Final Exam: 400 Years Later

         The contemporary artifact, Natasha Trethewey’s, “Kitchen Maid with Supper at Emmaus, or the Mulata” addresses a common theme from American Studies: the dehumanizing effect of slavery. Trethewey, a mulatto herself, bases her poem on a 1619 painting by Diego Valazquez, the year that enslaved people came to America for the first time. 

         Throughout the poem, Trethewey compares the Maid to kitchen objects. When Trethewey describes the Maid, she says, “She is the stack of bowls”. It is very interesting that she uses the metaphor to describe the maid as a bowl, dehumanizing the Maid by comparing her to an object. A bowl is an inconsequential item that’s purpose it to serve people. By comparing the maid and the bowl, it shows that maid’s sole purpose it to serve. Throughout the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass describes multiple instances where he feels dehumanized. Similar to how the Maid was compared to a bowl, Douglass writes of a time when he is being evaluated as property and “ranked with horses, sheep, and swine” (Douglass 27). By using the word “ranked”, Douglass illustrates that he is being seen as an equal to animals. Even in the contemporary poem today, the Maid is being dehumanized by being compared to a bowl, as Douglass was being dehumanized by being ranked with dirty animals, like swine. Enslaved people were not only dehumanized, but stripped from their families: “The threat of sale, which disrupted family ties, was perhaps the most powerful disciplinary weapon” (Foner 399). The word “family” is interesting here because, not only is Foner referring to blood family, but also to the close bond of enslaved people on plantation. It is seen in Trethewey’s poem that she is alone because there is only a small shadow behind her, and no reference to any other person. Not only does Trethewey’s poem connect to the dehumanization and loneliness that Frederick Douglass constantly felt throughout his life, but it also connects to Aunt Jemima and the “happy” slave SAMBO.

        Trethewey writes, “She is the echo of Jesus at table, framed in the scene behind her white corona”. A corona is a bright, light halo. It is intriguing that Trethewey describes her with a corona because, by conflating the maid’s cap with Jesus’s corona, it puts the maid in a positive light, even though the Maid lives a bitter life. Similar to the Maid, Aunt Jemima, a pancake ad figure, was also put in a positive light. Aunt Jemima was seen across the country and can be described as “heavy set, wears a bandana, and smiling in every Aunt Jemima product” (Anna Rowe voicethread). Although Aunt Jemima was seen smiling on every product, it was hinted by the pancake company that she was a slave laborer, therefore hinting eerie similarities to SAMBO, the supposed “happy” and “thankful” slave. By stating that Aunt Jemima was seen “smiling” in every photograph, it portrays her as being happy, even though the life of an enslaved person was extremely tough. 

       So, why is Natasha Trethewey writing a poem based on a painting nearly 400 years old? Trethewey’s poetry echoes her life experiences, and this specific poem reflects on discrimination and segregation she has experienced throughout her life growing up in Mississippi. Even after the passed 13th Amendment, Deconstruction, and the Civil Rights Movement, discrimination towards African-Americans still lingers in the United States today. As we have discussed in American Studies we, the United States as a country, have the belief that we are always improving. But how far have we really progressed if racial discrimination can still be seen in our country today, almost 400 years after the first slaves were brought to America?

The Effects of a Nasty Flu Season

It’s that time of year again, but it came five weeks early. The flu season is back, and causing problems for thousands of people across the country. On Monday, 11 Illinois hospitals had to go on hospital bypass status, meaning they could not handle any more patients without life-threatening illnesses, said Melaney Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health. In Boston, mayor Thomas Menino has just declared a state of emergency in his city, with eighteen deaths across the state from the flu. Although the flu may seem harmless to everything but a human being, it isn’t.

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According to the Center for Disease Control, average seasonal flu outbreaks costs U.S. employers $10.4 billion in direct costs of hospitalization and outpatient, not including the lost productivity of the sick employee. With this statistic, it begs the question, what will happen to the economy if the flu season worsens? A major flu outbreak in the United States could put a lot of strain on the already struggling U.S. economy .

If the United States were to experience a pandemic across the country, researchers are the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculate that deaths in the United States could reach 207,000 people, and could cost the economy up to $166 billion, or about 1.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This could hurt the entire country as a whole as well as particularly impacting states with high levels of tourism and entertainment the most. During health pandemics, thousands of people choose to stay at home rather than expose themselves to germs at highly populated places, like airports, train stations and big cities.

So, is there anything the United States can do to stop the widespread spread of the flu? Can the United States do anything to prepare the economy if this flu season turns into a pandemic? 

Performance-Enhancing Drugs and the MLB

From Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens to Manny Ramirez and Marlon Byrd, and even speculation of our own former Chicago Cubs player Sammy Sosa, performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball has been prevalent in baseball for many years since the 1980’s. Although there were many players who used drugs throughout the nineties, anti-doping policies were not implemented into the MLB until 2003. 

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Today, the MLB and the players union reached an agreement to add random, in-season human blood and testosterone testing. The new testing will create extensive profiles to establish a player's baseline testosterone level and increase its ability to detect the use of testosterone. Although the new testing is very beneficial to many MLB players and fans that want a fair game, will the testing really stop players from using performance-enhancing drugs? 

Just one year after anti-doping policies were introduced to the MLB, many baseball players continued to find ways to use performance-enhancing drugs with the help of player unions.  In 2004, George Mitchell, and American businessman, made it public that he was concerned that the players union was give warnings of upcoming random drugs tests, allowing the players to stop the use of the drugs before the test and therefore passing the tests. The players union was not allowed to do this and broke an agreement they made with the MLB. While protecting the dirty players, the union essentially casted off the players who chose to remain clean. 

Looking at what has happened in the past with player unions telling players when there are testings, do you think the addition blood tests and enhanced technology will really make a difference in the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout the MLB? Why or why not?

Apartheid and the United States

Panicked that we were going to miss the flight to Hoedspruit, South Africa, my dad, brothers, sister, and I rushed to the check-in desk our tour guide, whose pale skin and wispy white hair had been visible from a distance, sent us to in the busy Johannesburg airport.  Meanwhile, my mother and the tour guide were storing a bag in an airport locker so that we could make the connecting flight that was scheduled to leave in fifteen minutes.  As we neared the desk, a well-dressed man with dark skin and a shaved head, approached us and told us that we were checking in at the wrong counter.  He led us to another desk a few feet away and demanded a tip. My dad gave him 40 rand (about $5), which didn’t satisfy him. 

As this was happening, my mom and the tour guide arrived. The tour guide confronted the man, asking, “Where’s your badge?”  The response shocked us: “Apartheid! Apartheid!  Apartheid lives on, he screamed as he sat back down.

A photo I took of the entrance to the Robben Island 

Obviously, we’d been scammed, but the experience unnerved me. As we boarded our flight, I began to wonder if there was any truth to his allegation.  Reflecting on the race relations I’d seen over the past four days in Capetown, I began to think about how the United States and South Africa had undergone parallel journeys. 

I remembered standing beside the Robben Island prison cell where Nelson Mandela was locked away for eighteen years.  In my mind, I could almost hear the barred door slam shut in 1964, relegating Mandela to a gloomy, 8 X 8’ gray cement room with no running water. Nelson Mandela was a militant anti-aparthied activist and leader of the ANC Youth League of the African National Congress. In 1964, Mandela was arrested for sabotage and imprisoned a total of twenty-seven years, eighteen of those years at Robben Island.

At the time, America itself was emerging from Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement was in full swing. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were promoting two different ways of dealing with racial injustice.  King dealt with racial injustice in a nonviolent way. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used the power of words, protests, civil disobedience, and grassroots organizing as a strategy to achieve equality for African-Americans. This was drastically different than the way Malcom X dealt with racial inequality. Malcom X advocated for freedom by “any means necessary”, including violence. At a time when black civil rights leaders preached harmony and integration, Malcolm preached that self-defense and nationalism was the way to fight racial inequality, and that terrified many whites and disturbed, yet also inspired black Americans. Although the United States was fighting a battle of its own with racial inequality, they were helping South Africa fight their battle with apartheid. 

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, United States administrations condemned apartheid in South Africa, but they generally opposed broad economic sanctions (any actions taken by one nation or group of nations to harm the economy of another nation or group, often to force a political change). However, in 1985, the Export Administration Amendment Act barred the US' exports to South Africa, attempting to persuade South Africa to stop apartheid. Later, in 1986, the United States further banned economic relationships with South Africa, prohibiting future investments, bank loans, and some trade. 

However, because of America’s own shameful history of slavery and mistreatment of African Americans, did we have any credibility in trying to end it, or did we act as hypocrites? Did the United States do enough to help end apartheid in South Africa? Was there reason to believe that condemning apartheid without imposing economic sanctions would work? 

The Poaching Crisis

    The only animal in the African Bush of South Africa that our safari tracker, July, was afraid of. The Black Rhinoceros. Every time we drove past a black rhino, July would pull out his sharp stick, sharpened by his very own machete, to protect himself. Black rhinos are very large animals, ranging from 1,800- 3,100 pounds, and are extremely aggressive. This species has two horns, sometimes three, that are made of strong keratin. These horns are used for intimidation, defense, and digging up roots and breaking branches while feeding. However, in recent years rhinoceros' have been targeted and killed for their horns.

A photo I took of two black rhinos while I was in South Africa 

   Only a decade ago, there was about a dozen rhinos that were poached each year. Last year, poachers killed more than 400 rhinos, a drastic change (Rock Center).  Rhinoceros horns are targeted for the use of medicine in some Asian countries. Traditional Chinese Medicine has long advocated that rhinoceros horns reduce fevers, nosebleeds, and similar ailments. Even recently, a Vietnamese politician claimed that eating rhino horns can cured his cancer. Because of this, rhinoceros horns are prized possessions in countries throughout Asia, including China, Vietnam, and surrounding countries. According to a report by NBC's Rock Center, an average-sized rhino horn in Vietnam can sell for as much as a quarter of a million dollars, which makes rhino horn gram for gram more valuable than gold or cocaine. However, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) states that ,"there in no scientific proof of its medical value". (WWF).

A campaign photo from WWF

  The animal poaching problem needs to be addressed by the United States and other countries around the world. Rhinoceros's are critically endangered and need help. Although the United States has done some things to help rhinos, including banning Traditional Chinese Medicine and banning rhinoceros horn trade in the United States, there has not been enough effort put into helping rhinoceros' as well as other animals who are hunted by poachers. There are many strategies and projects that the World Wildlife Foundation  is working on to to help the animals, including spreading the word. Do you think more media outlets in the United States should address endangered animals? Why or why not? In what other ways can the United States help animals like the rhinoceros?