Desire for Freedom Through Slavery

Anthony Reed, a professor at Yale University, shared his passion and knowledge about slavery through the use of films. I have learned about slavery, racism, and the Civil Rights Movement all throughout my education   which is bitter sweet for me. I grew up with almost no diversity regarding race and ethnicity, but as I came to college I began to explore all different varieties.

Slavery in cinema has some signature icons such as cotton fields, plantations, faithful song, white powerful men with guns and whips, and hard working black men and women. I could never imagine experience this traumatic event first hand, but I do believe in the powerful debates and discussion that this unfortunate time of history taught us to have. Some of our nations greatest leader rose among the dark to defend the rights that blacks should receive of citizens of our country. Now I understand that slavery was long before the Civil Rights Movement, but they carried similar desires; the desire to be free.

Amistad, a film that Reed focused his discussion primarily on, shared the quote "Give us us free." This quote was so powerful because I could not imagine yelling for my freedoms when all these people wanted were to walk without chains and not get beaten. Reed explained that slavery was a labor relationship; yet, the individuals had no opportunity to have any other relationship. Slaves were unable to have intimate  social, or academic relationships.

In recent decades, I have come to know many stereotypes of African Americans. I strongly disagree with these that I have learn and I truly believe in equality. Equality is something that not only African Americans desire. Woman desire equal pay, work and educational opportunities, the poor desire the comforts of living with basic necessities, and many nations desire to be great like the American nation (although it's not always so great). We desire what we don't have and what we want more of, but many of us have our basic necessities. Slaves desired the freedom to live their own life that many were denied. Slaves wanted the opportunity to create individuality among themselves and their friends and families (if they had family).

It saddens me to know that there was so much hatred in our past, but our history is what we learn from. Ideally, if we know our history it won't repeat itself. Equality is so important among many people in the work place, in ethnicity, in sexual orientations, etc. and as hard as we try our nation will never be completely equal. As there are many negatives to this inequality, it creates our economic status and individual standing. Reed said that many of these films are not accurate entirely, but they don't have to be to exhibit the horrific period of our nations history. With optimism for our future, I hope generations to come will not face anything to the extreme that our past generations had to endure.