Burning the Chains from Our Mind

Seid Salih

Blst 101

Over the years there have been much written, much discussed on the subject of race. Race has been used as one of the most effective tools in weakening the unity of all the people and directly benefiting the White or “pure” social group. When trying to comprehend the idea of Race in the American history one must understand the process of racialization. This is a well-established political and economic system specifically targeting and forcing dark skin men to do the dirty work for those group seen as “pure”. This system bases on creating perception for individuals based on visible aspects. However, when creating the biracial society, the color of a man was only the beginning. The system precisely used religion as well as culture to stir up the pot of a biracial society.

            It is true that slavery has existed in many of the great civilizations. It is understandable to think that one would enslave another powerless person. It is who we are as a human being. We tend to look for our advantages in circumstance. It is easy to see how having an enslaved person doing work for us, for free, could be a tempting idea. What differentiate the biracial society created in areas like Barbados, Virginia, and Maryland was the fact that it dehumanized the entire Black social group for years to come. This capitalism society demanded for black slave workers. knowing humans by nature wouldn’t submit to such system, the creation of laws such as slave codes were critical in controlling the enslaved. Some states such as Virginia went as far as saying that the enslaved were just property and nothing more. Of course, there had to be some sort of justification to why this system is being implemented to cover up its evil means. The justification varied but, centered around the idea Africans weren’t “civilized” and “pagans”.

            Although I did have my own understanding of what racialization meant, examining some of the facts provided to me in this class has really helped me understand what factors of a biracial society are and, pin point the outcome even in today’s society.  “first introduced a race-based classification of humans, which established a framework for analyzing race and racial differences for the next hundred years.” http://www.understandingrace.org/history/history_trans.html. Most of the work to create a framework for racialization was done in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade era. We still do feel the effect of this system even now after hundreds of years. Our arms and legs may not be chained the same the enslaved were in the 18^th century, still I wonder how free we are or if we even know what it means to be “free”.
            It is obvious those enslaved in the 18^th century were not “free”. That was the extremist way of mentally as well as physically imprisoning a specific social group for years. I have always been intrigued with the idea of being “free” yet I still don’t have a concrete definition of what freedom is. Some relate freedom to making their own decisions, some are happy when there are freed from social obligation. I think the kid wearing old and ripped shorts and running after his goats with the biggest smile on seems freer than most.

https://retrorebirth.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/bob-marley-jah-soccer-head/

I chose this picture because Bob Marley in my view is one of the most freed people i have come to know. I totally relate to his philosophy and admire his simple way of living. 

Reference

Andres, K. (2016). Source Analysis of 'The Barbados Slave Code of 1661' Retrieved October 03, 2016, from https://medium.com/@kennethandres/source-analysis-of-the-barbados-slave-code-of-1661-3e0f9fd8cabd#.6t7vg9h3r 

RACE - History - Timeline Articles

By the 1600s, English colonists had established a system of indentured servitude that included both Europeans and Africans. - http://www.understandingrace.org/history/history_trans.html