Racism and the African Condition in America Research Paper

Racism and the African Condition in America - Research Paper Example The African Americans, who during the early times of the American civil war were not part of the recognized American society, were used as sources of labor. As such, they were treated as no more than animals that provided labor for the benefit of the slave owners and drivers, who reaped the benefits of free labor and controlled how much output they wanted from the slaves. This was one of the highest levels of racism, where non-blacks would not work, and if they did, they would do the least amount of work. The above case was also demonstrated by the use of African Americans being used to take part in and complete tasks that were deemed degrading to the prestigious and elite white race. Due to this, African-Americans had their role in the society reserved as per predisposition that they were inferior to the whites, which allowed African-Americans to be used for heavy manual labor in the farms and plantations. Following their predisposition in society, they were referred to as Negroes a nd were entitled to all forms of slavery-affiliated activities concerning forced labor. This was by all means, against traditional convention found in ancient civilizations, in which slavery was not based on skin color, but rather on the superiority of character and ability of the person I question. This is because ancient slaves were often the spoils of war or people that were captured from wars and raids, but the African American slaves were only picked to work based on the color of their skins. The above was a blatant portrayal of racism that existed in the period prior to the American civil war from the time of their capture from their native homes in different parts of West Africa. In addition to slavery, due to the color of the skin African-Americans bore the title of slaves from as early as the 18th century. With this in mind, they did not hold any form of human dignity as they were viewed and perceived as being less than human, but better than animals considering that they u nderstood the directions given to them. Under the treatment as slaves, they did not enjoy equal rights with the rest of the human population in America, as they were not human to the American slave drivers and owners; a direct translation of this statement indicates that as slaves they lived under very dilapidated conditions with no necessities except those that sustain life. However, they had to work for the same food they fed on in spite of working on plantations and fields for hours on end. They were forced into sugar factories and tobacco farms, with no form of protective gear, as they were as disposable as the next animal of no value despite raking in plenty of fortunes for their owners. As such, no other races were involved in work as slaves except African-Americans who were denied their rights as individuals and humans through collective treatment and misconceptions of inferiority in a white-dominated continent or land of Americans.1 In addition, for African-Americans to be d enied their rights there must have been a form of recognition of them being humans in order to decide that they were not equal to the rest. Religiously from the moment that the African-Americans were allowed to practice their own religious practices, they were faced with numerous racial challenges.

LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

LAW - Essay Example They were convicted and sentenced for felony murder in the Supreme Court of the State of New York for New York County. Judgment was affirmed without opinion in the Appellate Division. A motion to reargue was denied by the New York Court of Appeals on June 15, 1976. Victory was tried for felony murder (N.Y.Penal L. Â § 125.25(3) predicated upon the crime of escape in the second degree (id. Â § 205.10(2)). To convict Victory the jury had to find that Bornholdt and he escaped from custody after Officer Varecha had arrested them for a felony and that the policeman was shot in the course of or in furtherance of this escape. In charging the jury, the trial judge explained several times that it was necessary for them to find that an escape was being committed at the time Varecha was shot in order to convict Victory of felony murder. http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/570/66/3893 For example, "the prosecution must show that during the commission or attempted commission of the crime of escape in the second degree, and in the course of and in furtherance of that crime, or the immediate flight there from, a defendant caused the death of a person other than one of the participants." Both the crime of felony murder and the crime of escape in the second degree were submitted. After retiring, the jury asked for a re-reading of the law of escape, and twice for a re-reading of testimony about events prior to the shooting. "As a matter of law, does the fact of flight after the shooting itself establish escape in the second degree after an arrest has been made for felony assault?" The judge indicated that there was no "categorical" answer to the question posed, carefully stated what the jury would be required to find for a conviction of escape in the second degree, then re-read the statutory definition of felony murder which, as the jury had often heard, requires death be caused in the course of or in furtherance of a predicate