'A Shining Thread Of Hope': An Analysis

During the periods of slavery the song “America the Beautiful” could be called a major contradiction, as it glorifies the beauty of this nation and claims “God shed his graces on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea”, but clearly this isn’t the case. These excruciating times demonstrated how America was ignorant behind its own greed and how it destroyed thousands of cultures and families across the continent of Africa. If wasn’t for the slaves of Africa, Katherine Lee Bates would not have known how beautiful America truly was. In the story of “A Shining Thread of Hope” it has been debated by many rather the experience for the women slaves of Africa was a new alien land or an old and familiar one. From the standpoint of an African woman simply known as “Oni” it seemed that many of her experiences were not only unfamiliar but also petrifying. After being caught from her native land she was quickly transported to a port to be shipped off the America. During this situation she had her first encounter with Whites and was scared by not only their behavior but the paleness of their skin. Her voyage to America was a horrid experience; with they’re being one hundred
The comparison for the women of Africa adjusting to this setting was another unfamiliar territory. In Africa you may have been a slave, but there was still some humanity left in their since of slavery, compared to the Europeans who were completely barbaric. Back in Africa, even though you were enslaved to someone else, you still had your moments of freedom, or maybe own someone yourself. The slavery experienced in America was completely opposite, many families were broken, often women weren’t allow to be married because the men around were so limited or they were often shipped to other areas; thus never leaving room for adjustment to the new surroundings they set foot