Racism has been going on for as long as we can remember. Especially in the 1800’s, many things occurred, that affected society today. In Frederick Douglass’ speech, he uses the Pentad method by describing his experiences, that happened in the 1800’s. For some reason the whites have always been superior against any other race, especially black people. Why has there been so many different views against race?
Frederick Douglass was a former slave, who wrote about his experiences along the way. Frederick Douglass is well known for wanting to end slavery. He also had a skill for public speaking. Frederick Douglass was a consultant to Abraham Lincoln. He tried to convince Abraham Lincoln that slaves should serve in the Union forces. His main goal was to abolish slavery. Others that were involved in his speech were the privileged whites and the other slaves with him. The privileged whites were the ones who were torturing/demanding the slaves, while the slaves were the ones being tortured.
Frederick Douglass reacted by spreading his words on why slavery should be ended. He spoke to the public, trying to get the message across to the audience. He tried to make others understand/see what they are doing to the non – whites, is wrong. His motivation for his speech are the other former slaves. Back then the Fourth of July was a huge disrespect to the slaves. It was a disrespect because the whites were celebrating, while the slaves were suffering. Fredericks thoughts on slavery were very strong. He wanted to know why are black people treated differently? It was unfair to not only him but the rest of the non – whites.
Frederick Douglass gave his speech at Rochester’s Corinthian Hall. Frederick and his former slaves are very passionate about abolishing slavery because they just want to be treated normally. They want to be treated as equally as the whites. They all want to be treated with respect. Frederick’s attitude going into his speech was positive. He wanted to make a difference in society. The only way he could get his message across to the readers was if he was confident enough.
Frederick Douglass’ speech can connect to a modern show called, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” It is a reality t.v. show that has been going on for over 10 years. This show focuses on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian – Jenner family. The show consists of many people but the main stars are: Kris Jenner (mom), Kourtney Kardashian (oldest sibling), Kim Kardashian (2nd oldest), Khloe Kardashian (3rd oldest), Rob Kardashian (youngest and only Kardashian boy), Kendall Jenner (oldest step sister), Kylie Jenner (youngest step sister). I picked this show because this show always involves drama in it. A lot of the drama comes from jealousy and isolation.
Kim Kardashian (the main star), always thinks she is better than all the rest of her siblings. Kim and the whites relate to each other because they both think that they are superior when it comes to those around them. Although, the setting is not really the same in Frederick Douglass’ speech, you can take into consideration that there is always tension around the Kardashians and their family.
This “setting” relates to the blacks and whites because they do not always get along. Kim usually, always fights with her siblings. When Kim’s siblings say something back, they feel as if they can never win. Kim’s siblings feel hurt and offended by the things Kim says to them. This relates to Douglass’ speech because Kim (the whites), treats her siblings (the slaves) horribly. She always has comments to say about them, plus she can also be really bossy, just like how the whites were with slaves. Although, Kim and her siblings are always fighting, they always learn how to fix the problem. The whites and the blacks still haven’t learned to deal with their issues, but they are getting a little bit better.
Some people may argue that racism has no place in our society no we abolished slavery, and had our first african american president. Do not forget there was a controversy that would have stripped former President Obama his presidency if it was proven that he was not a natural born citizen. No president was ever accused of not being a natural born citizen.
The difference was that President Obama was our first colored president. All of those are true however, racism is not just towards one race. Yes, the treatment to the colored community has improved but it is not totally gone. If racism is totally gone how come hate crime rates has increased during the year President Donald Trump was elected. We as a country have voted and seated a racist white male as the president of arguably the strongest and most powerful country in the world.
President Trump tweeted, “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!”. Mr. Trump also said on an interview about immigrants from Haiti and other African countries ‘Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?’ These two outrageous comments should have never been said by an individual who is the commander in chief of a country that can turn countries to ashes. Lone and behold President Donald Trump bombed Syria after just being a president for less than 4 months.
Racism is just part of discrimination there are other forms such as sexism and gender roles. According to healthychildren.org we learn gender roles at around age two and at by our third birthday we can easily identify ourselves with our gender. Until recently being a homosexual is something to be ashamed of now we as a society we accept welcome them and let them be who they are. However, when it comes to our races we still have negative stereotypes that comes with certain races.
