Racism In Racism

Nearly every aspect of American history involves white supremacy. Upon the discovery of the Americas, the Europeans believed they entered into a land inhabited by savages (Boyer 20). According to President Jackson, the mistreatment of the Indians was to “kill the Indian, but save the man” (Williams) in order to purify America. They were forced to adapt to the dominate society or be killed. According to Wiethaus, “the Trail of Tears is a story of tragedy far overshadows the longer term economic consequences of Indian land for the United States economy and the disruption of individual lives for those dispossessed of their homes” (29). The Columbian Exchange involved the slavery of Africans which later became an issue during the 1800’s once the colonies formed into states. African-Americans did not receive emancipation until after the civil war. Before then, slavery was at the heart of the Commercial Revolution which set the stage for the modern era of economic growth (Wright 14). During the 1800’s, states became divided upon the issue of being a Slave or Free State. After the Civil War, Johnson approved of the emancipation of slaves (Boyer 497). However, during the Reconstruction, “black codes” were constructed to prevent African-American to be considered worthy citizens. Many Acts were passed to give them equality, but they still received inhuman treatment (Boyer 509-511). It took years of marches, protest, and riots

Racism is a socially constructed concept used by multiple groups of people and creates a hierarchy of sorts based purely on the color of a person’s skin or their cultural origins. It has been an idea that has existed since the beginnings of civilization. A more modern iteration of this concept was made prominent in the 16th century as European settlers began to explore different areas of the world, specifically areas in or around Africa. But slavery can be seen back in the 1500s all the way to 1880 and was most likely a leading example of what helped define racism up to the 20th century. In Ali Rattansi’s book, “Racism: A Very Short Introduction” , the author connects how slavery and race are closely tied together. European explorers would ignore the cultures the invaded in order to see these people as nothing more than native groups that were meant to be seen in a subservient role. Slavery would continue to grow across the Atlantic and seen as an institution that created large amounts of wealth for those who could reap the benefits from it. As long as money was being made, slavery persisted and was justified. Race and racism was conceived the way it was because the slave owning system was controlled by European colonizers.

In the PBS documentary, we learned that that race and freedom were developed together. Historian Robin D.G. Kelley points out a problem our founding fathers faced: “how can we promote liberty, freedom, democracy on the one hand, and a system of slavery and exploitation of peoples who are non-white on the other?” (1:04:43). Our past presidents rationalized this contradiction by declaring that blacks and other races had a natural inferiority to whites. Such reasons were used to justify America’s political goals for power and money that benefit the white society at the expense of others. Omi and Winant claim that “the introduction of slavery… presupposed a worldview which distinguished [whites] from ‘others’.. . to explain why some should be ‘free’ and others enslaved, why some had rights to land and property while others did not” (1). The enslavement of Africans led to the ideology of white supremacy which builds up a political system that privileges white people over “others”. Granting opportunities only to whites widens the social difference along racial lines. This historical attitude toward racial difference has determined the way most of us currently view the world.

This issue of racism is popular by name but tends to be sugar coated by the way people see it. In order to truly understand racism you need to take a bite into the topic in order to get a taste of what it is really like. Racism comes in many different forms and can be seen many different ways. But why even care about racism at all? Why does it even matter? One would think that with such a harsh background regarding racism in America it would no longer exist in society today. But sadly that is not the case here, racism continues to show up all over the country sometimes being worse than others but still racism is racism. People should all be considered equal regardless of what they look like, talk like, or even do that makes them who they are.

In the mid 19th century racism had started to occur. Then it quickly transferred into slavery where than African Americans were slaves to the whites. The African Americans were not brought to America by choice but because the whites decided to use them for slavery. Some whites would trade them for any house supplies they needed, and they were sold to the colonist of Europe. Where then they had labor work that needed to be done, African’s did not get a wage for doing this labor. There was a law that Africans were not considered humans, but objects that worked. When Americans won the land from the british, Africans were not exactly free from slavery. Slavery was a hard subject to talk about but they still did not receive the respect they needed. They were not even

In the United States, one of the earliest forms of racism was the use of slavery. [how did slavery start]. By the 1800s, slavery had become a major part of

American Imperialism, if discounting the conquering of Native populations and forced assimilation with Indian Wars, began with the Mexican – American War in 1846 which led to the annexation of several hundred thousand square miles of Mexican lands. While the causes of the Mexican – American War was mainly about economics and manifest destiny, race still played a major role in the war’s end in that while 525,000 sq. miles of new land was acquired, once again it was not for all Americans. White Americans were the only ones who were encouraged to move west in order to move west in order to populate the newly acquired lands with Americans. The native Indian populations living in these newly acquired lands were met with the same treatment as those who were already apart of the United States, they had no rights, blacks faced an even bigger threat of having slavery spread to the new territories which would’ve meant even longer bondage for them and the few free blacks who were around were not afforded the luxury of leaving their homes to move westward to buy

In the first colonies, the white plantation owners sought to obtain more land but were obstructed by the threat of retaliation from the Native American community. As Alexander describes it, “American Indians became a growing impediment to white European “progress”, and during this period, the images of American Indians promoted in books, newspapers, and magazines became increasingly negative. As sociologists Keith Kilty and Erick Swank have observed, eliminating “savages” is less of a moral problem than eliminating human beings, and therefore American Indians came to be understood as a lesser race – uncivilized savages – thus providing a justification for the extermination of the native peoples” (14). Given the success of the invasion, it’s safe to say the same

Throughout the eighteenth century, lives of the early western Indian tribes suffered due to the many discriminating opinions of new coming white men. The white people deceived the western Indian tribes in several ways. White men took advantage and persuaded the tribes into signing agreements on a numerous amount of treaties in order to forcibly push them west away from their current lands. The several present western Indian people effectively, although often forcibly, aborted from their homes due to the men seeking new discoveries, the desire for an increase in land, and the white people searching to fulfill their profound desire of supremacy. Not only the social power the men endowed within themselves produced the outcome but, the Native Americans

In my history course there have been a plethora of primary and secondary sources that chronicle the discovery of the ‘New World’ and how the colonists interacted with Native Americans; There was a great deal of ethnocentrism and misunderstanding on both sides, but it was the colonists who brutally exploited Native Americans and tried to force their assimilating into the Western culture at the time. The men

Throughout this period, myths, education, and religious teachings conspired to keep the antagonism alive. The mindset of racism was, therefore, developed by scientific teachings, advanced by existing myths, and reinforced with religious misinterpretations. It was a unique time in history since for the first time opposing factions of science, culture, and religion were on the same side. The black-white rift stands at the very center of American history, W.E.B.Bubois said “We have got to the place where we cannot use our experiences during and after the Civil War for the uplift and enlightenment of mankind” (“5.Gone With The Wind" 157). When Americans have done wrong, it has been because others misunderstood us, or perhaps because we misunderstood the situation. But always our motives were good.(“8 Watch Big Brother” 247) . Many people do not acknowledge this part of American history as they contradict today’s facade of America as the ‘free land of opportunities for all’, the history gives us a “International Good Guy” view.

Discrimination has been a prominent part of society since the dawn of civilization. African people resided in the cradle of civilization and numerous empires prospered under their guidance and rule. Nevertheless, society has continually looked upon people of African descent as lesser, worthless and nuisances. From its earliest days, people in the New World have had experiences pervaded with human inequality, specifically racism and discrimination. For instance, following the ratification of the United States Constitution white slavery was illegal, but the enslavement of black people was generally accepted. Some people may even say that the great nation of the United States of America was built on the backs of blacks. Black people and slaves

Colonists were disdainful of the native americans, who inhabited large territories. The first interactions between the Natives and the English led men like William Simonds to state, “we found only scattered people, ignorant of knowledge of gold, silver, or any commodities” (46). The Indians were people who the colonists deemed, “idle workers” (48), people who were incapable of maintaining the abundant lands. As a result, many colonists including Sir William Herbert warned: “Colonies degenerate assuredly when the colonists imitate and embrace the habits, customs, and practices of the natives.” (46). The colonists believed that they were deserving of the land because they had the capabilities of exploiting it to its’ fullest potential. They despised the ‘primitive’ ways of the Natives, believing that they had full rights to all Native land. From the first encounters on, the

White racism started to develop while the European nations were exploring and colonizing the Western world. The people that went out to explore and colonize were mainly capitalists, urban dwellers, and business people (336). Their way of life was extremely different to the natives they encountered and the people of color would be suppressed if the white colonizers did not receive their way (337). This is when White racism and the idea of “superior” and “inferior” races came to develop. Once the Americas were colonized, the Europeans needed a work force to exploit and use the lands mass resource pool. It was an idea that some class of people should

The exploitation of Black labor was accomplished by treating Black people as objects of property, thus, race and property were conflated by establishing a form of property contingent on race only. Id. at 1716. Similarly, the conquest, removal, and extermination of Native American life and culture were ratified by conferring and acknowledging the property rights of whites in Native American land. Id. Only white possession and occupation of land was validated and therefore privileged as a basis for property rights. Id. Slavery as a system of property facilitated the merger of white identity and property. Id. at 1721. Because the system of slavery was contingent on and conflated with racial identity, it became crucial to be "white," to be identified as white, to have the property of being white. Id.Whiteness was the characteristic, the attribute, the property of free