Review - Book Report/Review Example

Meaning, they have to be in a bondage labor somewhere by somebody and that if they do not work, they will be arrested. The penalty for such arrest is forced labor which was supposed to a payment of a fine. This is enforced by the penalty of jail, fine and/or forced labor. Color discrimination Slavery may have ended in the United States after a long and bitter struggle of many civil right leaders but discrimination against color still persisted today of which I agree with the author’s point of view.

I can even cite one concrete example that caused so much controversy in recent times which is the acquittal of George Zimmermann who shot Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin was an unarmed 17 year old teenage African American who was shot to death by George Zimmerman on the night of February 26, 2012 in Florida. The case was recently judged on July 10, 2013 where the jury who were composed of Caucasians acquitted Zimmerman of manslaughter despite the fact that he was armed while Trayvon Martin was unarmed on the argument of self-defense.

The decision sprouted controversy that angered America where riots ensued to protest the decision. Zimmermann’s may have claimed that it was in self-defense but it is difficult that the use of gun was racially motivated as Zimmermann had the impression that black Americans are thugs. Even President Obama acknowledged this racial discrimination that still exists up to this day that even he has experienced it. Chapter 2: Liberation from Mental Slavery Knowledge of self I agree with Na’im Akbar that it is important to be free from slavery not only physically but also in our minds.

People who have been a slave for a long time or were raised to be a slave will inadvertently think like a slave. Even if they are freed and the shackles and bondage of physical slavery is removed they would still think like a slave. Thus, it is important for them to be liberated from their mind also. One of the ways to do these is to know their selves. In so knowing, they should discover that they are also a person, no different from anyone else be it black, white or anybody from any race. Knowing this, they would realize that they are not slaves and therefore should learn how to respect themselves and not to let others treat them as slaves.

Celebration of self In addition to Na’im Akbar elevation of the blacks as persons with their own identity, I would like to add a recent read about black artists and intellectuals which I finally appreciate after reading this section because it celebrates the black as people with talent and intelligence at par with any other race. Now I understand why during the Harlem Renaissance period why W.E Dubois and Alain Locke asserted that the Negro should also come through the arts. Seeing the artworks of Jacob Lawrence, Lois Mailou Jones, William H.

Johnson and others would make one believe in themselves as this kind of work celebrates the expression of the blacks with their own distinct identity and culture. Chapter 3, Racial Religious Inquiry and Psychological Confusion impact on the Psychology of the Portrayed Race My own take on this is that the portrayal of the blacks became so stereotype that it affected the psychology not only of the blacks but also the people around the blacks. I will again go back to the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmermann case because these are really just the byproducts of stereotyping the blacks as somebody who are dangerous and therefore sh