Wong, 1

Steven Bradley Wong

English 113A
Professor Batty
21 October 2014
Common Discrimination
The beginning of the racism by the white people to the African American were started
in the 16th centuries. During that time, the European brought some African which soon
became slaves. The slavery was still being practiced by the white people even though the
Americans has had their Independence. As the time goes on, the black people was naturally
being discriminated by the society.
The political cartoon shows us a condition when the citizen wants to vote at an
election day. In the picture, we can see a white guy is taking an escalator straight to the
voting cubical. On the other hand, the black guy is standing and feeling sad about the
challenges that he must through before he could vote. The author shows us that the African
American must pass several requirements such as a literacy test, poll tax, the Grandfather
Clause, etc.
The picture simply want to tells us that there was an inequality in the States. The
majority of the people in the government itself was supporting to the racism. In the cartoon,
we could also see that there is a sherrif with his dog waiting for the black guy. The sherrif
(and even the dog) seems very ready if the black guy tried to pass them. It shows us that it is
very possible and usual for the police officer to put the African American into the jail with no
reasons at that time.
Besides those things, there are several challenges in the political cartoon that shows
us the factors that support the racism. Which each of the factors were either made by the
government or even made by the ideas of the citizen.

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The first factor is the groups and the society that keep active and pro with the racism.
For example, the Klu Klux Klan (which also shown by the author) which was founded in
1866. It was originally made for a political purpose. After they lost some of their elections,
they started an underground campaign against the Republican leaders and voters (white and
black people). But, as the time goes on, this club attacked the black people at the southern
state which were the minorities.
The number of people that joined the club also made it became bigger and stronger. A
data said that the members of this club exceeded four million people nationwide during the
1920s. The large amount of members that spread out the nation did somehow affect the
society to act similar to them. Of course the blacks were outnumbered and suffered from it.
The second factor is the perspectives that the society have. In the cartoon, we can see
that white guy smiles and acts like nothing bad is happenning. The white guy seems like
thinking that it is fine for the society to treat the black guy like that. This action become a
proof that the white people tends to think that they are on the higher level than the black
people. The Slave Master relationship between them also became the foundation that
support this idea.
The ability to adapt that human have also provoked the urge of the whites to have this
perspective. Research has concluded that at average people could make an activity as a habit
if they did the same thing for 66 days (while the slavery itself already happened for years).
Based on University of Rochester, The team of political scientists found that white
Southerners who live today in the Cotton Belt where slavery and the plantation economy
dominated are much more likely to express more negative attitudes toward blacks than their
fellow Southerners who live in nearby areas that had few slaves.. This research also
acknowledge us that humans ability to adapt are really strong. Even though the bad
perceptions about the blacks started hundreds of years ago, today people still think the same.

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Next, the tensions between both sides also affect the societys perspective about the
African American. The whites treated the blacks badly and the blacks dont want to be treated
like that. This makes the black people try really hard to make a better living. Undoubtly,
these kind of efforts make the white people angry and think that the slaves are trying to rebel.
For example, some of the blacks joined the Republicans and won the elctions (which soon
made Klu Klux Klan mad). These are why the perspective still exist and provoke racism.
The last factor that promote the racism is the list of the obstacles itself. Citizen were
more encouraged to do the racism, since the government make rules which somehow support
it and the majority of the society did the same. These impacts the society to do more and
more racism. Racism could happen from a little things, such as sitting on a bus or even voting
in an election (which the political cartoon shows). These little things are the ones that push
racism as a common things.
Years after years the African American has been being discriminated by the society.
Frankly, it affects the way people think the blacks right now. According to Brent Staples in
his article Black Men and Public Spaces, he as a black man also feels discriminated by the
society. He acknowledge that it is common for people to have a bad perceptions about a black
male. Especially if they met the black males in a narrow streets, bad neighborhood and during
the night time.
Staples also tells us his experience when he was waiting for an interview and he went
to a jewelry store. Suddenly, the owner excused herself and returned with an enormous red
Doberman Pinscher. He then look around and greeted her goodnight. It makes us realize that
the tensions between both sides in the past still exist and affects the way people socialize.
These reminds me that there are so many things that encourage people to do racism.
Therefore, I conclude that the political cartoon clearly want to make us realize that there is a
huge discrimination in the society. The more people do, the more it become something usual.

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Works Cited
Staples ,Brent. Black Men and Public Space. One Hundred Great Essays.Third ed. N.p.:
Joseph Opiela, 2008.182-86.Print
http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan
http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=7202
http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/hbrc/2012/06/29/busting-the-21-days-habit-formation-myth/
http://anjaneescartoons.blogspot.com/2012/03/week-1.html

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Appendix