Understanding Diversity Within The 21st Century

During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, whites established slavery for power and wealth (Aworawo 2001). Through their establishment, whites dehumanized people of color and made them believe that Black people are inferior to Caucasians. Amid the Slave Trade, their belief system spread from Europe to Africa and then to the Americas. In modern times, in the United States, this belief system continues to be prevalent but has evolved into new forms of racial oppression. Today, in society, the idea is represented in several ways, including through micro-aggressive statements, whites stealing intellectual property from Black people, gentrification, police brutality, etc. Minorities have also fallen prey to this repressive mentality. Because of the aftermath and repercussions of slavery, some minorities prefer to be white, and others mistreat their people because they want them to be in worse positions than themselves. The aftermath of slavery has caused both invisible and visible divisions within our society that will take many more years to

Race, then, is described as a human creation and the product of the desire to categorize and diminish the potential risk of losing power and participation in society, and to continue with the expansion of territories, the exploitation of resources and the indiscriminate use of human capital with the excuse of economic development.

In the article ‘Black People in a White People’s Country’ by Gary Nash, he explains how slavery gave Africans a low role in America’s society, and how because slavery was allowed in the New World, they were “Socially and legally defined as less than people...”. It wasn’t just the fact that they were enslaved that made people treat them horribly, but also where they came from. In the eyes of a European, Africans were very different,

This sentiment of racial inferiority by the white American was further demonstrated by their treatment of Native American society. As European settlements continued to expand across the continent, Indians were forcibly removed from their land to make room for the “more civilized” white American. The Native American population was practically eradicated with only a handful of survivors remaining on small, segregated reservations in Oklahoma. The genocide of their people-- and their culture-- left most Native Americans with extreme resentment towards the white man. Ironically, just as the white man saw the Native American people as uncivilized savages, Native Americans saw firsthand how barbaric the white man actually was. This further supports the theory that race is not a physical characteristic, but something that is constructed by different societies to establish each ones perception of how the other is viewed or perceived. In Mary C. Waters “Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity,” she explains this theory in the

It prompted a certain status, prestige, and recognition for the Europeans and white people. Ego’s rose to a high level, even from the ordinary white people of lower class, and advance racism with this nobility thought to distinguish them self even further from the dark-skinned people that everyone associated with as slavery. African Americans and blackness represented slavery, as they were a different kind of people as they were unintelligent, or of lower intelligence, different physical characteristics, therefore not of the same genetic make-up as the white

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.

­ White Historians of the past, very much like white supremacist and Anglo­American’s have stated that slavery was not a profit seeking and, that it was a pre­modern institution. The evidence they use to support this is that European races are ‘superior’ to the others. This was a tactic that white historians use to re­unify the white nation post­Civil War.

Slavery’s rise as the dominant force of labor in the Virginia colonies allowed for racism to spread and therefore justified the use of Africans for slave labor. Racism came as a direct result of slavery and allowed the divide between the Africans and Europeans to intensify. The profit that came from slavery encouraged many powerful landowners to switch to slavery, and eventually leave indentured servitude behind. In the colonies, slavery became vital to the new colonial society for economic reasons, and brought on a birth of racism that distinguished Africans and Europeans.

No longer do we see other races as lesser, we as a society see everyone as equals and as such to have equal opportunities in life, no longer is the white male the strongest figure to come about. Yet, it has taken well over a hundred years to have progressed from such an closed perspective of races to our perspective in the present where we don’t see someone as African-American, Hispanic, Asian or any label of that nature, instead they’re just another equal as you and I. Instead of basing focus on solely race based slavery, there is an honorable mention of other historical events that might not necessarily be linked to race based slavery but as to the united states perspective on others whom are not

Race has been one of the most outstanding situations in the United States all the way from the 1500s up until now. The concept of race has been socially constructed in a way that is broad and difficult to understand. Social construction can be defined as the set of rules are determined by society’s urges and trends. The rules created by society play a huge role in racialization, as the U.S. creates laws to separate the English or whites from the nonwhites. Europeans, Indigenous People, and Africans were all racialized and victimized due to various reasons. Both the Europeans and Indigenous People were treated differently than African American slaves since they had slightly more freedom and rights, but in many

As the enslavement continued, the concept of race developed distinguishing human beings based upon physical characteristics. It gave those who were privileged the power and authority over those who were considered inferior. The distinctions of Black and Whites described the wealth, beauty, and power of one. Those who were of other heritages other than the typical Blacks or Whites were places in the in-between category or considered mixed but shared the same economic and social disabilities as blacks. Many different responsibilities and skills were heavily weighed on the slaves. Travelling throughout history and fastforwarding the time to modern days it is stated by Michael Gomes himself that many African Americans who are in the United States say, “We built this country,” in which it is all the more so accurate due to the transatlantic slave and our ancestral past. We are not, African Americans or any others who favor this argument, discrediting Europeans or other minorities who have also contributed, but it started with the Africans and it makes one question the roots and challenge the history we are given in average school textbooks of our

Several researchers suggest that America’s foundation was created on racism and discrimination. In history it shows that racism began with white Anglo Saxons taking over Native American lands, and then eventually bringing in slavery of African people; which ultimately led to white wealth. White people have ultimately flourished by making minority groups inferior to them. Joe R. Feagin’s (2014) article Systematic Racism: A Comprehensive Perspective, explains the history of America and how it was created on racism and discrimination and how unjust enrichment and impoverishment have created today’s society.

The ownership and dominance over slaves was the true nature of slavery. The Spanish and the Portuguese were the first to settle in the New World, and they developed the culture of using the slaves on their plantations and as servants. Followed by the French and English, they also used slaves when they colonized the New World in order to enlarge their economy. The slave owners treated slaves like property since they considered them as their belongings. They also view them as valuable investments, so the slave owners gave them necessary things in order to keep them healthy and useful. Although, they gave the things the slaves needed in order to be well, they were not worth anything more than that. Having ownership over the slaves also gave the power and strength to the Europeans. The Europeans dominance over slaves is also considered the true nature of slavery because one of the reasons for the terrible conditions of slavery was due to the white’s supremacy over other races. The slave owners believed that they were much higher-ranking than blacks, and this idea of supremacy lead to slavery into a worse situation. If the Europeans did not considered the black people as a property or as their belongings, slavery could have not occurred.

The study of prejudice, stereotyping, and racism has been a major theme in social psychology reflecting concerns of society (Jost & Kay, 2010). History of colonization contributed to Europeans’ prejudice against people of color (Tuffin, 2004). For centuries, racism was used to justify the advancement of European nations. In the 18th century, the

People may argue that the practice did not become "dehumanizing" until white Europeans came along and took slaves to the Americas’. " Slavery had existed in Africa as it had in other parts of the world, for centuries, but it was not based on race and it did not result in dehumanization and death, as did transatlantic slavery." This statement is claiming that because the economies of Africa did not depend on slave labor, the number of enslaved people was small until European traders arrived. I am convinced that the African slave trade led to the dehumanization of Africans because it was focused on the legal institution created by law in America, which allowed white American settlers to actually own Africans. This type of slavery was severe and brutal, and also degenerated Africans. The rise of industrialization in America brought the demand for large amounts of labor which Americans took advantage of to gain profit. The only group of Africans benefiting from the