Slavery - Free Essay Sample

Introduction

Slavery is a dark stain in the fabric of American society. During the times o slavery, people were treated with utmost cruelty. The whites wanted to show their dominance over the back community, which often resulted in a series of injustices among the African community. Brought as a source of cheap labor from the African market, the blacks were forced to work in the white foundations as slaves facing the most inhumane conditions. Living with the black community as slaves always ended up in a series of torture and lynching. This paper seeks to address Kara Walker’s provocative and evocative art in response to Zadie Smith’s question, “What is the correct response to a ruinous history” concerning lynching.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Commemoration

Commemoration of the previous dark history is supposed to be among the top agendas rather than a cover-up. During the slave days, the whites were spreading the idea of white supremacy, and this was achieved through the public mutilation and lynching of members of the black community. Often the white persons committed crimes and blamed them on the black people, and since the blacks had no say over a white person, they had to face the consequences. That always resulted in humiliation, mutilation, and even lynching. As a black person, one always wished that death came sooner because the oppressors were always tied to make them suffer. As Americans, there is a need for reconciliation with the past to be done for future generations to live with peace. There is no need to pull down sites and monuments that resemble the periods of black oppression (Smith,2020). That will be sweeping the dirt under the rag and, in most cases, does not often end well. The monuments are a great reminder of the unfair judgment that the black forefathers had to go through for the current community to enjoy their current freedom. Embracing the ruinous history proves to be more effective than avoiding it.

Black Community

Lynching was used against the black community as a means of reassuring the dominance of the white. The image of a black person lingering in pain when mutilated made the oppressors reassure their supremacy (Als, 2014). The notion being sold to society was that being black was wrong, and the whites who were pure were doing social justice by punishing them. That was evident in the lynching photographs, which always depicted the whites in the background relaxed and contented like they were doing social justice. For American society today to absorb the effects of this unfair lynching of the black community, there is a need to spread the gospel of equality. The blacks were oppressed and lynched for a long through unfair judgment that was rendered upon them. That mistake done by the oppressive whites during those ages can be dealt with today by ensuring that everyone is treated equally in society. People do not get any form of special treatment due to their skin color or ethnic background.

There should be an acknowledgment of the contributions of the black forefathers to Europe's growth, as seen. Lynching was an execution against the people that were perceived to have gone against a white person. That may have been the worst mistake that a black person could commit. However, most of the time, they were wrongfully accused, and it always ended up with suffering by torture or lynching. In American society today, among the correct response to this ruinous history is through recognizing the efforts that the black forefathers had in the building of most of the empires in America (Smith,2020). That means the inclusion of the whole story since the first slave set foot in Europe. That will be a great way to enable the children to grow knowing their roots while understanding their forefathers' tortures.

Conclusion

The lynching of black people is an act that has received backlash from many scholars. The history of slavery is a topic that most people hope could disappear. However, the correct response to a ruinous past, which included the lynching of people, is through embracing it and creating reminders to acknowledge the suffering people went through instead of pretending it is something new.

References

Als, H. (2014, May 8). The sugar Sphinx. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-sugar-sphinxSmith, Z. (2020). What Do We Want History to Do to Us?.