The idea of death, in reference to a person, in our society is a pretty clear cut thing. A dead person can’t talk. A dead person doesn’t have feelings. A dead person can’t do anything. What if I told you that it is in fact possible for living people to be viewed as if they were dead? Social death is the condition of people not accepted as fully human by wider society. Three examples that come to mind when I think of this definition are slaves in the south, the jews during the holocaust and normal people around us that don’t have friends. Slaves were never looked at as fully human. They were looked at as property that could be used as the master pleased. Hard evidence has found that slavery in america was present since 1619, when hungry Dutch sailors traded African slaves for food and supplies. Although, Britain wasn’t to keen on using African slaves in their colonies at the time more and more slaves made their way to America. Slavey ended up be coming the foundation on which America was built. Slave masters did many things to slaves that not only destroyed the sprit of the slaves but dehumanized them also. The transition from having indentured servants to mainly using black slaves made it apparently to anyone who a slave was or wasn’t. It also became law that freed slaves have a form indicating they were in fact free. Slaves were treated as cattle. Stripped naked and paraded in front of audiences so they could be bid on. They were beaten and constantly abused. Their identity was striped from them with name changes and families were torn apart constantly. The Jews were singled out by Adolf Hitler during before the start of World War II. They were scapegoats used by Hitler that sparked rebellion in Germany and ultimately started World War II. The Jews were stripped of everything they had. Under the control of Hitler, Jews were forced to wear the star of David on external clothing so anyone could clear identify them. Eventually, they were herded into concentration camps and systematically slaughtered. Its been reported at about 6 million jews were killed during the period of time known as the Holocaust. Social misfits deal with being ignored by society and although what these individuals go through isn’t set on as big a stage as slavery and the Holocaust were, its the perfect example of social death. These people ignored and forgotten about on a daily basis. Slaves we looked at as products and the Jews were looked at as monsters responsible for property in Germany.