Feeding the Ghost Essay -- essays papers

Feeding the GhostWE be BETTER The novel Feeding the Ghosts, by Fred DAguiar, exploits the terrible conditions swart pot were put through while being transported from Africa to the Americas. It examines the thought process of the captain, the crew, the captives, and the judicial transcription of England. DAguiar clearly illustrates the hell that was forced upon the blacks and how even the naughtyest court system of the time saw nothing wrong with it. The whites were the ones who made the laws the laws were meant to protect the whites. The high court had laws in place about proper procedures on these voyages, just now the law wasnt meant to protect the blacks, or entrepot as they were referred to, just the good being of the white people involved. The common conception is that a judicature is where the truth comes out and justice will be served. It is a ripe haven for the innocent and a prison for the guilty. But when the hearing of the investors of the Zong vs. the in surers starts, captain Mansfield states, As you know, gentlemen, this is not a criminal trial. It is a hearing. No, this would neer be a criminal trial. It wasnt illegal to murder black slaves if in that respect was good enough reason. Blacks didnt have human rights like the whites did. Laws werent created to protect the black man they were there for the well being of the white individual. Anyways, the black person was stock in the eyes of the law so the manipulation of stock was the question at hand. Which law did the captain break? None accord to English statutes. What is being disputed here? Whether his actions were within the law that describes the treatment of slave stock. (p. 171) Whites made the laws, whites enforced them, whites benefited from them. ... ...mmunication there is still an underlying disfavour against the black person. Things havent changed enough to say we ar equal. Time is the main contribution in changing this. Something that has been root ed in white backgrounds and common laws for hundreds of old age doesnt change in a few decades. Here at UW-La Crosse students be required to take a minority studies class and similar programs are underway at other colleges. Education is the first step to ending the gap. The second step is changing how one perceives another who is different from them. depart the world ever be able to do away with diagonal? Or is prejudice something that is like second nature. Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts, so wouldnt that entitle everyone to having a prejudice? BibliographyDAguiar, Fred. Feeding The Ghosts. A Novel. New York The Ecco Press, HarperCollins, 1997.