Cano1

AlejandraCano
3August2016
English5

DiscriminationAgainstAfricanAmericans

Discriminationistheactofbeingunjusttodifferentgroupsinrelationtorace,culture,

gender,orage.DiscriminationagainstAfricanAmericanshasbecomeanalarmingproblemsince

the16century.Thiswasamajorprobleminthe16centurybecauseitcompletelychangedthe

historyofAfricanAmericans.Duringthe16century,manyAfricanAmericanswereexploited

fromAfricaandbroughttoAmerica.WhenAfricanAmericanswerebroughtintoAmerica,

WhitesbegantoperceivetheAfricanAmericansassavages.TheAfricanAmericanswere

perceivedassavagesbecauseoftheircolorandculturalexpressions.ThecolorofAfrican

Americanswasblack,anobviousobservationofthedifferencebetweenawhiteman/womanand

anAfricanAmericanman/woman.Thecolor,intheperspectiveofthewhites,wasconsideredas

sinfulbecauseitwasadirtycolorwherepurenesswasnotpresented.Whitesalso

Cano2

discriminatedagainsttheirculturalexpressions.ThewayAfricanAmericansdressedandeven

theirphysicalfeatureswerebeingimpersonatedinadiscriminatoryway.Therewereminstrel

showsthathadgivenpleasureandlaughtertothewhitemanwatchingtheshow.Forinstance,

HeandcountlessotherAmericansduringtheperiodenjoyedwatchingthewhitemen,wearing

burntcorkorgreasepaint,portrayAfricanAmericanssinging,dancing,andtellingjokeson

stage(Hughes2006).Thismeantthattherewereplayswherewhiteshadportrayedthe

charactersofAfricanAmericansbypaintingthemselvesblack,drawingbiglips,anddressing

andactinginawaythatwasseenasuncannythiscreatedanimageofhowAfricanAmericans

wereseen.

SlaveryalsohadamajorimportanceindiscriminationintheSouth.Slaveryhad

transformedthesocialstructureofawhitepersonandanAfricanAmericanperson.TheWhites

hadcompletepowerovertheAfricanAmericans.Theyorderedthemtoworkintheagricultural

workforhourswithhardlyanyrestandwithlittleornoworkwages.TheWhiteswereseenas

Cano3

themasters,andtheycouldexhibitanyacttowardstheirslaves,suchaswhipping,selling,

abusing,andrapingtheirslaves.Oftentimes,manyAfricanAmericanwomanhadsufferedby

beingabusedandrapedfromtheirmasters.ThishadcausedaconcubinagebetweentheWhite

manandAfricanAmericanwoman.Ifthechildhadrepresentedawhitephenotype,theywould

oftenberaisedbytheirbiologicalmotherwhotothemwasseenwasanotherslavebecausethe

secretofthechildbeingblackwashidden.Lightskinchildrenalsohadadvantages,forinstance,

LightskinAfricanAmericanchildrenbenefitedfromnutritionaladvantagesinadolescentsthat

darkskinchildrendidnotrealize.Theseadvantagesinadolescencetranslatedintosubstantially

tallerlightskinadults(Bodenhorn2002).Therefore,beinganAfricanAmericanchildwith

whiteskinorlightskinwasbeneficialfortheirsurvivalinthesociety.

AfricanAmericanshadsufferedfromslaverydiscriminationuntilitwasabolishedin

1865.However,althoughslaveryhadbeenabolished,ithadnosignificantendtodiscrimination.

DiscriminationstillappearedintheSouth.AfricanAmericansstillhadprivilegesthatwerebeing

Cano4

provoked.Forinstance,AfricanAmericanswerentallowedtovoteunlesstheyownedland,

whichmanydidnotbecausetheyweresopoorfromslavery.Segregationbegantotakean

occurrenceafterslaveryhadbeenabolished.Asstated,Duringthe1890s,however,anygrounds

tooptimismseemedtoevaporate.Thecollapseofcottonpricesdramaticallyworsenedtheplight

ofAfricanAmericansintheSouth,asstatelegislatorsenactedsegregationlawsandrestrictblack

votingrights...(Mintz2008).AfricanAmericansandWhiteswereseparatebutequal.African

Americanswereprohibitedtoentercertainplacesbecauseofsignsthatwereplacedoutside

sayingthatonlywhiteswereallowed.Thishadcausedamajoreffectbecauseitbegantocreate

attitudesthatwereuncontrollable.Forinstance,Douglasssuggestthatthefundamentalproblem

intheSouthwasnotlegal,butattitudinal.Unequallawsandunjustcustomsreflectedthefact

thattoomanywhitesneverovercameamentalitybredunderslavery,theideaofmasteryand

dominionovertheirfellowman(Mintz2008).Thiselaboratesthattheproblemof

Cano5

discriminationinthesouthwascausedbytheattitudesofapersoninsteadofthelawWhiteshad

becomeobsessedwiththeideaofowningsomeone.

Cano6

ThereasonastowhyIhaveaninterestindiscriminationtowardsAfricanAmericansis
becauseIwantedtolearntheterrifyingandhorribleactsthatwerebroughtuponAfrican
Americansbecause,inorderformetowanttoputanendtodiscriminationagainstthem,Ihave
tolearntheirhistoryandplacemyselfintheirshoesandhaveaglimpseofthefeelingstheyfelt.
ThistopichasreallybroughtanimpactthroughoutmylifebecauseImstillunabletounderstand
howsomeonecouldhavethedecencytomakeanotherpersonslifemiserablehowitcould
changethefutureofsomeoneinsuchahorribleway.Discriminationisunjustandterrifying
becauseitdestroysapersonoragroupofpeopleslives.Discriminationshouldcometoanend
becauseeveryoneishuman,everyoneismadeofskinandbones,andhavingadifferentcolor,
gender,race,orethnicitythatisproposedasbettershouldnotbeallowedtogiverestrictionsto
apersonorgroup.
IfIweretowritearesearchpaperinsteadoftheresearchproposal,Iwouldhavecited
morescholarlyarticles.Iwouldhavecitedmoretomakemyargumentmorereasonableand
believable.Inordertohaveagreatresearchpaper,youhavetohavetheevidencetomakeyour
papercredible.Iwouldhavealsogivenmoreinformationaboutmytopicsotheaudiencecan
haveabetterinsightonhowdiscriminationhasaffectedAfricanAmericans.

Cano7

WorksCited

1. HughesL.Richard."MinstrelMusic:TheSoundsandImagesofRaceinAntebellum
America."N.p.,Nov.2006.Web

2.Bodenhorn,Howard."TheMulattoAdvantage:TheBiologicalConsequencesof
ComplexioninRuralAntebellumVirginia."N.p.,Summer2002.Web.

3.Mintz,Steven."FrederickDouglassTsontheStatusofAfricanAmericans."N.p.,Apr.
2008.Web.