Racism from Huckleberry Finn's time to today

Racism has been prevalent in all eras of history, however it has been pointed at different group over time. In the setting of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, racism is reflected accurately according to that time period towards African Americans, exposing the injustices they faced. Early on in the novel their subordination is revealed from the pranks pulled on the slave Jim by Huck and Tom. Moreover, the fears of slaves being separated from their families is is depicted through Jim as well as the other horrors of slavery. Furthermore, by allowing such a young childlike narrator, Huck, the readers are given more freedom to develop their own views with a "Huck persona" because of his unreliable, naive character he is able to innocently expose the societal impositions of racism.   People are not born racist or hating certain groups however it is a result of pre-existing racism that is taught. In Huck's case, he's a typical white teenager living in the south during this time, taught that racism is the correct way to think; and that whites are the superior race. He lives in a society where whites de-value the African American race and even disregard them as human beings. Huck and Aunt Sally casually overlook the death of an African American “Good gracious! Anybody hurt?” “No’m. Killed a nigger.” “Well it’s lucky...” which reflects the universal idea at that time (Twain 222). Racism hurts our country; racism is ignorance. Regardless of skin color, they too are human beings. As Huck progressively begins  to question what he has been taught when his adventures with Jim start, Twain encourages individuals to question everything and think for ourselves (Kaufmann). Fast forward a few decades from this time period and slavery is abolished however the deep-rooted racism is still prevalent. Even a century later colored people still fought for equality and to break free from the subordination they still faced. In present time, racism still exists and with the new presidency has been more inflamed and brought to light than ever. Progress still needs to made, and hate still needs to be turned into love and respect. However one must not disregard the progress that has been made thus far, in the early 1900s a person of color would have never imagined a colored person as a CEO of a company or as the president of the United States, nonetheless even able to vote. These significant milestones in suppressing the existing racism serve as motivation to keep pushing for a better society without the strongholds of hate and prejudice. 

The Declaration of Independence reaching far beyond the United States

• The Declaration of Independent worked to set the colonists free from the tyrannical rule and unjust impositions from the British. The document gave life to the birth of new nation and set its values on “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Although its original purpose is set precedent for many other oppressed peoples and served the greater purpose of setting a standard of values for not only the United States but also the rest of the world. Shortly after, the nation of France was inspired to pursue independence and once attained they based their new government on the same ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence.  Other European nations admired the values and discrete call to action against tyranny expressed. the nineteenth-century Hungarian nationalist, Lajos Kossuth described it as“the noblest, happiest page in mankind’s history”. It was not only a Declaration of Independence for the colonies but a basis for values significant to the rest of the world. Its message carried weight throughout the rest of the world as well as in the future of the nation. Various countries in Africa and other continents used the same values and rights of man expressed in our Declaration in the making of their nation. The document was used in advocating for the rights and equality of Americas people that did not experience the valued America so heavily prided themselves on. How could one right of such a marvelous country valuing “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” yet only white men were guaranteed those rights. Thats was the backbone of arguments during the civil rights movement and women’s suffrage movements in which ultimately they succeeded. The declaration of Sentiments was modeled and paralleled the exact structure of the Declaration due to the power it carried with it as a founding document. All in all, the declaration did much more than merely declaring independence from Britain but set a standard of values for mankind and future generations.