What were the Impacts of Slavey in

the past to now?

Whenever someone walks around the city of Chicago, they see how one part of the city
is modernized and see many popular stores, all kinds of entertainment, and different kinds of
food people can go and find. Then there’s the other part of the city where houses are worn
down, fewer stores available, and poor treatment to the environment such as garbage pieces on
the ground, for example. This has always appeared every since I was a child. What can be done
about this? What started this in the first place? How much has it really changed?

During the time of the 1700s, many African Americans were being sold following harsh
chores and punishments from their “masters” during the time. According to History.com, the
demand for cotton increased but the supply was low this caused a stir towards creating as it
said on the article, “...with the land used to grow tobacco nearly exhausted, the South faced an
economic crisis, and the continued growth of slavery in America seemed in doubt.” Slavery was
growing and causing a shift to the economy in order to live but what was living for the African
Americans? From the harsh punishments, they received, not living in proper conditions, starving
to death. With the horrid past that has been written… it has affected our lives in 2019.

During 1865, the end of slavery has happened and the side effects were included. Some
freed African Americans did not know they were free and were kept in their own prison while
others were free as citizens. One example of this is an article from The Guardian. The article
explained, “​Shockingly, some contraband camps were actually former slave pens, meaning
newly freed people ended up being kept virtual prisoners back in the same cells that had
previously held them. In many such camps disease and hunger led to countless deaths”. The
evil side effect of this caused many freed African Americans to still be enslaved and since many
of these people died, were poor which caused many African American families to have a harder
time to obtain a job, gain money, and have a proper home for their children. It became even
harder for blacks later on since the government enforced discrimination.

Redlining is a term during the time in 1937 (around the start of World World II) where
whites did not live next to African Americans because of the National Housing Act of 1937 that
passed where Gross describes in his article, “​if African-Americans bought homes in these
suburbs, or even if they bought homes near these suburbs, the property values of the homes
they were insuring, the white homes they were insuring, would decline. And therefore their loans
would be at risk”. This shows that if whites lived next with African Americans then, the price for
when they sell their home will be cheaper than living in a white neighborhood. The government
enforcing this act has made it more difficult for African Americans which then led to many
people (including these articles), writing about history and stories to explain about the horrible
history for African Americans but these articles and books always have these characters and
people gain strength and face head-on for anything that happens next. One of these examples
is Beloved by Toni Morrison.
 On 1987, Toni Morrison wrote a beautifully written novel about the main character Sethe
dealing her life against the past of slavery and how the past still haunts her from horrid events of
her punishments but not only her but other characters such as Paul D and Baby Suggs, for
example. In the book, there were many graphical and intense scenes that many readers were
appalled by the intense wordings, harsh violent acts, and the repeated words that made these
characters feel they were dehumanizing. Morrison wrote mostly on the past of slavery around
the 1700s-1800s. This showed the impact of slavery because it gave the reader a sense of
realism of how the past was truly like. It made many readers feel disturbed but that was how
Morrison was making it be. Morrison made her book different from the rest in 1987 with its
graphical detail and the strong symbolism which made people amazed from the strong details to
express every character’s sorrows and strengths.

It first begins on Sethe being a freed slave just like in history in the 1800s. Sethe is a free
slave but cannot escape her past and especially when she killed her own daughter. Her
daughter, Beloved haunts Sethe’s house and making Beloved the figure of slavery. Beloved is
haunting Sethe making Sethe stick to the harsh past of slavery, Beloved not knowing anything
and being clueless just like how people who were enslaved were when they did not know they
were freed. From Morrison writing this book, it made people who knew nothing about slavery
gain the knowledge of how it was like and what these people had to face in their daily lives of
living through slavery. One of the quotes that I found throughout the story was “Love is or it ain't.
Thin love ain't love at all” (Morrison, 2). Throughout this book, Sethe breaks the cycle of other
African Americans during the time to not love too much to the people you know or close with.
However, Sethe did not want that and wanted to love her children and do whatever she can so
they would not suffer. On killing Beloved, Sethe’s mindset was to let her child face the hardships
of slavery and the horrible world she’ll live in.

Overall, the impacts of slavery have led to many hardships during the years in the 1700s
to the 1800a. It has effected on Chicago as a whole from creating stereotypes that give other
races the disadvantage with other people. Right now, we are living in a world where schools are
teaching about slavery and the negative effects of it. People nowadays are expressing many of
their opinions to everyone and expressing them more on the internet instead of creating
solutions. We are only remembering the past and not advancing enough. We as people cannot
just leave the mess as it is. From the segregated neighborhoods, creating racism, and making
some people living in poverty because of the effects of redlining cannot be just. The time where
the government should enact a law to bring equality to all has not come. Slowly and slowly,
people are uncovering more information about the past and having less trust with the
government more and more.

Now:

How much has it really changed?

Sources:

Editors, History.com. “Slavery in America.” ​History.com​, A&E Television Networks, 12 Nov.

2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery.

Gross, Terry. “A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America.” ​NPR​,
NPR, 3 May 2017,
www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated
-america.

Harris, Paul. “How the End of Slavery Led to Starvation and Death for Millions of Black
Americans.” ​The Guardian​, Guardian News and Media, 16 June 2012,
www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/16/slavery-starvation-civil-war.

Morrison, Toni. ​Beloved​. Perma-Bound, 1987.