Pursue the Happiness of Racial Equality

張英帥

“Everyone is born free and equal” is put forward by Rousseau，a famous French pioneer in the Enlightenment.This self-evident truth has been advocated for at least three centuries.However，the world where racial discrimination has been totally eradicated still has a long way to arise.After reading the book，I Also Have a Dream，written by Lin Da，many thoughts came to my mind，striking me，enlightening me，and irritating me to conduct self-examination.No matter what color of his/her skin is，everyone deserves the equal treatment.This is the voice reverberating deeply in my heart，again and again.Among my thoughts stimulated by this book，I really have something to say and to share.

Every cause brings effect.The racial discrimination in America is not exclusive or coincident.To trace the root of racial discrimination in American history，we must get back to the Age of Discovery，which is from the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 16th century.If the history of racial discrimination in America is under analysis，the slavery is a necessary issue that must be mentioned.According to Lin Da，just like the racial problem，the slavery problem in the original North America was also complicated （33）.First of all，the slave sellers who did business in the South America had got used to ship the black people from Africa to the “new land” to earn fat profit.They knew every detail about how to buy black slaves in Africa and where to sale them in the South America.So，when the market in North America became mature，the slave sellers could bring the slavery to the North America with the slightest effort.Second，because of the lack of labor force，European immigrants were in great need of these black slaves to explore the abundant natural resources and mineral resources，even this was immorally against Bible.Finally，the slavery rooted in America and influenced the American society in an uncontrollable way，triggering the racial discrimination.So，in other words，it is an undeniable truth that the original American blacks came to the land under the influence of slavery.They had been discriminated by the white settlers because of their identity position in the society--- slave.Although the original American immigrants are mainly Europeans who believed in Christianism，and the slavery rooted in America is truly against some principles in Bible，the original white settlers still sticked to slavery for more than two centuries.In the book，Lin Da states that “three hundreds years ago，they understand in this way： only in the undermentioned way，using the slave does not run counter to Bible and is able to overwhelm their moral question.That is，people descending to slaves must be prisoners of war and people who are agreeable to sale themselves （such as the debt slaves mentioned before）.They cannot accept ‘slave businesses and ‘own slaves besides this.”（41） From what have been mentioned above，it is easy for us to find that some original European immigrants had already tried to get rid of the slavery，but limited by the time，they did not process the ability to eliminate the slavery and racial discrimination in America.Relievedly，some north colonies，such as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania，had proposed to abolish the slavery before the War of Independence.After the birth of the United States，the north states which proposed to eliminate the slavery had already dominated the main stream.However，the United States had not legalized any bill to abolish the slavery because of two south states--- Georgia and the South Carolina.These two states were very special.They appreciated their own traditional values and resisted to fresh things by the light of nature.（Lin 57） Thus，it seems to be understandable for these two extreme south states to be very hesitant in abolishing the slavery and following the main stream.To deeply dig out the reasons，I want to analyze the founding history of Georgia and the South Carolina.The original immigrants of South Carolina came from Barbados where the white had been used to utilize the black slaves to plant.So，when these whites came to settle down in South Carolina，they just brought their barbaric slavery to a new place.

According to Lin Da，in 1696，the South Carolina legalized a slavery law which advocated that every slave was savage and cruel.Besides，this law established many very unmerciful rules to punish slaves，which even shocked many other south states which advocated the slavery system.（58） There is one similarity shared by South Carolina and Georgia.That is both of them developed their economy，benefitting a lot from importing black slaves.And this economic basis determined that they would not eliminate the slavery system in a smooth way.The development history of Georgia is more different from other north states，because Georgia was a very new colony that had not been exploited，compared with the North.Every settler in Georgia was distributed vast lands to assart.But，the uncultivated land excessively overnumbered the settlers，which resulted in the slow development of agriculture.Actually，at the beginning of establishment，Georgia did not allow to own slave.It established the slavery system just twenty five years before War of Independence.So，Georgia did not want to easily give up this scarce opportunity to develop their economy.After furious debate and weigh，finally，the north states and south states made a compromise that “before 1808，Congress was not allowed to forbid any single state to admit any people they want.” （Lin 75） This regulation written in Constitution is a totally shameful compromise that allowed the existence of slavery in America.But，at that time，the anti-slavery people had no better way to settle this issue.According to Lin Da，there are mainly two reasons why the north states compromised.First，every states had already formed a tacit understanding that there should be no suppressing but convincing.When the north states could not convince the south to abolish the slavery system，they could only compromise.The other reason is that the south states，even Georgia and South Carolina，had assured that they would try to eliminate the slavery and what they need was just adequate time so that their economy would not be ruined.（83） Under this condition，the anti-slavery north states did not eliminate the slavery as soon as possible，which bred the hidden danger--- American Civil War.

It is undoubted that racial discrimination does not only exist in history.Like a ghost，it still looms around us.The activities of K.K.K.are still very rampant.Actually，I can understand the birth of racial discrimination.It is human nature that we tend to exclude the different and befriend with the same.But，it is also the truth that it is unmoral for us to discriminate others with racial reasons.By the way，not only racial discrimination surrounds us，but also many other kinds of discriminations，such as gender discrimination and region discrimination，do draw peoples attentions these years.These are all truths happening around us and influencing our minds in a potential way.If there is no correct value to guide us，our society will become a degraded society where unfair treatments and crimes will frequently happen.Racial discrimination is a worldwide problem.Not only blacks，the yellow race are also discriminated in America and many other west countries even nowadays.One of my best friends who are now studying in Michigan University once told me a story about him.He was the only Chinese in his linguistics class.At the final of the semester，his linguistics teacher，a sixty-year-old man，requested them to write a paper.After my friend handed in his paper，the teacher called my friend and asked him whether he had plagiarized others paper online.My friend tried to prove his honesty，but the teacher insisted that he should come to his office.Finally，after a series of questions，the teacher accepted his paper.Nevertheless，my friend was not happy.Because he got to know that the teacher just skimmed other students papers and no one was called to get to the office but him.Maybe，this is only a coincidence and the linguistics teachers behavior cannot represent all Americans values.However，to some extent，this incident reflects an undeniable fact that the racial discrimination is still looming in America and no matter how learned a person is，he/she is still possible to possess a biased sight to look other races.

All in all，after reading I Also Have a Dream，I totally formed a new impression about America and got to see this magic land in a different visual angle.Indeed，America is not a perfect Garden of Eden，but she is trying to conduct introspection again and again.Like Lin Da，I also have a dream.I dream that one day，a “Great Harmony World” will arise （Lin 466） and the racial equality is not just a dream but the truth.

References：

[1]林達.我也有一個夢想：近距離看美國之三.北京：生活·讀書·新知三聯書店，2013.