Removing the Slave Mentality and Oppression Through Violence

Removing the Slave Mentality and Oppression through Violence

Freedom is defined as the custom of being free from restraints; Liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression, political independence, and the possession of civil rights (dictionary.com). Freedom and equality are connected to each other so much that you can not have freedom without having true equality and vice versa. When looking at the twentieth century many people all over the world were not born with freedom or born with equal rights. In most cases, people were oppressed by various forms of state sponsored racism, discrimination, and terror by other social groups. These same people have also been victims of the social hierarchy, which affects all other aspects of their life. Due to this racism, discrimination, social hierarchy, and terror in order to receive the freedom necessary to survive and the equality required to live a happy, successful, and productive life, all oppressed people must take action in some form.

Just as across the world here in America, the myth that "all men are equal" has created false hopes for African Americans, who continually seek opportunities to excel, which just aren't there. We have been led to believe that intelligence and ambition are key contributors to one's success, but this is not true. We do not live in a meritocracy; we live in a society where it is "not what you know it is who you know". Even if an African American possesses ambition and intelligence, the dominant majority of the white population oppresses them in the form of discrimination. This type of oppression and racism has existed since the Emancipation Proclamation which gave enslaved African Americans their freedom. This action taken up by the oppressed can be anything from a non- violent sit in, to a violent revolt, and even to act of terrorism. This resistance has taken many different forms across the world.

The old views of resistance in this country have come in the form of active non-violence, such as sit-ins, law suits, and peaceful marches. The old methods of resistance have left African Americans with the feelings that things in this country are getting better when in actuality nothing has changed. The only thing that most of the disadvantaged people have is symbols. The changes that they give us are symbols that won't cost them much, and that will pacify the masses of people, as a baby is pacified with a bottle in their mouth. Symbols such as MLK day as a national holiday, black history month as an important teaching perspective, traditionally disadvantaged people to the Supreme Court and congress, the