Racism and the Founding Period

For my third blog I will be discussing the relevance of race to the revolution and founding period.

When I say George Washington the first thing that comes to your mind is the great founding father that we all idolize. Now of course with all do respect, he was a fierce leader and all but could you believe that even he had purchased many people as slaves during the founding period because of the race they belonged to?!

Furthermore, they were politicized by the language and modes of white protest and were quick to seize the opportunities for securing their own freedom that emerged from the disruptions of a society in rebellion.

I chose this interesting article to support my ideas:
http://history.rutgers.edu/clemens/AfricanAmericansRevolution.html

In short, the author here mentions the African American slaves and talks about how both the British and the Americans were afraid to arm them. Yet blacks were probably present on both sides for every major battle of the Revolution. Both armies accepted blacks in the military to win the war, not to enact social change. The Revolution gave them a chance to articulate and indulge their desire for freedom. While the war did not lead to emancipation, it united their belief of freedom. It helped to create a sense of community and gave them a position from which to fight for the abolition of slavery. 


I strongly agree with the contents of this article and it applies to all that we learned in our history lesson.

Racism in the Colonial Period

Mr. Harding has exempted me from my second blog seeing as I wasn't here for this unit.

Racism

Racism; one of the biggest issues in the US history. But the real question is, is it really just part of history? No, people, no; racism is everywhere around us, in our schools, at our work, even across the street! It all started ever since the colonial period by which privileges and rights were given to white americans but were not granted to native americans, african americans, asian americans, hispanic and latino americans. Slavery was also initiated at that time. But of course, major progress has been made in this regard nowadays. Slavery has been banned and rights were given equally. Moreover people are no longer treated differently according to the race they belong to. Or are they?!! Lets start with the simple things in life. For instance, can anyone deny that many students are bullied because they are of a different race? How about work; the best job opportunities are always offered to the white and of course their wages are the highest in percentage. It can even be as simple as a mean glare from a white racist to an african american at the supermarket! What really hits me the most about this issue is that people are denying the fact that it's still present today in our society. Laws were enhanced in this matter but they weren't always applied. Yes, i am white but i care!!

I crossed by an article that really appealed to me at : https://www.google.com/amp/www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-28/america-has-a-big-race-problem%3fcontext=amp?client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us

At first, the writer disscussed a few examples of racism that had happened recently in the US. Then, he asks why a national conversation isn't being held to discuss the issue. He moves on to discussing a questionnaire that was made and resulted in shocking statistics that proved how racism remains in our society. An important point he stated was that the idea of racism wasnt born with us; it was something people caught from the media and social interactions. The writer urges people to talk and without fear for he believes thats the only solution. In his opinion, racism remains today yet he does acknowledge the progress made. 

I honestly couldnt agree more with everything he had to say.