Background: The History of Slavery
To track down the history of the phenomenon, one would have to go to the times immemorial. Unfortunately, slavery emerged together with the rise of the first civilization as the most primitive form of relationships between different members of ancient society. For instance, the records of Mesopotamia indicate that slavery was officially established in the state and was “treated as a given” (Shermer, 2015, p. 193).
In the United States, slavery began in 1609 as the first African American was brought from Central Africa to Virginia as a slave (King, 2015). The situation aggravated with the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 and the further rise in slave labor. The Missouri Compromise banning slavery in the area was passed in 1820. In 1830, a rebellion led by a former slave Nat Turner set the course for the fight against the regime. The Kansas-Nebraska Act passed in 1854 suggested that the population of the identified states should be able to choose between slavery and freedom for African Americans. The social tensions finally lead to the eruption of the Civil War (1861-1864), which results in slavery being officially ended in 1865 (Davis, 2015).
Problem Statement: The Shadow of the Past
Even though slavery is no longer a reality and has become a part of the shameful past of the U.S., it still haunts the American population and defines the relationships between people. The ridiculous concepts of racial superiority that some of the representatives of the Caucasian population of the U.S. spread can be viewed as some of the most harmful effects of slavery on the contemporary relationships between African and White Americans. The identified outcomes have created prerequisites for the further promotion of racial stereotypes, prejudices, and other misconceptions that harm people significantly. Therefore, it is crucial to address the problem and determine the exact impact that slavery has on contemporary society and the relationships between its members. Even though the healing process is bound to take a lot of time, and it would be naïve to expect that the suggested framework for intercultural relationships will prevent any modicum of racism to emerge in the modern society, it may help get a deeper understanding of the problem.
Thesis Statement: Inequality as a Product of Slavery
Despite the fact that slavery as one of the darkest legacies of the humankind is extinguished nowadays, it still has its fingerprints all over cross-cultural relationships in the 21st century, making stereotypes and prejudice thrive and keeping inequality in its place. A focus on diversity and respect for other cultures must become a standard of social interactions and implanted into people’s minds so that atrocities such as slavery, segregation, and discrimination should never happen again.
Back to the Era of Slavery: The Phenomenon, Its Origin, and Consequences
Educational Issues: When Knowing Much Is a Crime
The concept of slavery implies the racial inferiority of a certain group of people (Stillwell, 2014). Therefore, in the U.S. of the early 19th century, African Americans were viewed as the inferior race. Consequently, they had no opportunities for becoming valued members of American society, and the absence of any educational opportunities was graphic proof of that. The levels of literacy among the African American population at the time were close to zero (Williams, 2014).
Social Interactions: Setting the Progress Centuries Back
The same tendency could be observed in the social relationships between African and White Americans. For instance, the rigid segregation standards defined the communication patterns on the identified time slot. Therefore, slavery created a range of impediments to cross-cultural communication (Acharya, Blackwell, & Sen, 2015).
Political Concerns: Discrimination Reinforced Legally
Even though the Missouri Compromise of 1820 prohibited slavery as a concept in the Northern parts of America, the concepts of racial segregation were established at the statewide level. Black people were not allowed to vote or engage in any other kind of political activity. Thus, the phenomenon of slavery worked its way into every single domain of people’s lives, forcing them to accept the glaring injustice as a supposedly indispensable part of their lives.
How It Was Justified: Bible and Economy
In retrospect, the excuse for slavery as a horrible crime against humanity was rather disputable. In the first stages of the development of American society, the phenomenon was largely sustained by referring to the Bible (Merenlahti, 2014). One must mention, though, that contemporary studies claim that the Bible provides “zero Biblical justification for slavery” (Gates, 2015, p. 106).
However, as the American economy started evolving, the idea of using slaves as a free labor force was suggested. Particularly, the invention of the cotton gin served as the foundation for promoting slavery as the only possible means of intercultural relationships. Therefore, the economic profits received by the owners of cotton fields became the driving force behind the promotion of slavery (Irvin, 2016).
Societal Change: Slaves and Their Owners
One must admit that the social attitudes toward the concept of slavery were not changed immediately after the end of the Civil War. Quite on the contrary, the process was complex and continuous. In fact, even when slavery was the foundation of American society, the attitudes toward the subject matter were not homogenous (Bronson & Nuriddin, 2014).
For instance, slaves went from fear to acceptance to the urge to rebel against the horrendous idea. At this point, the fact that a number of slaves risked their lives to run away from their owners should be mentioned. Thus, there is evidence that the Black community was ready for a massive change in the 1850s-1860s. Furthermore, the propensity among the African Americans who escaped slavery to change their names pointed to the urge to distance themselves from the stigma of a slave (Acharya, Blackwell, & Sen, 2016).
Owners, in their turn, had tended to accept slavery as a given up to the point when the necessity for an economic and social change appeared. At the beginning of the 1800s, the Abolitionist movement appeared and was extensively supported by a number of White people. Therefore, it can be assumed that the change in the attitudes of owners toward slavery was not linear (Barclay, 2014).
Slavery and the Ethical Models of the Contemporary Society
Deontology: Slavery as an Intrinsically Wrong Concept
Using deontology as the tool for scrutinizing the concept of slavery implies that the subject matter should be considered intrinsically wrong.
Moral Relativism: A Different Cultural Dimension
One might assume that the philosophy of Moral Relativism by its nature would allow looking at slavery as something that could be excused from a certain perspective. However, the fact that slavery was not considered abhorrent by the majority of the upper class at the time does not imply that everyone viewed it as a norm. African Americans, for example, were fighting slavery since the day when it emerged. Therefore, slavery cannot be justified from the perspective of Moral Relativism, either.
Utilitarianism: Ends Justify the Means
The Utilitarianism perspective suggests that the effects of slavery should be viewed as the tool for justifying its existence. As stated above, slavery has led to the horrendous treatment of millions of African Americans, countless deaths, and devastating war. Therefore, from the Utilitarianism perspective, it has no right to exist.
Psychological Effects of Slavery on Modern Cross-Cultural Interactions
Even nowadays, the outcomes of slavery cripple many lives, making African American people experience psychological issues. Researches point to the fact that the people whose ancestors were exposed to slavery are prone to the development of a deep feeling of insecurity and subsequent depression (Calvo, 2014). As a result, the descendants of African American slaves are prone to the development of serious emotional and psychological issues.
Furthermore, the phenomenon has clearly affected the communication patterns that can be observed during a cross-cultural conversation. To be more specific, stereotyping based on the degrading image of an African American person that has been in use since the beginning of slavery needs to be mentioned among the primary reasons for concern. For instance, the image of “Jezebel”, which is stereotypically associated with African American women, impedes the communication process and leaves a significant mark on the female members of Black communities (Davis & Tucker-Brown, 2013).
Slavery and Its Impact on Contemporary Business and Economics: Culture Clashes
Working their way into the domain of business relationships, prejudices spawned by slavery affect the identified environment negatively as well. The anxiety in social relationships experienced by the representatives of the Black community coupled with the weight of prejudices enhanced by slavery affect the economic relationships significantly. Starting to develop at the level of interpersonal communication, the issues in question may lead to culture clashes and, therefore, spawn an intercultural conflict.
Influence of Slavery on Political Relationships: Current Threats to Democracy
Similar to the economic and social issues, the remnants of slavery have affected the political landscape of modern American society significantly. Even though certain progress has been made, the prevalence of stereotypes and prejudices in the identified environment is still evident (Calvo, 2014). Therefore, it is crucial to identify the ways in which slavery shaped the current model of intercultural relationships so that misconceptions and harmful prejudices should be avoided successfully.
At this point, however, one should point to the fact that eradicating inequality as a social phenomenon from the relationships between the representatives of different groups in the realm of the global environment is barely a possibility. No matter how high ethical values are held, the possibility of a cultural conflict will remain a possibility, mainly because of the burden of the past that slavery represents currently.
Nonetheless, making sure that cross-cultural communication should not be fueled by prejudices and biases is possible. By reconsidering the stereotypes that define contemporary social interactions, one will be able to address the issue successfully. As a result, slavery will no longer affect the modern environment as much, thus, opening more opportunities for African Americans to advance in the U.S. society.
References
Acharya, A., Blackwell, M., & Sen, M. (2015). A culture of disenfranchisement: How American slavery continues to affect voting behavior.
Acharya, A., Blackwell, M., & Sen, M. (2016). The political legacy of American slavery. Journal of Politics, 78(3), 621-641.
Barclay, J. L. (2014). “The greatest degree of perfection”: Disability and the construction of race in American slave law. The South Carolina Review, 46(1), 27-43.
Bronson, J., & Nuriddin, T. (2014). “I don’t believe in doctors much”: The social control of health care, mistrust, and folk remedies in the African American slave narrative. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences, 5(4), 706-732.
Calvo, K. (2014). The psychological effects of human trafficking on the second generation. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University.
Davis, K. C. (2015). In the shadow of liberty: The hidden history of slavery, four presidents, and five Black lives. New York City, NY: Henry Holt and Company (BYR).
Davis, S., & Tucker-Brown, A. (2013). Effects of Black sexual stereotypes on sexual decision making among African American women. The Journal of Pan African Studies, 5(9), 111-128.
Gates, L. (2015). Finding your roots: The official companion to the PBS series. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press Books.
Irvin, J. J. (2016). From cotton to Coca-Cola: A family history case study on the limitations of higher education to close the generational wealth gap. Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, 2(2), 41-62.
King, L. G. J. (2015). More than slaves: Black founders, Benjamin Banneker, and Critical Intellectual Agency. Social Studies Research and Practice, 9(3), 88-105.
Shermer, M. (2015). The moral arc: How science makes us better people. New York City, NY: Henry Holt and Company.
Stillwell, S. (2014). Slavery and slaving in African history. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Williams, H. A. (2014). American slavery: A very short introduction. Oxford, UK: OUP.