In the reading Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom the author wrote about the reasons behind slavery and its beneficiaries before and after emancipation. A quote that I found interesting was “Thus, while the ending of slavery led tp reconstruction of the national politics and economics, it was not a radical reconstruction, but a safe one-in fact, a profitable one” (pg 172). In other words, although the emancipation of slaves did happen, major change about race in the smallest scale to the largest one in politics did not happen. It is described as safe and profitable, meaning that emancipation, in reality, was done not because of new ideals of equality in the United Staes, rather it does one still rooted in bigotry and profits like it was in its genesis.
Today we still have issues that are rooted in racism, homophobia, and hatefulness. Some examples include abortion laws, equal pay in regards to sex, and gay rights. And although there have been political changes that allow same-sex marriage, allow abortions, and declare us equal, why has our reconstruction not been radical? We continue to let history replay itself in different forms, and lack leadership is pivotal change unless it is coming from a higher power like slavery with Lincoln. In Chicago, public school teachers have been on strike for a week and still, haven’t received a fair contract, with the political system and even more general systems in place, how can the people cause change without relying on political officials?
I also found the economic motivations behind emancipation extremely disturbing. It made me angry to read that the entire humanitarian rhetorical narrative was just spun and the underlying reason was that emancipation was a necessary economic move for elites to maintain control.