The central theme of the paper is the oppressive laws adopted in the southern states after the abolition of slavery (PBS LearningMedia, 2019). Black freedoms continued to be oppressed, and the legal system was transformed in such a way as to preserve such a distribution between black and white populations of America. The historical events can be described as ripple effects that were predetermined by many years of enslavement.
The main idea can be called the fact that the freedom of African Americans proposed on paper had nothing to do with the harsh reality. The primary restriction for newly freed African Americans was the imposition of a fine that could only be redeemed by physical labor. As a result of this legislative innovation, it turned out that African Americans were forced to work for their exploiters for negligible money. This was necessary not only to pay off the large tax on exemption but also in order to get the only opportunity to feed his own family.
Thus, the suppression of the black people was preserved with its legal justification. It is important that slavery seemed a natural part of everyday life, the rejection of which seemed to shake the basic foundations by which slaveholders in the southern states of America were used to living. At the same time, the constant outburst of aggression against those who did not have rights and were raised in inhuman conditions had to be supported and acquired new ways of expression. Formed in 1866, the secret society of the Ku Klux Klan takes the dark side of legalized racism in 19th century America. The society of former owners and exploiters in this way manifests its cruel nature by literally persecuting people with different skin colors.
Despite the fact that the law was supposed to change for the better the monstrous conditions of existence of the black people in America, enslavement only took on a new form and no less sophisticated forms. It seems to me relevant for today’s time the fact that veiled and hidden forms of racism and xenophobia can still appear in society. Despite the significant steps that civilization has made in the culture of tolerance and political correctness, this threat is still relevant. It is also problematic that racism can be difficult to eradicate as an idea, although its external manifestations remain smoothed or unfulfilled.
The historical example shown in the video confirms that once the opportunity was given, the exploiters of slave labor consistently applied oppressive and inhuman laws state after state. It seems troubling that tolerance for other cultures results from the long and consistent struggle of the African American people for their rights. The consequences of slavery have accompanied African American lives for a long time and in a wide variety of forms and manifestations. This can be both cultural discrimination and economic oppression, and obviously brutal forms like police violence. It is essential to take into account the tragic experiences of previous generations to avoid even the most distorted manifestation of racism in the future.
Question for class discussion: In your opinion, in what veiled forms can discrimination, xenophobia and chauvinism manifest themselves, and what needs to be done to suppress such an attitude?
Work Cited
“Reconstruction: The Black Codes.” PBS LearningMedia, 2019, Web.