by Raymond L. Marr

Created on: June 12, 2008   Last Updated: August 19, 2008

Reflections on Prejudice

Prejudice, once accepted as eradicated, no longer in existence, sorry to say it still exists even today. Emancipation Proclamation was expected to be the answer? After a civil war the North and South, fighting for the right to own or the right to release, the abolition of it was the expected result. The victory of the Union army, afterward abolition of slavery for those who were aware. Difficult as it was while many could not read or write. The saying goes Ignorance is bliss, and yet was it? For those who remained under the careful watch of overseer. Blissfully unaware that they were officially free, was that the way of it?

The slaves were now free from the tyranny of a Master, of an owner aware that they held no rights whether Man, Woman or Child because of the difference in the color of their skin, his objective the bottom line, sound familiar? Without the awareness, so important to make a change, the necessary knowledge withheld the false beliefs reinforced. Not unlike the native Americans so willingly walking into a life of servitude, seeking peace and only finding a war based on color. The knowledge so necessary as a weapon against this supposed blissful ignorance closely controlled and withheld by any means, without a weapon how does one fight? Without this weapon the labor continued to be cheap,an abundant supply of workers who just accepted, what was offered even if in and of itself was like jumping right into to self imposed servitude. Based on so many false promises, money, home and the like. The reality of the situation was far more grim then such false ideals could present it as. The money as only one example, far below a livable wage. Promises of housing, substandard at best and a ration barely enough for a child, let alone a full grown man who worked 12-16 hours a day for it. Yet they still grasped the false opportunity, following the empty promises. How many years even after the Emancipation Proclamation did such individuals try and jump the bandwagon, traveling west following the promises of instant wealth of rivers of gold flowing everywhere you looked that of course would not pan out. As Steinbeck immortalized in his masterpiece "The Grapes of Wrath", of the exact journey of a family expecting to be rich, in the abundance of the west. As well as the story of the treatment of animals as mentioned in Jack London's "Call of the Wild" of a dog by the name of Buck nabbed and beaten then hitting the trail for far to many miles

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