Throughout the history of the United States, the production of race and difference of people of color correlates with the implementation of prevalent ideologies and the laws produced in correspondence. This difference between the “whites” and the “others” creates a stigma still apparent in today’s society: racism. Despite the common misconception that the prejudice towards people of color, specifically those who are black, has always existed, evidence has proven that “whites and blacks found themselves with common problems, common work, common enemy” and “behaved toward one another as equals” (Zinn 31). Such evidence implies that the construct of race was not a natural phenomena, but rather an ideology established by self-determined individuals …show more content…
Generally, those who had the power to tell history, those who were “above” and were able to spread their knowledge to others, believed in the philosophy of difference between white and color; rather than the traditional telling, Zinn recounts history in the perspectives of the “others” -- those considered savages, uncultured, underdeveloped and primitive. By presenting this unfamiliar angle, Zinn illustrates that history is not objective. This is shown in Las Casas’ recounts of the Spaniards’ encounters with the Natives. He describes the brutality inflicted by the Spaniards and the arduous and excruciating work forced upon the natives. He explains that Spaniards “rode the backs of Indians” and “thought nothing of knifing the Indians”(6). In addition, Zinn states that even as a “knowledgeable eyewitness,” he still cannot fathom the magnitude of the persecution. He also presents the question, “who in future generations will believe this?”(7). Ironically, today, Columbus is celebrated as a national hero and his feats are highly romanticized. many people do not know that he initiated a policy of cruelty that “resulted in complete genocide [of the native peoples]” (7). This conceitedness incited a white sense of superiority over other races -- something that consolidated the construct of race and
His legacy serves as a cautionary tale on the horrors that ethnocentrism and indifference towards the welfare of others can bring. Christopher Columbus’ reverence as a hero in the present day would allow for the acceptance of practices that are incompatible with Western values and
[1] Why would a person in 1992 make a historical film about Christopher Columbus’ discovery that completely ignores the then current debates that question whether or not it precipitated genocide? Director Ridley Scott set out to produce the be-all-end-all depiction of Columbus, yet he blatantly neglected to address the most heated issue: Native American genocide. In Scott’s film, the native voice is unheard, their identity is muted, and their culture is disregarded. The quincentennial celebration of Columbus’ voyage triggered a proliferation of literary criticisms addressing the controversy over the traditional Columbus myth. 1492: Conquest of Paradise, however, is silent about these issues. Having full knowledge of this multi-faceted debate, did Scott simply take the easy way out by providing another typical Columbus story? Under the pretense of a historical film, did Scott sacrifice historical truth and intellectual integrity for mass appeal at the box office? In his silence, Scott decides to avoid the genocide debate. Whether or not the discovery of the New World indeed precipitated genocide is still under debate, but it is an important one and should not be ignored. We still have a lot to learn from our heritage and need to address the important issues in order to better learn and evolve. The two strong arguments below represent the two sides of a heated debate that was not represented in the film 1492. They contain harsh truths which aren’t marketable to the American public but are vital to the understanding of the moral implications of cultural conquest.
In 2008, Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president of the United States. As a result, many scholars, journalists, political pundits, and cultural critics argue that this monumental achievement indicated the commencement of a post-racial society in the United States. Based on this notion, they have made the assumption that race and ethnicity no longer influence one’s experience or how the country operates. However, in spite of the monumental achievements this country has undergone in an attempt to create a post-racial society, racism and discrimination have not been destroyed, they have simply taken a new form.
Census racial categorization is scientifically baseless; an infringement of human rights and Shade of Citizenship can be thus read as a manifesto for the colorblind theory. First time in US history, individuals are able to identity themselves as belonging to more than one race. The ‘Duel Citizenship’ is catering for the growing multiracial proportion of the population. Henceforth, the 19th century pseudoscientific Social Darwinism theory of race is strongly contested restricting access of opportunities to only the privileges. Self valorization and the demonisation of the other (non-white) that was perennial for white supremacy and domination has been reduced to mere fallacy state.
In the U.S. race-based affairs are often difficult to address because society has made racism a taboo topic and therefore has avoided discussing its fundamentals. Many would agree that disregarding the root of the problem is a faulty and counterproductive solution. Yet several people take this approach when confronted with racial matters by using colorblind ideologies as both a defensive mechanism and a way to avoid the conversation about race all together. Ignoring the prominent inequalities amongst racial groups only encourages the artificial idea that the U.S. is some kind of utopia that has politically overcome racism. The theory of color blindness is grounded on the idea of discounting race-based differences as a way of combating racism; the idea that
Racism and discrimination are common factors that current society faces, but these are not only contemporary problems. For instance, research has shown that since the nineteen century, “when cultural anthropology became an established academic discipline, one of the underlying objectives of the scholars in the field was to probe that blacks and other nonwhite ethnic groups were genetically and cognitive inferior than whites.” (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 24) Through history constant studies and techniques have developed in order to test theories that justify discrimination, and as the quote states, one common goal was to establish white superiority among all races. This racist pattern has been repeated in America since the times
In the United States, the problem of equality has never been more prevalent. Equality between race, age group and gender are some of the most common. One that really catches a lot of attention is race. The problem of race started when people from Africa were slave in the United States. Once President Abraham Lincoln free the slaves, the hatred towards the now free African Americans grew premensdly. This lead to segregation, and eventually the civil rights movement. The book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum, discuss many topics regarding racism in the United States currently. One of the most interesting topics was the concept that racist is completely different from prejudice.
Twentieth century America has become a time for attacking and destroying the most malignant of our social diseases. At the forefront of these attacks has been racism. Although nationalistic and bigoted sentiments existed in America prior to the founding of Jamestown, it was not until the civil rights movement of the 1960's that racial equality became more of a reality than a dream. But as African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and other people of color struggled to regain their cultural identity, the rest of the population was assimilated into an all inclusive racial category known as "white."
Throughout history, and in today’s society, race has been a debated topic. Even today the question about whether race influences intelligence, athletic ability, and creativeness is still discussed. Through scientific research it is known that race contributes nothing to how a person thinks, feels, or acts and that is it society that creates these standards. When looking into the past there was much controversy about blacks and their self worth. According to the Thomas Jefferson’s article “Notes on the State of Virginia” blacks and whites are naturally different and fixed by nature. In other words blacks are naturally not as intelligent as whites, but today’s knowledge argues, and proves, otherwise. There is also argument about the possibility that blacks are inferior to whites because of their environment. In the movie “Race, the Power of Illusion” teenagers of many different races and ethnic backgrounds were tested to determine how different they really are from one another. In the end, everyone finds out they may not be as different as originally thought. Society as a whole needs to realize we, as Americans, are more alike than we think. If everyone can get over skin color as a classification, then society will have overcome a huge barrier and the future for equality will become clearer.
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
Racism can take on many forms that plague the brain with irrationality that affects an individual’s thoughts and actions. Racism can be a physical form, through an external action, or can branch off into unethical thoughts. This is more known to be a discriminative thought, judging a person based on impressions. This social problem can also be ignored by the oblivious persons of the crowd. Many individuals speak out about how racial tension is long gone and forever forgotten ever since the first African-American was elected to be president in 2008, but this can be evidently proven false. Racial tension is still here to target the minorities in the forms of affirmative action and Ferguson conflicts.
The Simple Self-Interest Model centers around groups acting in their own self-interest by accepting policies that benefit them. Their refusal to accept policies that do not benefit them emphasize the, “Hostility between members of two racial groups reflects an underlying clash of interest,” (Shaw et al., 2015, p. 246). The Classical Prejudice Model states that hostility is based upon one’s cognitive outlook instead of reality, where racial animosity is based on dogmas formed within groups rather than perspicacity. The last model described is the Principled Objection Model, which is describes interracial enmity as a collision of the, “dominant American belief in individual opportunity,” (Shaw et al., 2015, p. 246).). Each of these models demonstrate how racial/ethic group interest are embedded into their group identity that influence their overall attitude towards racial concerns and impugns, especially regarding public
The Association of Black Psychologist (ABP) (2013) defines colorism as skin-color stratification. Colorism is described as “internalized racism” that is perceived to be a way of life for the group that it is accepted by (ABP 2013). Moreover, colorism is classified as a persistent problem within Black American. Colorism in the process of discriminatory privileges given to lighter-skinned individuals of color over their darker- skinned counterparts (Margret Hunter 2007). From a historical standpoint, colorism was a white constructed policy in order to create dissention among their slaves as to maintain order or obedience. Over the centuries, it seems that the original purpose of colorism remains. Why has this issue persisted? Blacks have been able to dismantle the barriers faced within the larger society of the United States. Yet, Blacks have failed to properly address the sins of the past within the ethnic group. As a consequence of this failure, colorism prevails. Through my research, I developed many questions: Is it right that this view remain? How does valuing an individual over another cause distribution to the mental health of the victims of colorism? More importantly, what are the solutions for colorism? Colorism, unfortunately, has had a persisted effect on the lives of Black Americans. It has become so internalized that one cannot differentiate between the view of ourselves that Black Americans adopted from slavery or a more personalized view developed from within the ethnicity. The consequences of this internalized view heightens the already exorbitant mental health concerns within the Black community, but the most unfortunate aspect of colorism is that there is contention on how the issue should be solved.
In addition, this piece offers no less than a radical transformation of the United States’ application of the concept of democracy, especially within the confines of racial consciousness. By analyzing the dispersion of European exceptionalism and Western-centrism, Daniel illustrates how race has been constructed in the United States. The “one-drop rule” (i.e. being considered black if you have at least one ancestor of sub-Saharan-African ancestry) compelled people to identify as black or white, in effect removing mixed-race individuals from the social landscape. Due to these conditions, many mixed-raced individuals have attempted to acquire the socioeconomic advantages of being considered white, which Daniel defines as “passing.” Throughout history, interracial marriages were condemned, but have become more common throughout the last few decades and those individuals that are biracial and multiracial as a result of those unions have demanded institutional changes that would acknowledge the plight of multiple racial backgrounds and challenged society to move toward reform of perspectives, both socially and politically. This analysis of biracial and multiracial groups and the evolution of the United States concerning the consciousness of race, as well as social justice for all, was added to bolster the perspective gained through conversation with “Mr.
Individuals who have hatred towards others who are different than them has plagued man-kind since the dawn of time. A particular type of hatred that is focused on differences in physical and cultural characteristics is known as racism. Racism can be shown in modern times in a number of ways including differences in wage, employment, and incarceration rates to just name a few. This social problem was significantly worse before 1960’s and the Civil Rights Movement, but the problem is still visible even today albeit less overt ways. For this paper, we will analyze the differences between whites and blacks and will not include other races.