In “Stranger in a Village,” African American author James Baldwin suggests that disrespect and maltreatment of African Americans, by Caucasian people, is in their nature and not necessarily purposeful. Although people may see this as an excuse to blame societal norms for their actions, it should suggest that we need to be more careful with our behavior. When one shows disrespect, they are often met with hostility. History has shown mutual uncertainty between black people and white, this cycle continues to harm relations between the two races. A destructive pattern remains in our society no matter how hard we have tried to rid it. Racism still runs rampant today, continuously causing equal opportunity to slip through the fingers of many African…show more content… While most people believe that American is the land of equality, Alexander explains how the old caste system from the 1600s has not been dissolved, but has only been adapted. When settlers took the first Africans from their homes, they instilled a power and fear over them. Americans showed their dominance and put Africans at the bottom of the caste. For hundreds of years’ slaves were property, and while many slaves had come to terms with that, it didn’t make it right. Centuries later, the descendants of these slaves were freed from slavery, but time revealed that without equality the treatment of the African American was still terrible. Alexander goes through American history segment by segment explaining the reform and adaptation of the caste system. Sadly, because of these hundreds of years of small changes have been surrounded by maltreatment of African Americans, we have dug ourselves into a hole that we may not be able to get out of. In present day, African Americans do have the same rights as White Americans, but we have created a new issue. Although so many Americans support equal opportunity and equal rights, it has become nearly impossible to reach the people who aren’t receiving it, proving to be an issue that is not easily rectified. The documentary “The 13th” explains in detail why many Americans are still
