During the Civil War and the era of slavery, only white men were fully …show more content…
Since the creation of Psychology, mental health awareness has risen to an all time high level. Humans are much more focused on how individuals behave and how our minds work. Since the mind controls the body, some could argue that mental health is more relevant to study than physical health. For people to be successful, they must be mentally stable and secure. Without a secure mind, people will act irrationally and act in detrimental ways. In The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead, the author describes a fictional story of a slave during her life, and eventual escape from slavery. In one section of the book, the main character Cora, reflects on her mental state after escaping the plantation: “An insurrection of one. She smiled for a moment, before the facts of her latest cell reasserted themselves. Scrabbling in the walls like a rat. Whether in the fields or underground or in the attic room, America remained her warden” (Whitehead 172). Even in fiction, a person can easily see the mindset that slaves had over 150 years ago. They were afraid, in constant danger, and could not live freely. Their sense of security was next to none. Without security, one cannot possibly succeed much less survive their lives. If a person does not feel safe and accepted by their society and fellow citizens around them, society has failed to do its job of creating a place where all are …show more content…
These same people would say that physical security is the most significant meaning of the term. But they fail to take into account the number of diverse situations that fall under the word. Physical safety of one’s body does not account for their mind, education or economic status, or their place in an interconnected community. A general sense of safety does not imply freedom. To be truly free, one must be secure in all of the subgroups of security analyzed above. A simple definition of security allows for a person to survive. But the deeper meaning allows for a person to live a life of success and