Chasing the Scream: The Black Hand

"Ban the sale of alcohol for medical purposes. Massively increase prison sentences for alcohol dealers until they were all locked up. Wage war on booze until it was only a memory" (14)

• I selected this quote because of the similarities between these rules on alcohol, and current laws on marijuana and other drugs.  This also relates to the war on drugs, and  the mass incarceration of minorities in struggling neighborhoods.  

"Cocaine, it was widely claimed in the press at this time, turning blacks into superhuman hulks who could take bullets to the heart to the heart without flinching. It was the official reason why police across the South increased the caliber of their guns" (27).

• This quote is highly alarming.  White people don't do coke?  Our country looks for any way possible to oppress blacks and other minorities.  Only in the united states will police officers be allowed to increase the caliber of their gun because cocaine makes black people superhuman.  Anything is legal as long as it makes the lives of blacks harder.  

"They fingerprinted Billie on her hospital bed. They took a mug shot of her on her hospital bed. They grilled her on her hospital bed without letting her talk to a lawyer" ( 31).

• The difference between the way white drug addicts and black drug addicts were treated is very cruel.  How do you fingerprint someone on their hospital bed?  It is sickening that she was processed into the system while being tied down to a bed, hooked up to machines that are keeping her alive, meanwhile white drug users were given friendly advice on how to overcome their addiction.

"He believed the two most-feared groups in the United States -- Mexican immigrants and African Americans -- were taking the drug much more than white people and he presented the House Committee on Appropriations with a nightmarish vision of where this could lead" (15).

• There is absolutely no facts that back up this claim, in fact drug use is known to be equal among all races, and communities.  Where you live and your skin color do not make you more likely to use drugs.  Throughout my life I have seen 10 times more white people use hard drugs or overdose, than blacks or hispanics.  The media relays the idea that there is only drug usage in poor neighborhoods that consists of mostly blacks and other minorities.  This upsets me because I know first hand that this is not true.  

"You have to be poor and black to know how many times you can get knocked in the head for trying to do something as simple as that." (20).

• Things such as eating at a restaurant was difficult to do as a black person.  Billie understood the situation at hand and respected it, but the thought of "why" always sticks in your mind.  Like, why were people shunned from eating or drinking in certain places just because their skin was a different color.  To me, it will never make sense simply because of where I grew up.  Diversity is a beautiful thing and our country failed to realize that.  

Chasing the Scream: Sunshine and Weaklings

"Some 22 percent of addicts were wealthy, while only 6 percent poor" (36)

• Some people do not understand that drug addicts are not always poor, drugs are expensive having a bad drug habit costs a lot of money.  I believe that more rich people find themselves becoming addicts because the drugs become easily accessible.  It is wrong to assume that drug addicts only come from poor neighborhoods.  

"The United States government, as represented by its [anti-drug] officers, Henry explained, had just become 'the greatest and most potent maker of criminals in any recent century" (37)

• The US government is responsible for pretty much all of the drug related problems in this country.  People do not randomly wake up one day and say "let me start doing heroin" it is a process that starts with legal medication given to us by the government.  Like I said earlier, drugs are expensive, and addicts will spend their last dollar on drugs, and commit crimes to obtain more money.  This is where these addicts become criminals, because they will do whatever it takes to get those drugs.   

"Second, by driving up the cost of drugs by more than a thousand percent, the new policies meant addicts were forced to commit crime to get their next fix" (37)

• We must remember that to these kingpins, drugs are their source of income, and when their the supplier they can also change the price whenever they feel is necessary.  Raising the price on drugs means that addicts need more money to purchase these drugs, which leads to more crime.  This fits into my own conspiracy that the Government is allowing these drugs to come into our country to keep the crime rate high and minority neighborhoods oppressed.  I just find it hard to believe that thousands of tons of drugs can get across our border, but I had trouble getting a bottle of water on an airplane.  

 "Drug prohibition put the entire narcotics industry into their hands. Once the clinics were closed, every single addict became a potential customer and cash cow" (40)

• I feel as though the entire drug problem in the United States was such a major issue because of the way the media portrayed it.  There was actually a survey and only 2 percent of Americans thought drugs were a major issue that needed to be tackled.  I think the cycle of abuse and crime is the reason the War on Drugs was taken so seriously, it gave a valid reason for law enforcement to make minorities seem like the only culprits so they could make arrests.  

"The addict could not get such a sum by ordinary means. Then he must get it by dubious means -- he must beg, borrow, forge, steal." (37)

• Once again we see the crime cycle involved in drug usage.  Its like it was set up this way on purpose.  All of these crimes were pinpointed on minorities when in reality, whites used drugs about twice as much as minorities, and we rarely ever hear or see that on the news.  I believe that drugs are a business and the government uses this drug business as job security for law enforcement, and a way to further press broken down neighborhoods. 

Adam Huseinovic
March 19th 2017


“since then the master conserved the life and health of the slave for business reasons just as he did that of his horse or mule, but now the master treated the slave unmercifully and with the sole object of getting the greatest possible amount of labor out of him.”

When African Americans were actually slaves, and not forced laborers they were treated like property, or like a farm animal rather than a human being.  Now that they are considered criminal workers, they treatment of these African Americans has gotten much worse, as the sole purpose of owning them is to get as much work out of them as possible, then kill them off.  Now that they are not a business asset, they are treated worse than ever.  The significance of this quote is the fact that blacks were now being treated even WORSE now that they are free, than they were when they were enslaved.  Its like taking one step forward and two steps back.

“offering to hire him for $4 per month, help his father pay off the mortgage on a $16 horse, and allow him to come and go freely from the farm. But once a contract had been signed, Green was placed in the lockup on Pace's farm for nearly two years.”

Labor contracts and convict leasing were definitely legal in these states but the laborers took advantage of the blacks by hiring and never paying them.  This happened quite often and the punishments were supposed to strict, but hardly ever were.

“He is in an almost helpless physical condition. He suffers from a bone disease which has affected his feet, and he walks with great effort. It is said that he will be able to produce a surgeon's certificate showing he is in a terrible physical condition.”

I did like the fact that there was a rule in place for people who are sick, and cannot stand being on trial or in jail.  I believe that it is fair to give them this special treatment if a doctor can declare the sickness is real.  I believe that this is still a rule is still present in our judicial system.

"Judge Speer-- behaving more like Alabama had initially expected of Judge Jones-- fined the men $1,000 each but then immediately suspended the punishments."

Alabama insisted that there be strict punishments on people who break the new peonage rules.  However it is important to know that law enforcement and the judicial system did not take it that serious.  Most violators or persons found guilty were let off the hook fairly easy.  We see this in today's society where poor people are sentenced to 25 to life, and rich people are sentenced to house arrest.  The justice system has never been fair and it never will be.  

"The excuse that you did not know that you were violating the laws of the United States can have no legal weight, since every man is conclusively presumed to know the law."

This rule makes sense to be in place.  Everyone should know the rules of the country that they live in.  One should not be let off the hook just because they were unaware of the rules everyone else is following.  This is not a good enough reason to not be held responsible.  It is significant to understand that the laws are expected to be known by every citizen, and simply not knowing a law is not a good enough reason to break it.

Chapter 9

"America, like nothing experienced since the darkest hours of antebellum slavery. If anything, the poisoned atmosphere and accelerating disintegration of the structure of civil society more resembled to blacks a time... when white slave traders and their corrupted indigenous allies descended without explanation upon the villages of West Africa to plunder the native population."

America was at its lowest point in the race war.  Every one step forward resulted in three steps backwards.  Post Civil War racism was worse than any of the previous years, as it seemed as though blacks were getting killed off for basically any reason.  The word slavery no longer existed but the act of it definitely did, and it was even more sever now.  This is significant because most people do not understand what life was actually like for blacks after the civil war.  Most just assume it was happy and good because slavery had ended.

"A whole new genre of fiction extolling the antebellum South and an idealized view of slavery became immensely popular... books filled with stories of contented slaves and kindly masters."

Media has always been a big part of our country, and it still is.  Through different forms of media groups of people can be controlled, and have their thoughts conformed to what society wants them to be.  The quote is significant although it is simple, and I chose it because even in the 1800s people were using different forms of media to try and control the crowd.

"For a white girl to clean up the rooms occupied by a negro... is a disgrace... I have always felt that the negro was not far above the brute."

Statements like this are absolutely mind baffling to me.  I never understood racism because i don't know how one person can discriminate someone who has the SAME features that make them a human being.  Skin color is not a justifiable reason to not like someone to me.  We still see comments and statements like this today.  I just read an article about a woman who refused to serve 4 Latinas until they proved their residency.  This quote is significant because racism has not ended, it has only grown to more races.
"The popular sentiments used to justify the violence appeared to correspond with the work of a generation of American physicians and scientists in the North and South who busily translated or mistranslated the elementary evolutionary principles outlined by Darwin into crude explanations for why blacks should be returned to a mild form of slavery."

Whites went as far as trying to use science to explain reasons to justify slavery.  The thought process of some of these people confuses me.  White people thought that the mental and physical capacity of black people was different solely off the fact that their skin was a different color.  It is significant to understand that white people went through extreme measures just to justify their interests.  It is also significant to understand that this is still going on today with Donald Trump accusing Mexicans for remotely every crime committed in the United States.

"The New York Times opined in mid-July 1903 that "respectable negroes" should ban the city's bad ones.  "There are in New York thousands of utterly worthless negro desperadoes... gamblers when they have money and thieves when they have none, moral lepers and more dangerous than wild animals."

There is a lot of things wrong with this quote.  One, it is from a widely respected newspaper, it blatantly disrespects black people as a whole, and creates even more stereotypes.  Why is this quote so significant?  Because this is all still going on now, our newspapers and news channels are always pointing the finger at muslims, or illegal immigrants.  Like I said, racism didn't end it just spread out to more minorities.  There is no proof that black people are more likely to gamble, or steal than white people.  But, the newspaper made sure to make it seem that way in order to outlaw blacks even further.  Even a hundred years ago the media was targeting groups of people and controlling the society to hate, and mistreat them.

Adam Huseinovic
AFAM 2100
9 February 2017
Professor Young

What I Know About the Civil War

The discussion in class really opened my eyes to what the Civil War was actually fought over.  Throughout high school American history was always taken very serious, and I thought my school did a good job of covering the material, and making things well understood.  Although, during our discussion I realized the Civil War was far more than what I thought it was.  My eyes were opened to the reality of why the Civil War was so important to the northern states. 

What I learned was that the Civil War was fought over slavery, and the equality of whites and blacks.  Mainly the idea instilled in my head was that the north did not agree with slavery and the south was willing to do whatever it took to keep slavery.  This was true to an extent.  I was taught that Abraham Lincoln was all about blacks being equal to whites.  The north did want to abolish slavery, and they were opposed to the succession of the south.

What I learned in class was that the Civil War was fought for reasons that had nothing to do with slavery, and the idea of “equality” was used by the north to sell the idea of fighting for freedom to the blacks.  The north could not handle the fact that slavery rising in the south was leading the south to becoming an economic powerhouse.  The north, which involved the president and congress, realized the money being made in the south and tried to impose taxes.  The south grew angry and decided to succeed from the union.  Essentially the succession did start the war, but there was so called, “behind the scenes” actions that slowly progressed into the beginning of the war.  What also shocked me was the fact that Abraham Lincoln did not see blacks as equal to whites, and he is even on record saying so. 

I feel as though the thoughts and ideas of the country then, translate into what is happening now.  We still see wars being started over economic and racial issues.  The difference between what I was taught in high school and what I am learning in class now is truly shocking. 

Adam Huseinovic
AFAM 2100
Professor Young
6 February 2017

The Process by Which Slavery Increased 

     After the Civil War, slavery was considered illegal… technically.  So in a sense slavery was no longer existent, free labor of African Americans was no longer a thing in the south.  Well let us just say that there was a big loophole in the system that actually labeled slavery as illegal.  This is where the term convict leasing is born.  Free labor performed by a convicted criminal was considered perfectly legal, in fact the idea was endorsed throughout the public.  Confession judgments and convict leasing continued the rise of slavery, but in a different approach that made it seem like these convicts were paying back debt that was owed. 

     In weird words, convict leasing was simplistically complex.  In simple words, the accused person was tried (most likely unfairly) was given fines and other expenses of the court that were not payable.  In pretty much every case the defendant was an African American, as whites were given less serious punishment, which was usually affordable to them.  So in the case where the defendant could not afford the penalty farmers, or other entrepreneurs would pay these fees and the convict would pretty much be in debt to the man who paid the fines.  So technically speaking they were only paying off debt, not working for free.  Realistically speaking the slavery process just became a tad bit more difficult. 

     Douglass A. Blackmon states in Slavery by Another Name, “the man who had plowed the fields and picked the cotton or corn might never actually see hard currency. His debts, payments, and profit or loss were recorded only in the ledgers of the store.”  Every dollar that was supposed to be given to a convict was unseen, essentially it went straight into the pockets of the loaner. 

     This was like a game to the whites.  Sheriffs and other officials were paid to make arrests, and witnesses were paid to “see” whatever needed to be seen.  Blackmon also states, “In most southern states, county sheriffs and their deputies received no regular salaries. Instead, the law enforcement officers, justices of the peace, certain court officials, and any witnesses who testified against a defendant were compensated primarily from specific fees charged to those who voluntarily or involuntarily came into the court system.”  Convict leasing was a strategy used to fill the pockets of entrepreneurs and oppress black further into a legal way of slavery. 

     It all starts with the absurd laws placed against blacks in this time period.  These laws lead to arrests, which lead to confession judgments, which essentially led to convict leasing.  Everyone played a part in the cycle, the sheriffs, witnesses, officials, and business owners.  Convict leasing was something that made “slavery” legal again.  It was a loophole created to keep the progression of slavery. 

Response to Modern Black Superheroes

Adam Huseinovic
AFAM 2100 31
25 January 2016
Prof. Young

A Black Captain America: Why He Never Existed  

Does the struggle continue?  We are all supposed to be so called, "free" but why is it that African Americans still face oppression in some aspects of life?  Law enforcement across the country seems to have no trouble taking someones life away.  I will argue that sometimes this brutal force is necessary, but why do the victims always seem to be young black males?  Because the idea of whites superiority to blacks has been instilled since the late 1700s.  The poster I chose was of Captain America but with a twist, here he is portrayed as a black male as opposed to a Caucasian male.  

This poster quickly stood out to me, mainly because of the actual significance of Captain America's background.  He is a WW2 soldier who goes through an experiment to make him let's say, unstoppable.  In most of my history classes throughout school I always learned that African Americans played a huge role in World War 2, in fact I remember a high school teacher telling my class the war could not have been won without the help of the millions of African American Soldiers, but the original cartoon portrays this white male, "Captain America" as the sole reason for victory.  So how was this decision made?  Perhaps the fact that America could not handle the idea of an "unstoppable" black man.  There was no way black men could possibly be given any credit.  

I believe this cartoon portrays the social issue of "white supremacy."  This superhero could have easily been a black male, considering African Americans had just as big of role in the War.  However in 1941 nobody would have admitted this.  Captain America, at the time was too important to America to even be considered as black.