The individual, society and culture. ( tripartite system of domination) - Essay Example

Running Head: The Individual…. Topic: the individual, society and culture. (Tripartite system of domination) Order#: 467927 Topic: the individual, society and culture. (Tripartite system of domination) a “Tripartite system of domination”, is a system of discrimination against the African-American community in all the areas of their public and private life.

The important ones are job discrimination, lack of legal protection, share cropping and debt peonage, disenfranchisement and political intimidation, segregation, denial of humanity and mark of inferiority. According to Bob Blauner, black men and women were looked down upon, and had to remain docile in front of whites. They were supposed to hold the hat in hand and cannot look straight into the eyes of their white masters. Black women were a little better and suffered to a lesser degree psychologically.

They were allowed relative freedom of movement within the boundaries of the racist system (p.21) With this sort of treatment from a section of a society to another section of society, any individual of the subjugated class would turn cynical, rebellious and will try to strike back at the earliest opportunity. Also religious discrimination of the worst order was practiced by the Church. b The dominance of the white race and the repressive measured used by it, evoked strong resistance from the blacks on all fronts.

Students took the lead in organizing the protest marches. Street-fights became order of the day. Radical visions came to the fore and took over the leadership. In the early part of the 20th century, African Americans launched direct protests against racial inequality. Jim Crow streetcars were challenged between 1900 and 1906 in important cities of the South. During the same period, black women organized local and national clubs to overthrow Jim Crow. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909-1910.

It initiated national level protests against racial inequality and challenged its legal basis and won cases in relation to segregated schools. In 1920 fundamental aspect of racial segregation were put to inquiry. This related to the practice since time immemorial, ideas of white supremacy and black inferiority. The Garvey movement of the 1920s turned into a mass movement. According to Blauner the combustible black younger generation admired the strength in the arguments of Marcus Garvey.

His teachings and leadership fulfilled their aspirations and his fighting qualities of head and heart were appreciated and followed by them.(p.85) Western civilization was challenged and great presentations about Black people, Black Culture, and Black history were made and the glory of Africa was highlighted. Garvey advocated that Blacks should return to Africa. The educated African American initiated a new movement called The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and began to prove that pen is mightier than the sword.

The importance of education for the blacks is highlighted in the story of Elena Albert. To the question ‘What’s “swallowing black”? The answer provided throws light on the thinking of the educated blacks. A restrained approach is advocated in the story and it advises the blacks not to be vindictive or be carried away by anger. Strong biases against the black community were there but hating the white was not considered as the permanent solution. After all, the future generations of blacks and whites will have to live together.

The best solution is to educate the blacks which will solve many problems as a matter of course. (p.85) The protest literature projected a new image of the Black heritage with the avowed objective to fight for Black liberation. Between 1929 and 1941, Northern Blacks began a non-cooperation movement, styled, ‘don’t buy where you can’t work’ campaigns where white owned business establishments were boycotted, unless they hired Blacks.c Almost all the aspects of tri-partite system of domination were transformed, or were deeply impacted and the process of transformation began to take concrete shape.

The civil rights movement was one of the important developments that influenced every aspect of the existence and progress of blacks. This movement created international sympathy for the cause of the blacks. Real transformation cannot be achieved with legal provisions. It has to be through change of hearts of whites and blacks. For the blacks, the issue had a continual implication, relating to their children. Whether the black children need to be made aware about the realities about their future life?

Humiliations and untold atrocities faced by their parents and grandparents? In Florence Grier’s story this predicament has been poignantly explained. The emotional description may arouse the child’s capacity for thinking in the wrong direction, the child may read books relating to Negro History and its ideals in that case will be probably Stokely and a Rap Brown!(p.67) Another issue where the transformation did not have much immediate impact was the economic status. Blacks continued to be kept at the bottom of the economic order and they lacked minimal control over the economy.

ReferencesBlauner, Bob. Black Lives, White Lives- Three Decades of Race Relations in America