Unit 2

10/27/2013

23 Comments

 

Olaudah Equiano

These comments are due before November 6, 2013. Take note: 2 questions must be answered.
How do we account for the horrible cruelty by human beings Equiano told about in his autobiography?  What might be happening in our society today that tells us that human nature hasn't changed?
23 Comments
DanielleV
10/30/2013 11:50:48 am

I believe we can never truly account for the horrible cruelty we did to all of the slaves, not just Equiano. The horrible punishments we put the slaves through was not just cruel, but evil. We pushed the slaves in Equiano's autobiography to a point to where humanity was almost non-existent. The slaves on that ship were put into a small, cramped area where there was sick people, foreign languages, and bodily fluids.
Human nature has and has not changed. For example, the slave trade is still existent. The biggest trade known today is the sex slave trade. Human nature has changed in technology and clothing. I believe we have advanced in those fields in a way that is outstanding. But with advanced technology this makes the sex slave trade easier, along with identity theft, and all kinds of other organized crimes. Patterns of human nature tend to repeat themselves overtime, therefore no matter what we do, history will reappear.

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LindseyW
11/4/2013 07:23:06 am

I agree with you when you say patterns of human nature tend to repeat themselves overtime. Unfair treatment of African Americans is coming back and I can see it getting worse in the future.

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LaceyM
11/4/2013 01:12:10 pm

I definitely agree with you on every word you said. Slaves were treated very bad and we could never account for the horrible things we did to them. They did things we
know we could never do. I couldn't imagine being stuck on a ship not being able to move. They did the toughest jobs and went through a lot of things. I couldn't imagine being one of them. It was a horrible thing.

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RileyM
11/5/2013 01:08:59 am

I agree with you when you say that we can not truly account for what happened. We did'nt do it the people back then did it. You're right that human nature has not yet changed. There is so much underground slave trading and slavery going on that people do not see. The bad thing is that most of the people that run these slave trades are not being punished for it.

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LisaT
11/5/2013 07:40:10 am

I totally agree with your comment because it is true that slavery exist in the world. Mostly in poor countries is slavery very strong. People do more work for less money so that they can feed their families.

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TreyW
11/5/2013 08:20:56 am

I agree with all your points. Human nature has not changed. There are people that are being held as slaves here in America. Slavery is simply under a different name, which is human trafficking. Technology has made human trafficking much easier than it should be.

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HenriqueP
11/1/2013 07:30:06 am

We can see trough Equiano's autobiography that slavery is not a easy thing to deal with. He was the pioneer in the abolitionist cause. Because he was taught how to write and read so he could write about that and reach more people than if he started a revolt. Also he lived how bad slaves were treated so he could, with his own experience, write about it.
I thing todays human nature has not changed because we still have slavery but is not called slavery by its own because it was abolished. We have lots aspects in our nature that show us that we have not changed. Gay's right is one of them, straight people still thing that they are better than gays with is not true. no one is better than no one. Also Human trafic, people work as slaves, because they are foreign in another country without permission and also work in poor conditions. And I still say that our human nature will not change in 200 years. It can change slithtly because new people will born and new tought will rise. But also the environment change the people so they can change or not. Its not going to happen in a simple and single step. We humans being, have fellings and that also intefer in what we do and think so this will change our tought for the future. So the way people let themselves be "Controled" by other people's opinion is affecting our future.

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KameronM
11/4/2013 12:46:31 am

What they did to him was very wrong. Our history when it comes to slavery is very bad. He was treated as if he was not even alive. they made him feel like he was not worth living. He was at the bottom of the food chain. He never got the respect he deserved.
People these days still have that same horrible cruelty as they did back then. The only thing different is that we know its wrong and so we just hide it. You see it all the time with the gang and school shooting. Back then they did not have the media saying every thing they were doing was wrong. The people though what they were doing was wright.

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RyanO
11/4/2013 12:47:32 am

I think we can not really account for the cruel things humans have done to slaves. We put them through terrible conditions. They had to live in little shacks with many people. The slaves had to eat whatever they could find. They always had the toughest jobs and were expected to do them fast and efficiently. Some of the time there families were split up.
There are many reasons to say that our society has and has not changed. We still have slave trade, just in a different form. There is racism all over the world, especially in the United States. We still do not treat African Americans equal as white men. We still have all the crimes that happened back when we had slaves. We have many different things too. Our technology has improved dramatically. We have better transportation, clothing, and equipment. The US has laws to prevent poor working conditions and wages. Whatever we do to imrove our environment, history will repeat itself.


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DanielleV
11/4/2013 10:45:54 am

Most of the time, slave owners split up the families to prevent rebellions and uprising. They thought it would be easier to control the slaves if their families weren't there to encourage them.
I don't believe that we are against African Americans anymore. African Americans have a chance at everything that we do.
I do agree with your point about racism, even though I don't think it's towards African Americans anymore as much as it is towards the Spanish speaking race.
Our technology has improved in a dramatic way, but that point can go either way. Technology has helped people communicate all over the world, but this also leads to very evil ways. For example, it would help a predator learn more about a child on the internet because of the easy access they could have to a social networking site.
Overall, you have made very good points, to which several I agree with.

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EthanK
11/4/2013 01:57:24 pm

I disagree Ryan, salary is still being performed as said. The reason we cant be directly pointed at for slavery is because of law. The factor of law is always there now in present day. We would still be executing these slavery acts if not law was a factor. Slavery is our fault still to present day ,but not to the extent of the slavery in the past.

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RomanH
11/5/2013 01:08:29 am

I agree with you when you say that we can not account for what was done to those who were forced into slavery. None of us were there during this time. Yes, I agree, there is still racism all over but it has gotten alot better since back then. People do not seem to openly declare themselves to the public as a racist in our times as oppose to one hundred years ago. But yes, ultimately I see down the road history repeating itself.

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LisaT
11/5/2013 07:47:25 am

My feelings are mutual, there is still slavery on earth. We only have different forms of slavery, the skin colour is a big fact. Some white people are prefered and earn more money than others.

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LindseyW
11/4/2013 07:21:26 am

I don't think there will ever be a way for us to justify our reasons for the way Americans treated human beings like Equiano. They were starved and beat, while living in unimaginable conditions. Equiano was one of the few fortunate slaves to get the opportunity to learn to read and write. Without stories like his being told, I don't think Americans today would ever truly realize how slaves were treated. I think the better part of America tries to ignore the past dealing with the slave trade on account of being ashamed of the behavior of our ancestors. Most people today wouldn't treat African Americans as slaves because they're now considered equivalent to the white race. It is hard to put people of your kind through that kind of harsh, and cruel treatment.
I don't think our society has changed when it comes to unfair treatment of African Americans. Our world is still filled with racism and discrimination towards African Americans. Some consider blacks to be violent and refuse to be around them. They treat them differently because our history taught us to think that the white population is the dominant race while African Americans are of a lesser quality. In reality, we're all equal but not everyone has the ability to see it.

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LaceyM
11/4/2013 01:18:25 pm

I agree with you. Especially on Americans would never truly realize how slaves were treated without Equiano's story. People wouldn't be the same if we didn't know about slavery and what they all went through. Slavery is definitely an important part of history and is also very important to learn about. Equiano's story teaches us about what went on in slavery. He definitely teaches a lesson in this story. Without people like him, we would never know what truly happened.

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TreyW
11/5/2013 08:12:56 am

I agree with you. Even today, our world is filled with racism and slavery. There are still people that think their race is better than anyone else and treats others like trash because of their skin color or nationality. Slavery still happens today under the name, human trafficking, which also shows that human nature hasn't really change.

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LaceyM
11/4/2013 01:06:59 pm

I don't think we can ever account to the horrible cruelty we did to the slaves in the past. Most people could never forgive themselves for what they did to people like Equiano. We treated slaves horribly wrong. Slaves were beaten, starved to death, and several other things too. We wouldn't be the same if we wouldn't have known about slavery. We wouldn't live our lives the same as we do today. The things slave owners did to their slaves were wrong. I don't think they could ever forgive themselves.
In several ways, human nature has changed and hasn't changed. We still have slave trade just like back then. Sometimes African-Americans aren't treated as equal as white people. There are still several things that hasn't changed. We are living in a total different world than the way it was back then. But there are some things that just hasn't changed. We will always see history happen over and over again.

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EthanK
11/4/2013 01:46:24 pm

The roles we have in slavery and the mistreatment are strong. Slavery is a very serious matter that was performed by our people. Equiano was lucky, not in the sense of slavery, but how he was enslaved and treated. There was a family that he served, that treated him good and fare. The roles are different to other slaves, this goes back to the slave owners. The way we treated the slaves would show the overall outcome and outlook in slavery to the world. The slave owners that where poorly treating the slaves they owned would be a overall stereotypy of all. The cruelty Equiano expresses in his writing really gives us a new opening to see the other side of life. The life of a slave.
In our present time we are very stereotypical towards race, marriage, and in politics. These human nature existed in the past and shaped those days also. Our society is very corrupt in sort, especially towards race. The why we look at race is very vague in public sense. We cant talk badly about certain races or try to have justice without being accused of racism. The line of racism and occasional opinion, has not been drawn. Looking back to the past of the treatment of African Americans and see there struggles is available to question. To accuse everyone of racism , after being questioned is wrong. To be sympathetic of those that are affected by racism, is a good moral. Racism is still here and its wrong, but being open to talk will help those who are being affected. Affected by the this human nature we still occupy.

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RileyM
11/5/2013 12:58:30 am

Olaudah Equiano was a very strong and brave slave. Even though he was treated horribly he survived. I could'nt even imagine what he went through. He was taken from his village, split up from his sister twice, and was a slave for the rest of his life. That is like the best life you could ask for right? Slavery is still going on today to. Human trafficking, sex slaves, and work slaves are just a few. It happens everyday and people like us don't realize it as much as we should.

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RomanH
11/5/2013 01:00:04 am

I do not believe any of us can account for what happened to the men, women and children discussed in Equiano's autobiography because we were not there. In our society today even though we do not have slavery, African Americans are still mistreated daily and people still tend to behave the same. There will always be individuals in positions of power who abuse that power. In our country today minorities still are mistreated from time to time by those in positions of power. It is only human nature to act in such a manner, therefore I see no change happening with humanity. But, we must not dwell on the past unless we want to repeat it.

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MichaelP
11/5/2013 01:01:22 am

Equiano's autobiography was very sad and real life. Unfortunately, everything Equiano said in his autobiography is still happening today. People to this day still get captured and forced to do things against their will. So human nature really hasn't change as much as some people think it has. Although it doesn't happen that often, people still get kidnapped and are held captive for years and years on in. People feel bad for what other people do but unfortunately you cant do anything about it. It is a really good thing that slavery is in the past and I hope that it will never come back in any generation.

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TreyW
11/5/2013 01:04:51 am

I do not believe that we can atone for the cruelty that was shown to the human beings that Equiano told about in his autobiography. The slaves were ripped from their families, taken from their home, and were sold to work in terrible conditions. They were placed into cramp ships, forced to work for people that may not have spoken their language, and were abused and beaten by their owner for not doing what they were told.
There is still slavery going on today. There are people that are still being taken from their homes and being sold to other people as a slave. They may also become the slaves of their captor.

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LisaT
11/5/2013 07:29:58 am

I think that we can not account for the cruelty that the slaves endured. They were punished for the color of their skin and tortured throughout their lives. Equiano was in the same situation, he lived with thousands of people only on one ship. People spoke different languages and some had disease. They were forced to sleep, eat, and all shared the same bathroom which is what may of caused diseases to be spread and people to become ill.
We still have slavery in the world. People sell other people for sexuell trade. Americans still pay immigrants less money for work.

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