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How Do African Americans Still Face Today

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Unquestionably, the scourge of slavery has left a dark imprint on African-American history. However, some envisage its nefarious consequences only in terms of those who survived enslavement. Those who, quite frankly, should know better either downplay or outright ignore this terrible event that still causes sizable shock waves in our culture today. An alarming number of people conflate the end of slavery with the end of oppression. While those who were literally enslaved and later emancipated bore the brunt of slavery, the first free generation of children surmounted tremendous obstacles, some of which African-Americans must still face today. Utilizing “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, “The Ghosts of Slavery” by Linda Krumholz, and “Raising Freedom’s …show more content…

One of the more personal issues that arose in post-slavery America was the irregular growth of and relationships within the African-American family and community. Survivors of slavery typically had little to no belongings or family history, two non-essential but nevertheless important parts of family identity. This lack of belonging, both literally and figuratively, is at worst psychologically damaging and dissociative and at best an omnipresent annoyance to the children of these former slaves. As we see in Morrison’s “Beloved,” Denver is consumed with the story of her birth one of the few major familial events that Denver …show more content…

Numerous children probably welcomed schooling as they may have seen it as an opportunity to do better by their parents while also honoring their parent’s dreams of a free world. As mentioned before, Denver loved school and it was “precious to her…Especially so because she had done it on her own and was pleased and surprised by the pleasure and surprise it created in her mother and her brothers” (CITE P120). This quote beautifully explains why a number of these children wanted to go- to please their families, because learning was enjoyable, and it was something the “whitepeople thought unnecessary if not illegal,” (CITE P120) because if whitepeople believed it to be threatening it was probably something that would increase their social mobility. Besides schooling, often the first-generation, not unlike their parents, were hardworking in order survive and hopefully distance themselves from poverty. For example, Sethe works long hours in Sawyer’s restaurant almost just for food (page 223). Even though it’s not providing much for their family, Sethe still does everything she can to ensure her child is well-fed and content. Taking a page from her mother’s book, Denver works for the Bodwins’ while trying to secure a second job at a shirt factory, all while Miss Bodwin teaches her in hopes that she may attend Oberlin College

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