Continuing Segregation

Research Paper for AFA 304

Segregation and slavery based on moral indoctrination Jessica Rakowicz 1/31/2013

Our current definition of morality or perhaps the right wing religious definition of morality is a manmade concept; animals have homosexual sex1, early cultures were not monogamous2, in fact most of the fluff of morality seems to be made up as some form of control for the people. Nietzsche suggests that there are three histories of morality; the Masters or the nobility, the slaves which brings rise to the Priests who control the slaves through claiming a higher moral capacity which gives them the right to lead as teachers, and the evolution of morality suggesting that obedience s bred into humans and that herd instinct is an inherited quality shared by the masses3. While early civilizations placed little to no value on monogamy and other morals they were however quite caring4. As early as we had civilization as we know it, in the first city of Mesopotamia, we have history of slavery. Beginning as the spoils of war slaves were captured and used for free labor in 6800 BC, later in Egypt expeditions would be taken to find and capture slaves, and later still in 550 BC in Athens there were 30,000 slaves working in silver mines5. According to Nietzsches view of morality the nobility or the ruling class in these cities had no issues using lower human beings to do their will and described this as natural. The creation of this lower class by the rulers leads to the next view of morality which describes the slaves as looking for a way to blame the rulers for their position in society. These slaves eagerly cling to those who claim to be teachers and follow their priests who offer them solace in the idea that their suffering is temporary and their rulers are evil. We have many stories of slaves revolting against their masters that are prized in history; the story of the slaves being led out of Egypt by Moses and the story of the Christians under Roman control along with countless others in the Bible are retold with great fervor by many Christians. Although Christians specifically have such a rich history of escaping slavery and American Christians specifically have an even
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100302112018.htm 3 http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/alevelphilosophy/data/A2/Nietzsche/NietzscheHistories.pdf 4 http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news288.htm 5 https://www.freetheslaves.net/SSLPage.aspx?pid=303

richer history of escaping persecution in their migration to the US and the development of the nation, they still use these examples to justify their own freedom while justifying the keeping of slaves. Christian indoctrination for slavery included using verses from the Bible to explain to followers that slavery was approved by God and even a suggested practice. Quoting the Bible slave owners ignored their own history of escaping slavery and instead quoted scripture such as tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect (Titus 2:9)6. The belief that slavery was acceptable and that Africans were different than whites and less human was taught in churches and in schools, it was classic indoctrination of the masses and based on the moral superiority of the priests and teachers it was well ingrained into the children and adults alike. The indoctrination included the concept of family values which had been taught for quite a long time and remained important in early US history. The concept that Africans werent human and thus didnt deserve or warrant freedom was simply made up and taught for such a long time and so completely that it because passed down from families and part of society. Even after slavery was made illegal in the US the concept that African Americans were not human and should be kept separate was clearly evident. Hate crimes were rampant and people were furious at the idea of sharing a bus or a restaurant with one of them. After the 1954 Supreme Court ruling against the constitutionality of segregation within public schools there were widespread riots and hate crimes. In fact the ruling was met with such violent opposition that the enforcement decree all but took back the ruling allowing for all sorts of exceptions and lengthy delay. Private Whites Only schools were formed and people bullied black children to combat the mandatory desegregation.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/12/how-the-bible-was-used-to-justify-slavery-abolitionism/

It is clear that the moral indoctrination that led to the fierce segregation and the protection of slavery is still prominent in society by the opposition to feminist views. The moral indoctrination proposed Family values that explained that a woman was not a human being but more property, such as a slave, women in society did not have the same rights as men and could not own land or vote. In church women were not to talk or discuss scripture since they did not have the mental capacity to understand, if a woman had a question she could ask her father or husband who would then explain it to her. This view of woman was pushed by the church for many hundreds of years and women were seen as not being able to contribute to society except through reproduction. Stereotypes developed that if a woman wasnt married and didnt have children by a certain age she would be an old maid and contribute nothing to society. This view is the same view that was had regarding African Americans that they did not have the mental capacity to contribute to society except through their free labor and that they needed to be taken care of by their masters. While the main proponents of a strict immigration policy are Republicans and generally middle class workers the majority of immigrants are unskilled laborers which lends credibility to the argument that they are living on our welfare but takes credibility away from their claims that they are taking our jobs , since most of the people who complain about this would not want the jobs that illegal immigrants get in this country. There are currently laws in place such as the minimum wage laws and laws requiring legal status in this country to obtain a job so that illegals cannot obtain many jobs, the main jobs available to them are under the table work such as housekeeping and day laboring. There is an aspect of racism behind the current claims that immigration from the South has only negative impacts and the call for more secure borders, it is the mentality that says we dont want those people in our country that causes people to fight against pathways to legal immigration for those already in our country. The reality behind the debate is that there are some negative consequences to rampant illegal immigration, however there are also benefits to immigration in general including migration from the South. Legal

methods of immigration have become increasingly difficult for those coming from Mexico both due to US policies regarding limits to how many people can migrate from one country as well as Mexican policies regarding leaving the country. The illegal workers who are able to find work mostly send money back to their families in Mexico, the amount of money sent back to Mexico in 2003 topped $10 billion7, most of this money it can be concluded since it was made under the table was not taxed, that is $10 billion in income that should have contributed to our tax system. While a potential solution includes looking at the long term and short term effects of such mass immigration from Mexico as well as looking at the root cause of the problem and developing a plan for positive immigration based on the status quo and the needs of the country those who argue for stronger immigration policies dont focus on this. The focus in the immigration debate is one on keeping those people out because they are not as good as us. Simply because a person is not a skilled laborer is not a reason to deny citizenship, many Irish immigrants were unskilled laborers as well and many European immigrants were stow-aways, alcoholics, criminals, and prostitutes which break other immigration laws in place at the time8. While the debate over illegals has only gotten worse over the past few years the amount of Mexicans attempting to illegally enter the country has dramatically declined, this is not due to harsh legal measures like the bill in Arizona that allowed for a vehicle to be pulled over and searched and the occupants to be asked for documentation merely on the physical evidence of their skin color9, what has halted immigration is an economic change in Mexico as well as a change in the population demographics which has allowed for more opportunity within the country itself and thus less reason to immigrate. To understand the debate one must understand that the illegal immigrants already in this country have a

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http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/mexico704/history/timeline.html http://www.fairus.org/facts/us_laws 9 http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-09-20/opinions/35494550_1_immigration-status-nationalimmigration-law-center-illegal-immigrants

strong place in our economy, many businesses that use their services have profits dependent on their ability to have this surplus of cheap labor and the world would change dramatically for many people in the US if they were all sent back. Another important factor is that many of these illegals have been in the country for more than 10 years and have children and families here and cannot be sent back quite so simply10. We can see that because the facts of the debate are greatly neglected that the mentality put into place many years ago is still deeply engrained within the minds of many citizens today. The potential solutions to the problem which as many experts say include a pathway to citizenship for many of those already here are seen as horrible ideas to those who argue for stricter policies even though they are a much more realistic solution than sending back a huge piece of our economy and a group of people who have been here for many years. The reason that these solutions cannot be discussed is the idea of segregation, they do not want to be overtaken by Mexicans and feel that allowing them a legal space in our society would then allow them to take over our society and in some way ruin it. This is precisely what was argued about the African Americans once they were released from society and we see that this feeling I still deeply ingrained in our society. Not only is the feeling of segregation still deeply ingrained but the effects of economic segregation are brutally obvious. Each year African Americans graduate at much lower rates than white students, make considerably lower wages, and have higher crime rates than white residents although there is no genetic predisposition to these factors but only social predispositions. This unfortunate fate could be avoided easily by changing policies in the US directed at this group of people and directing new policies toward the development of this segment educationally, increasing opportunities for them. This would lead to less gang violence, less inner city crime, higher national test scores in schools, and a higher national
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http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2011/08/08/10203/what-changes-in-mexicomean-for-u-s-immigration-policy/

GDP; unfortunately policies that could be helpful are not enacted and instead the focus is on getting rid of the illegal immigrants to help solve our problem. Perhaps the idea is that when there are no more illegals here those particular low wage and low skill jobs can go to inner city, uneducated African Americans. According to the US Department of Education the overall graduation rate in the US for 2010-2011 was 80%; for white students specifically the graduation rate was 85% and for black students the graduation rate was 69%, a difference of 16 percentage points. The African American graduation rate was 11 points lower than the national average and 16 percentage points lower than the average for white students11. According to the US Census Bureau the median yearly income for white Americans in 2009 was $62,545 while the median income for African Americans was only $38,409 which is $24,136 less than the average for whites and $21,679 less than the combined average for all families which was $60,08812.

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Spreadsheet page 2 http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0695.pdf