Racism In America

America: Questioning the land of the free

Racism in America dates back to when the Europeans came to America and discovered the Native Americans on the land. Even though the Native Americans were there first and unofficially owned the land, the Europeans had a sense of entitlement. They had no rights over the land whatsoever but believed they did. As more people began to enter America they seeked the land for freedom from their homeland, religious freedom, to escape persecution and to start their lives over. These rights and dreams they were hoping to achieve by coming to America were immediately shattered by the people who already inhabited the land, teasing them by taking their image of America and yanking it straight out of their hands

Africans were initially brought to America as slaves against their own will and one woman says their reasoning behind it is “it’s undoubtedly the intention of Providence that the African race should be servants-kept in low condition” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin). White slave owners believed the things they were doing to be right or just, but they saw other humans as property making their thought process completely illogical. The white Americans of this time saw the color of people’s skin the deciding factor of how they would treat them and the kindness they deserved. In the early 1900’s everyone followed the word of the Providence, and if Providence says something then it was always right. The word of Providence in this case was wrong and the people carrying out the acts were just using it as a right to justify their actions for themselves. They are misusing the word of God to give reason for the cruelty they’re enacting on these innocent people. “According to Abraham Lincoln, it was the book that started the Civil War. Queen Victoria wept while reading it. Tolstoy included it among the greatest achievements of the human mind. Even the usually acerbic Mark Twain praised it as ‘a drama which will live as long as the english tongue shall live’” (Going back to Uncle Tom's Cabin). There were mixed responses to the novel ranging from patronizing,

Stanton fought mainly for women’s rights but also saw the mistreatment of others due to their skin tone and how they were deprived of the same rights as women. During a speech given to the American Anti-Slavery Society, Stanton recognizes that “all the statute laws that were enacted to make that act legal, at the perversion of man’s moral sense and innate love of justice in being compelled to defend such laws” (Speech to the Anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery Society). These laws caused a huge rift between liberty and slavery. Slavery corrupted everything in the world including churches, politics, and press. It is almost as if liberty is hiding in fear because she would not prosper in places where slavery is present. The American Anti-Slavery Society “sponsored meetings, adopted resolutions, signed antislavery petitions to be sent to Congress, published journals and enlisted subscriptions, printed and distributed propaganda in vast quantities, and sent out agents and lecturers (seventy in 1836 alone) to carry the antislavery message to northern audiences” (American Anti-Slavery Society). This society brought in former slaves to give their testimonies of the experiences they encountered. It was widely known and had many followers but also had people that were fighting to end it through violent means. The board had six