We learned a lot about slavery and its roots during the second week of class, including the topic of when the first slaves came and how long slavery has existed in the U.S. and Europe. The readings this week have been super informative and helpful in starting to realize what it really looked like in the United States. The real history of how slaves were controlled and viewed is fascinating to learn, as this was not something that was focused on in middle or high school. We brought up the discussion in class about AP U.S. History and how it skimmed over this large portion of our history. Honestly, everything I have learned about slavery and the history of Black people was from my father, who is Black, the rest of my family, and older members of the African American community. Within the readings, I found it was odd how people thought it was their liberty and liberty to be allowed to keep others in bondage, and instead certain abolition acts used to “free slaves” instead were sentencing slaves to a lifetime of slavery. I learned that if I wanted to learn something and get to the bottom of it, I would have to research myself. My father recommended books, movies, documentaries, etc to help me understand what it truly is like to live as a Black in the United States. Especially with the Black Lives Matter movement going stronger than ever. This leads to my research question.
My question is “How did the history of slavery affect Modern Society for Blacks in the United States and how the advancement of Black people was severely stunted?” My sources would include documents from well-known Black figures in the Black community such as Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, W.E.B Du Bois, and more to try to bring an understanding of how Black people feel in certain events. No, I don’t believe they can truly capture what the Black community as a whole has gone through, but with the right sources, it can help better that understanding. I think many accounts on how the Black people feel about their advancement past slavery isn’t digitized. It would mean that I would have to ask and look for people willing to share their hardships and life stories so that an accurate picture can be depicted. I think that would be my next step. With the riots and terrorizing acts of the Police in several parts of the country, gaining people’s trust and telling their stories would help the whole nation realize that there is a deeper-rooted issue that needs to be addressed before true change can actually occur.
