African Americans have certainly faced, and continue to face, more than their share of discrimination in this country. A few centuries of slavery later, I think Maya Angelou's words speak for themselves; even without Joe Louis' monumental victory, history proves that the pride behind the words, "We were the strongest people in the world," is not merely boastful.
Today, however, a new kind of slavery has replaced the middle passage: sex trafficking. The undeveloped world doesn't share the modern outlook on women taken up by wealthier countries, who, as Kristof and WuDunn point out in Half the Sky, recognize that working, educated women are actually essential to economic growth. Poverty and the antiquated views that come with it give men the power to think of women as objects, available to be sold at any time if money is tight. At the moment, poorer countries in Asia and Africa account for the majority of trafficking, and the stories are horrifying.
Take Loveth, a Nigerian woman who paid $24,000--probably her life's savings--to escape to Europe from an incestuous home, only to be kidnapped, raped, and bumped from trafficker to trafficker before returning to Nigeria with far fewer options than before (O'Toole). How many women and girls share her experiences? Millions. Of course, an exact number would be difficult to come up with, if you think about the amount of those dead or held in secret.
These people aren't African American, but they continue to face the kind of discrimination that the rest of the developed world inflicted on them centuries ago; however, it is now up to those countries to help. It starts by making women feel like the "strongest people in the world," as Joe Louis did for Angelou.
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Marina, I am so glad you chose to write about Half the Sky. The book left a lot of impact on me, and the connection you drew to Angelou's piece was interesting and extremely relevant. I hope that we can discuss topics such a sex trafficking further in class and raise awareness on the rampant issue.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have not read Half the Sky I enjoyed the connection you made between the women involved in sex trafficking and slavery. Because we live somewhere mostly sheltered from the effects of this issue I'm glad you included the number affected and those dead as a result.
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