Two interesting ideas stuck out to me in the two readings from Zinn: resistance and disproportionality. Zinn\u2019s chapters make it clear that resistance in so many ways is\/was a daily occurrence in black peoples\u2019 lives. In slavery, Zinn says the \u201csalve resistance\u201d was \u201cexpressed in countless ways in daily life and culture\u201d through \u201cmusic, magic, art, [and] religion\u201d (pg. 179). The way in which slaves came together and formed this culture of \u201cextended kinship\u201d was all to resist the system in which they were forced into (pg. 177). Slaves bonded and held each other up because as a whole they could imagine resisting the system and they could dream of freedom beyond the plantations. Later, in the 1950s and 60s Zinn argues \u201cthe memory of oppressed people is one thing that cannot be taken away\u201d (pg. 443). The resistance and anger embedded deeply in black history was \u201call there in the poetry, the prose, the music, sometimes masked, sometimes unmistakably clear\u201d (pg. 446). Decades after slavery blacks continued to resist the inequality through their daily expression of song and religion and other tactics. Resistance is ingrained in black culture just as much as racism is embedded into American culture.<\/p>\n
The theme of disproportionality is repeated by Zinn in his two chapters. In the first chapter he argues that the US system was exploiting not only poor blacks, but poor whites. While being pushed by capitalism, society was willing to entrap both poor blacks and whites into systems of slavery by working for other people that owned their land. The note written into the reading says, \u201csystemic oppression is harmful to everyone (although disproportionately)\u201d (pg. 210). This disproportionality is also shown in the 1950s when the actions of each branch of government are placed side by side. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled the clause \u201cseparate but equal\u201d unconstitutional. However, the executive branch, meant to uphold the laws, allowed 10 years to pass and \u201cmore than 75 percent of the school districts in the South\u201d to remain segregated (pg. 450). Systems affect people disproportionally and work together disproportionally. At its core, the theme of disproportionality directly points to causes and effects of racial inequality in American society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two interesting ideas stuck out to me in the two readings from Zinn: resistance and disproportionality. Zinn\u2019s chapters make it clear that resistance in so…<\/p>\n