Essay On Racism In Huckleberry Finn

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A Changing Beast: Racism in America
Our nation prides itself in the fact that any person has a right to their own opinion. It is the cornerstone of American democracy. However, as Americans, we struggle to distinguish between fact and opinion at times. We argue over the presence of racism in the 21st century even when minorities are systemically oppressed by this nation’s own government. In our prisons, African Americans, on average, are given 20% longer sentences than whites. In our schools, minorities face more obstacles in getting an education. At work, African Americans often can’t get promotions because they don’t have “white” names. Racism pervades every facet of society and that hasn’t changed from the time of the civil rights movement …show more content…
To some, the book is only spreading racist stereotypes, as exemplified in the slave character, Jim. However, its narrative on the acceptance of slavery is as important as ever before. Throughout the book, white characters try to defend the validity of slavery through the use of religion, as well preconceptions on the biological inferiority of African Americans. The way that black characters are treated in the book is grotesque. In one case, Jim, is made prisoner for no reason other than that a white character feels like having fun. The exploitation of Jim is no different than that of minorities in the justice system today. The only difference is that racism has taken another form, one that might be even more difficult to eradicate than before. Racism’s manifestations are widespread throughout our society, but somehow feel less tangible. We now need to defeat and unravel the underlying preconceptions that have engrained their place in American society over hundreds of years. Slavery was symptom of this, and so was segregation, and now it has manifested itself in our prisons. Now, we to eradicate the root cause instead of its representations, and that will be the most difficult task yet for this
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