Slavery’s Impact on Blacks, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Since time immemorial, slavery has had a huge negative impact on blacks and it can’t be argued that the negative impact that slavery had on blacks has worsen. Blacks have been used, abused, traditions broken and their absence in their family’s lives have caused reprehensible damage. Also, slavery’s impact has also left a lot of blacks ignorant of their own destiny as well as background on their ancestors.

As time progressed, it can be argued that slavery hasn’t impacted blacks one bit; they are no worse for the wear given the situation of some but the truth is far less designed. However, slavery has had an impact on blacks in a way that has altered the way they talk to the way they live their lives and it can be said that most blacks live their lives in accordance to the ways of their ancestors.

Slavery has also had an impact on black people’s mentality and it has affected them so deeply that most blacks are bound by their way of thinking whether it’s good or bad, but it is a known fact that blacks were more impacted by slavery then their white counterparts. Largely, slavery has had an impact on blacks to the point of no return in the aspect that many of them die the way live.

So the question is, has slavery impacted blacks; the answer is an emphatic, yes. Slavery has impacted just about every aspect of a black person’s life.

Body I

One of the impacts that slavery has had on blacks is that it’s affected the black male’s ability to be a father to his child, slavery completely destroyed the family-oriented bond of the average black family back in those days. This ‘transition’ ensured that enslaved men who were fathers couldn’t be fathers and role models to their biological children, this has left a lot of black men without the ability and generational knowledge of what it means to be a father to their children.

It’s a known fact that black men were not raised to be fathers to their children which left a lot of the parenting and child-rearing to the mother/partner in the relationship because they were raised to be mothers, this has left a lot of black men feeling like they didn’t have to feel compelled to be a part of their children’s life and didn’t worry or care if they were; thus enabling them to concentrate on other things than being an active father. Carten reported, “Slavery’s impact on black men’s ability destroyed what could’ve been a great bond between a father and his children” (Carten).

It is also a known fact that the division between enslaved men who were fathers, and their children is that it has made some black men unable to take care of their children because of the generational absence of their fathers’ ancestors’ in their lives. Some black men have been given the generational ability to ‘disappear’ or ‘be invisible’ because of their lack of innate paternal skills.

Today, a significant amount of black children in America are growing up without fathers which has made it extremely difficult for second or third generation black men to be active and good fathers to their children; the role model element isn’t there and this is only one of the devastating impacts that slavery has had on blacks.

Body II

Slavery had another impact on Blacks, it negatively affected their educational outlook and utterly destroyed Black people’s concept of the value of a good education. Blacks weren’t allowed to educate themselves lest they get smart enough to learn how to break their bondage and rise up against the slave owners, it can be argued that there were some blacks who had an innate ability to interpret letters and numbers yet that fact had to be hidden so they weren’t separated from their families.

The lack of educational opportunities for Black people has caused them to live a life of illiteracy and an inability to properly seek educational opportunities which would put them on the fast track to bettering themselves, this has impacted a lot of blacks in the aspect that some of them don’t see a real point in attending school or even going to classes when they’re supposed to; blacks didn’t take school seriously. Bertocchi & Dimico explained, “even though first generation slave descendants had access to education, the lack of quality in the educational offering still left a lot of Blacks practically illiterate” (Bertocchi & Dimico).

Slavery kept a lot of blacks in the dark about their educational futures and even more black people from achieving the true greatness that they were destined to, slavery has

robbed a lot of blacks of getting paid a higher wage, getting promotions and getting into the best schools that money can buy. Slavery’s impact on blacks has enabled future generations to intentionally miss out on opportunities that were created to better them because spending time in prison, running the streets and getting arrested is all they know.

Slavery’s impact on blacks has caused a lot of them to forsake education in favor of making money or prematurely having a family before they’re able, this has also caused some of them to resort to thievery and selling drugs to survive.

Body III

As time progressed, slavery’s negative impact seemed to have increased; it was almost as if future generations of enslaved blacks were destined to live lives of debauchery and depravity. Slavery’s extremely abrasive effect on the mentality of blacks is a prime example of this, a lot of blacks were having children by different women and being disloyal; never staying with the woman that they have children by. This is largely due to slavery and its impact on black men at that time, they were being trained to have sex with women for the sole purpose of siring more children to be slave labor for their master. Hallam reported, “Slavery birthed a lot of illegitimate children in black families, this has affected black families today as well” (Hallam).

As a result, slavery has conversely birthed a lot of blacks who are living their ancestors’ lives of having dozens of children by different women they weren’t married to. This has caused a lot of the future generations of those enslaved blacks to live a life of disloyalty, and disrespect to the mother of their children not to mention a lack of responsibility in helping take care of the family that was not forced upon them compared to that of their ancestors.

Walton explained that, “slavery’s impact on black men and black children has negatively touched the lives of every black person, black children may have fathers but black women were not made wives” (Walton). The worst part about this is that the black men who were laying with different women, never felt compelled to marry the woman because there was no legal obligation to; there was nothing in writing that said they had to.

Today, the concept of blacks spreading their DNA and creating children of different races is still a very prevalent issue today, but so is slavery’s impact on those black men to pick and choose which family he focuses his attention on. Sadly, the children are ones impacted by this the most because they are living their lives without a sense of identity.

Conclusion

Slavery has impacted blacks negatively for years, it has created children without fathers, sons and fathers in the prison system, young black women who become premature mothers early etc. Slavery has kept a very firm grip on the destiny of black people as it did their ancestors long ago, this grip has forced a lot of blacks’ generational habits to transfer to their descendants which has caused a lot of disloyalty and discontentment among blacks.

Slavery has had an impact on just about every aspect of a black person’s life and that includes their education as well, slavery gave way to dozens of black men who wound up in jail before the age of eighteen. Also, blacks who were having children by multiple partners never felt that marrying that person was a necessity since most blacks were discouraged from marrying the women they had children by.

It can be argued that even though enslaved blacks didn’t have access to education and opportunities to better themselves, future generations have been given opportunities that their ancestors didn’t have access to. It can also be said that slavery has made blacks afraid to better themselves out of fear of being labeled as different or being the master’s lapdog or not being traditionally black; it was necessary to hide the ability to read and write but slavery has made it so blacks are doing it by choice.

Black men today barely have the paternal instinct to be fathers to their children because of the generational divide that their ancestors went through, this training is essential in creating a generation of literate and educated children who go on to get good jobs and make a decent living wage to take care of that family.

Today, there are still blacks who are without a lot of the generational knowledge of their ancestors and it can be said that slavery would’ve had less of an impact on blacks if they did.

Work Cited

Bertocchi, Graziella, and Arcangelo Dimico. “The Historical Roots of Inequality.” Vox. 14 Nov. 2010. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Carten, Alma. “How the Legacy of Slavery Affects the Mental Health of Black Americans

Today.” Alternet. 10 July 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015

Hallam, Jennifer. “The Slave Experience.” Slavery and the Making of America. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Walton, Traeki. “8 Ways That Slavery Still Affects Black People’s Behavior Today.” HourTimeNow. 6 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.