Do slavery and segregation still shape our society today?

To what degree do you think slavery and segregation still shape our society today?

A trip to Mississippi or Texas would answer that question in a New York minute.

Oh boy! I was in part dreading this question. I actually just finished the book yesterday. Slavery, the word, is such a loaded one.
That being said, we as humans need to segregate (sometimes internally) based upon our differences! So yes, as the Tired Bookreader said, that can be answered in a NY minute...(I see it in NY too...) Sigh.

Oh boy! I was in part dreading this question. I actually just finished the book yesterday. Slavery, the word, is such a loaded one.
That being said, we as humans need to segregate (sometimes internally) based upon our differences! So yes, as the Tired Bookreader said, that can be answered in a NY minute...(I see it in NY too...) Sigh.

Unfortunately, yes.

Yes. Come to West Virginia and you can see for yourself.

BetteK: Can you be more specific? I'm curious as to what you've seen that is an indication slavery & segregation still shape our society. In fact, I'd be very curious as to what issues my fellow readers have run into themselves - what you have witnessed, what has seemed wrong to you.

The whole issue of racial bias is a very hard one for me, because I just don't see much of it. Growing up in Cleveland I felt everyone was pretty equal (in fact, in my elementary school I was one of two white children in the class). So I never really picked up on racial tensions. And now that I'm an adult I live in Oregon, one of the whitest states in the US, and so my interaction with blacks is minimal.

That said, I do have to wonder what subtle biases I harbor that aren't apparent to me. There are things my mother said that I consider pretty bigoted, but when I confront her about her statements she denies they're an indication of bias - she just doesn't see it.

Here's an example of the thing I'm talking about: A couple of years ago we had incidents in our building of people walking in off the street, and the administration told us to be aware of strangers & ask for ID. That same week a black man was walking into our lobby and I asked him (politely) if I could help him. Turned out he was an employee's husband, just waiting for her to finish up, and he'd been coming to the building for over a decade. I seriously asked myself if I would have questioned him if he had been white, and I answered myself that I didn't know. I also wondered if the man thought it was a racist slight, and I kind of think he probably did, and he may have been correct. So that's the kind of incident I think of when talking about racism. I don't think I'm racially biased, but I do wonder if a black person would consider me entirely unbiased.

I certainly believe so. We may not have slavery as such any more. But, there is slavery in other ways, low wages, low education,etc. Also, segradation in our country in that new people coming in to the country are often not accepted by the general public, so they tend to stay in their own world. Other parts of the world have slavery and segradation, examples are different sects of muslims, and women kept under control of men

Slavery per se is rare, in fact when you hear about it it makes the news. Taking the term loosely I think it does. I hired an African American man to work on my house and when he arrived the GOP who lived in the neighborhood inquired as to why he was there. Radical bias is strong in our society.

Actually, it is estimated that worldwide there are more slaves today than at any point in human history. But as a percentage of world population, there are fewer now than ever before. These souls are not all in far away places, some reports put the number in the USA today at 50,000

Source: http://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/btb/index.cfm/book_number/2114/a-crime-so-monstrous#btb

In many forms, there is segregation and slavery at every level and it encompasses all cultures. I believe there are far more than 50,000 slaves in the USA when you bring it down to dysfunctional families and undocumented aliens.

Slavery in the the sense of "owning" a person is alive and well in many corners of the world. Slavery in the US is often more subtle but still alive in terms of low wages, homelessness, etc. and yes, it does shape our society and how we relate to each other.

I suspect they do. Coming from the upper Midwest (ND, SD, MN) these were never obvious issues due to the fact that slavery was abolished before these areas were established as states. My Scandinavian great-grandparents were "do it yourself" kinds of people. Nonetheless, slavery in other forms still exist. There is apparently an active sex slave trade going on in the world. There is also segregation, although it frequently hides behind economic opportunity rather than overt exclusionary policies.

Yes, I believe there are some parts of the country where it is not as prevalent but even here it is still here.

Just come to Florida and our school systems to see it work.

Yes, unfortunately. Even with the election of Obama, there is not real equality in many areas of our society.

Yes, unfortunately it does

Segregation still shapes our society today at work, play, and social life. We trend to stay with our own kind because we have the same interests, values and language. We also feel safer and accepted, we segregate ourselves. We avoid the unwanted looks, the sudden change of subject, and the sudden quietness that comes when they do not want to share space, opinions, or personal thoughts with you. People pretend to accept your kind (as they say), but in reality they do not and will not accept the changes going on in the world.

Growing up in Southern Alabama, I can definitively say, unfortunately, yes. One of the most formative statements I ever heard my father say, while discussing with a group of other white men at our white church about sending their children to the private white schools in 1968, was, "My children will go to public school with the other human beings." I've never forgotten that and there were many moments in Tomlinson Hill where that brave sentiment came back to remind me that while racism is pervasive the world over, I can make a personal decision to not engage. Now living in the Upper Midwest, my youngest daughter's best friend is African American and my oldest's is from India. I've never heard them utter a single word about race and only hear them talk about their friends in loving, equalizing terms.