Undergraduate Studies

This paper investigates the contemporary issues surrounding Poor things, ‘they can't take care of themselves’, a political cartoon housed in the Library of Congress that was published in the 1840 American Anti-Slavery Almanac. It examines the way in which systemic anti-Black racism upholds modern forms of slavery through targeted policing and mass incarceration, despite the 13th amendment’s abolition of slavery. It studies the killing of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd to bring into question whether the State is truly capable of progress. This paper won a UGS Writing Flag award at the 2020 School of Undergraduate Studies Writing Flag Contest which honors the best writing produced by UT undergraduates in courses carrying the Writing Flag.