Blog 2

Slavery was a system of racial hierarchies that structured American social, economic, and political relationships. As slavery spread throughout America it exerted complex effects on all aspects of American society. The majority of slaves were first used to increase productivity on plantations, and then gradually slave owners stated using slaves for other tasks they needed preformed. Slavery continued to be a pattern throughout the years because it was such a common thing, at the time it was just part of American society.


All people were implicated in slavery even if they did not personally own a slave. I think it is safe to say that almost everyone in that time period knew about slavery. With everything going on in that time period such as the underground railroad and slaves running away in general I think it would be difficult for citizens living in the United States not hear about slavery. Not to mention the issue was frequently talked about, so all those people who saw what was occurring and did nothing to stop it could be considered implicated in slavery. Even if people disagreed with slavery no one did anything about it. A lot of the time knowing something and not doing anything about it is just as bad as doing it. Although there were many people who did nothing about slavery there were however many people who did try to abolish slavery, and eventually did. Many of the people who first began to campaign against slavery were wealthy white men, and some of them even living in the south where slavery was the most common.

It was necessary for slavery to end because it was in humane to sell people and treat them in ways you wouldn't even treat an animal. People are people no matter where they come from, what skin color they are, or what religion they practice, they are still people.

In order for slavery to end enough people had to realize this. Petitions had to be singed and laws had to be passed. The civil war also needed to occur in order for slavery to end. An invention that made abolishing slavery easier is the cotton gin, many plantation owners were able to use the cotton gin instead of slaves. I'm not saying slavery was abolished just because the cotton gin was invented but it did make it a lot easier for slave owners do the work slaves did. After years of hard work to abolish slavery the goal was finally accomplished. When slavery was officially abolished in the United States, African Americans were able to experience a sense of freedom.


We can see similar systems of social control at work and in our lives. At the workplace minorities are sometimes discriminated, which can be seen as a type of social control. One minority that has been discriminated thought the years are women. Although men and women have "equal rights" women are still sometimes discriminated. A womens dollar value tends to be less than a mans, and a man can usually move up much higher than a women. According to catalyst.org "In 2006, the median weekly earnings for women in full-time management, professional, and related occupations was $840 per week, compared to $1,154 for men." (http://www.catalyst.org/publication/217/womens-earnings-and-income)
Another type of social control seen in our lives is that not everyone is educated in the same atmosphere.A student who receives an education from a well off suburb can sometimes have an advantage over a student who receives an education in a not so well off inner city school. One reason this occurs is because the lack of money some schools receive, it is hard to get quality supplies and teachers if the school system lacks the money to do it. In most cases, a better education leads to a more stable future with more opportunities for advancement. Students who succeed in high school and can afford college usually go to college to get a degree, which for the most part leads to a decent job. For those who cannot move up have more labor intense jobs and typically are blue collared workers, and work in factories. Both of these examples are not always true, there will always be women that make way more than a lot of men in the world but I am basing my thoughts based on the average number of women who make less than men; and there will always be workers that came from an inner city school who advance higher than someone who can from a wealthy suburb's school district.

Blog 1

The British racialized what they saw as the “savage” nature of Native Americans. This was based on what the British saw as different from themselves. The British viewed themselves inferior to the Native Americans, this inferior feeling is what lead the British to take over the Native American land. The British felt that everything from their race, culture, and religion was better than the Native Americans. The cultural difference was a big shock to the British because of how different the native Americans appeared. According to Michael Omi and Howard Winant the British challenged concepts about the human species and whether or not the Native Americans could be considered in the same “family of man.” The effects of this racialization were significant. The British forced the Native Americans out of there land and began to take over everything they knew. These types of racialized views are even shown today in contemporary pop culture. Racial Formation is shown in everything from TV shows, movies, and even music; actresses, actors and artists are portrayed with features that are common associated with a certain race. An example of how racialization is portrayed is on the television show “The Office”, racialization is heavily shown and referred to. In one particular episode Steve Carell does his version of a Chris Rock routine, and throughout the routine in some way makes a racial comment or gesture to categorize all the employees. In music when you hear a typical rap song most people assume the rapper must be “black”, however emminem is a rapper and he does not fit the racial categorization. When people think of country music most people assume that the artist is “white” and often are called “hicks”. However, Darius Rucker does not fit this racilization, he is a extremely successful country singer and also happens to be “black”. racialization and racial formation have been a continuous problem even in the begining of time.