Criminal Justice System

The justification of slavery can be viewed from the perspective of the colonizers and also that of the colonized. Beginning with the former, they saw Africa as a land whose resources were rich and unexploited. It was an area of interest which they could gain economically from the natural resources and source of cheap labor in form of slaves. Before venturing into Africa, most colonialists had read books written about the continent which depicted Africa as a land of irredeemably inferior people; the land of a people so barbaric that they were better of as slaves. The Church of England played a role in justifying slavery as it gave the British its full support to slave trade. These justification have continued towards the current treatments.

The unequal representation in the criminal system of the United States can be traced back to the legacies of the slavery in America. There has been selective application of judgment, as well as the punishment concerning when the African American is involved in criminal acts as well as the whites. This has created disenfranchisement feeling which has continued to prevent the African American from enjoying certain fundamental rights. In one study, the researchers found that a member of the African-American community was twice as much as their white counterparts to receive jail terms within the criminal justice system. The African American parents subjected in such frustrations, the children, as well as the entire family, are then left behind unable to provide and sustain the educational needs of the children in school.

In most cases, the members of the African Americans have been left languish in jail for a more extended period without being subjected to fair criminal trials. This has continued to cause fear, suffering and misery among the African-Americans. At the familial level instance, the incarceration of the black parents has forced the children out of school causing the massive increase in the cases of the juvenile delinquency in the entire United States. In one study, an in-depth the relationship between the systems of the criminal justice revealed that almost 90 of all the incarcerated parents on the drug-related crime among others are African American parents. Following this analysis, reveal that the African Americans children and youths are more likely to have incarcerated mother than the white children to have an imprisoned father. This phenomena is wholly based on the fact that entire criminal justice in the United States favours the whites while dispensing justice but on the other hand subjects the African American to harsh and more extended punishment. Notably, this erroneous relationship between the system of criminal justice and the entire public perception indicate that the African American youths form a higher percentage of the people involved in the illegal activities.

The legacies of slavery have further contributed to massive suffering for the African-American children who are dedicated to achieve their dreams through education. A negative perception towards the African-American children have contributed to massive high school dropouts. The whole relationship between the high school dropouts and the absolute rate of the criminal activities indicates that there is the positive relationship. Imperatively, several challenges which the criminal agencies do face originates from the massive contribution of the higher rate of the high school dropout. The high school dropout is having a hard time securing and maintains jobs. The number of high school dropout tends to increase with time resulting in the rapid increase in the joblessness which interns subject them to the criminal activities. The ultimate consequences that the entire criminal justice faces linked to the high rates on which the young adult's high school dropouts due to low earnings. The ultimate result of the high rate of high school dropouts basically will have a negative net fiscal contribution on the society.

It is further critical to note that the policies on the criminal justice in the United States are clearly tailored and established towards fighting the minorities. The foundations of these policies can be traced back to colonial laws such as the Jim Crow Acts that prevented African Americans from participating in critical activities in the US. Criminal justice system makes an essential contribution to the racial achievement in both the cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Based on this account, the African American children end up growing without the relevant skills needed in the job market a factor which subjects them to joblessness and later opting to engage in the criminal activities. Due to the lack of the underlying cognitive skills the African American children are likely to suffer in the job market hence low earnings concerning income.

The Black Lives Matters (BLM) movement has also been critical in expositing some of the criminal injustices that the members of the African-American have been subjected to since the US independence. In fact, the BLM has played a critical role in fighting for the black minority community in the US due to the discrimination they face in their places of work, judicial system and healthcare. With the increased incidences of gun violence in the US over the past few years, it is evident that the culprits have been mostly associated with the African-American community. Additionally, majority of the shooting incidents have also been directed towards the members of the black community. Studies have shown that the probability of jailing and subjecting gun violence culprits who are blacks to imprisonment are...