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The Role Of Ossian Sweet's Life In Arc Of Justice

1440 Words6 Pages

Though Ossian Sweet was a smart, respectable, and well-educated doctor, his life was an uphill battle because of racism and segregation, even in the North. Two major ways that racism in Detroit, as well as Bartow Florida where Ossian Sweet grew up, negatively affected his life were finding a safe and decent place to raise a family, and the emotional childhood trauma from horrific acts of racism that he both heard about and witnessed as a child and young man. The book “Arc of Justice” follows the story of Ossian Sweet’s court trial, while also detailing all the events in his life that led up to his arrest and trial. The author, Kevin Boyle, follows the history of Sweet’s family, as well as the childhood of Ossian himself, all the way through …show more content…

Gladys, who had never quite experienced the horrors that Ossian did, was merely excited at the prospect of a new home. However, Ossian could not help remembering terrifying events from his childhood. In chapter one “Where Death Waits” from “Arc of Justice” Boyle states, “Ossian also saw the dangers he would be facing if they moved here. He had already seen what white men could do, and sometimes the memories grabbed hold of him.” (1) Despite the years that distanced him from the tragic events of his childhood, these memories continued to plague him. “He could see himself as a small boy again, listening to the terrifying stories of colored men mutilated and murdered at the phosphate pits just outside his hometown.” (1) Forever would these stories and memories of lynching, death, and abuse haunt the young doctor. Racism and violence like this were not just found in the South, however. These horrors followed Sweet into adulthood as well. “Ossian could see the gangs of white soldiers and sailors… looking for Negroes to maim and kill, marching up Seventh Street toward… the medical school, toward Ossian himself. He could see them coming for him.” (1) Even though it was not physical harm, this baggage from childhood trauma due to racism and violence enormously negatively affected the life of Ossian

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