Psychology of Diversity - Essay Example

Psychology of Diversity Samson Varghese Psychology of Diversity (A reaction paper on “African-American Experience and American Racial Attitudes” ByDrew E. VandeCreek, Ph.D.)Psychology of Diversity 2SummaryThe blacks enjoyed considerable freedoms, in the years in which Native Americans Frenchmen, African-Americans and a few British and white Americans mingled in the Illinois society. The white Americans who arrived later integrated the region into United States and pushed others out of Illinois and changed the racial customs and laws in Illinois.

The black people were the victims of such law changes. The majority of the white had black slaves during this period. Although the 1824 referendum banned slavery in Illinois officially, it continued for years secretly. Illinois law severely restricted African-Americans rights and liberties. This law demanded that all African-Americans settling in the state to produce a certificate of freedom. Blacks found without certificates were to be advertised in newspapers and hired out for a year. Free blacks could not testify against whites in court.

Amidst of all such human right violations, some of the blacks found ways to make their marks in Illinois by acquiring land. The life of black women was doubly burdened by their race and their sex. Free blacks, who purchased their freedom from their masters, began to found new organizations and they joined hands with white abolitionists in the fight against slavery. But even those white abolitionists discriminated them from such activities. The blacks were tortured not only physically but mentally as well by publishing cruel cartoons describing the physical features of the blacks.

Psychology of Diversity 3Despite these considerable handicaps, African-Americans became the most significant Americans by the 1850s. The white American political system, that had so effectively marginalized them found itself quite unable to resolve the question of blacks political, social, and economic standing. The result was Civil War. The actions of President James Buchanan and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger Taney to establish white supremacy and were brought immense protests from the blacks, and brought leaders like Abraham Lincoln into action.

Lincoln, despite his reservations about the workings of immediate black social equality and other concessions to American societys prevailing racial prejudice, boldly argued that blacks, as much as whites, deserved the Declaration of Independences fundamental freedoms of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, which led to the Civil War and catapulted Abraham Lincoln from relative obscurity to the Presidents chair in 1861. (Drew E. VandeCreek, Ph.D)ReviewIn this article the author has concentrated more on the slavery existed in Illinois.

The author argues that the blacks were enjoyed considerable freedom when they lived together with the French, British and the Americans. But the ouster of French and British from the Illinois by the white Americans later, resulted in American domination and slavery. The author indirectly says that the French and British don’t have the race attitudes compared to the Americans. The author was succeeded in portraying the pathetic conditions of the blacks during this period, by citing the cruel social evils like the blacks has to purchase their freedom from their owners, those who want to live Psychology of Diversity 4freely should produce a freedom certificates, the abuse of black women etc.

The author believe that the autocratic approaches of the president, James Buchanan and Chief Justice, Roger Taney brought leaders like Abraham Lincoln into the lime light which finally resulted in American Civil War and in catapulting Lincoln to the president ship which finally resulted in the abolition of slavery.The author could have started the article with some more facts about the social life before the beginning of the slavery. Also the author failed to give the exact period in which the slavery started.

The article is not saying anything about the abolition of slavery by Abraham Lincoln. He could have included bit more about that also. Amidst of all such small things, the author succeeded in portraying the different aspects of the slavery .Psychology of Diversity 5References 1. Drew E. VandeCreek, Ph.D. - African-American Experience and American RacialAttitudes-Retrieved on 4/1/09, http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/africanamerican.html