Hitler is known the world over as the man responsible for killing 6 million Jews. He is also the reason why the world experienced another global war when it was believed that the First World War was the war that should have ended all wars. Hitler was able to do so because he was motivated by hate and frustration. He was angry and frustrated because of the poverty of the German people.
His anger grew even more when he realized that Austrians were never considered Germans but a part of the Hapsburg Empire. Finally, he blamed the Jewish people for weakening the German race and he believed that this was the reason why the German people can never be the master of their fate even though they were destined to be the lords of the earth.
Background
This study is an attempt to understand Hitlers worldview, his attitude towards race, politics and foreign policy. It will be revealed later that his actions were motivated by patriotism that reached fanatical levels because of his love for Germany.
He was willing to attack and destroy whatever stands between him and the rise of a German Reich populated by a pure race the Aryan Race. However, it is impossible to understand all of it without first attempting to analyze where all the hate and frustration came from. It is necessary to go to his early years as a boy growing up in Austria.
When his father and mother died leaving him an orphan while he was still a teenager he was forced into a life of poverty. He was also forced to live and work in the city and it is was the cultural and social shock that he experienced as he transferred from the rural to the urban that changed the way he look at life and his nation. But first it all started with a feeling of injustice and his desire to do something about it.
He decided that someday those who oppressed the people will have to pay for what they have done and he wrote: What was and still is bound to happen some day, when the stream of unleashed slaves pours forth from these miserable dens to avenge themselves on their thoughtless fellow men? For thoughtless they are! (Vol.1, II). Thus, a seed of hate was planted in his heart.
When he was an adult he saw not only the poverty of the German people but also the weakness of the whole nation. He felt humiliated every time he will hear his own people praise the French whom he considered as their arch-enemy (Vol.2, XIV).
He demanded why Germans are so timid while the French kept on boasting and he said: The fact is that the young Frenchman is not brought up to be objective, but is instilled with the most subjective conceivable view, in so far as the importance of the political or cultural greatness of his fatherland is concerned (Vol.1, II).
He also wanted Austria be free from the clutches of the Austrian Empire and return to Germany. Hitler was convinced that there is no other way and he wrote:
In the conviction that the Austrian Empire could never be preserved except by victimizing its Germans, but that even the price of a gradual Slavization of the German element by no means provided a guaranty of an empire really capable of survival, since the power of the Slavs to uphold the state must be estimated as exceedingly dubious, I welcomed every development which in my opinion would inevitably lead to the collapse of this impossible state which condemned ten million Germans to death (Vol.1, II).
Hitler believed that Germany and the German people must rise up. He believed that all the territories that were lost after World War I must be returned to Germany and he also believed that the State must be strengthened by destroying any semblance of a European power that threatens to enslave them.
However, his hatred was focused on the Jewish people because he was sure that they were the reason why there were poor, weak, and lacking national pride.
The Jewish Menace
Hitler detested the Jews because he believed that they are an inferior race and yet so cunning that they were able to infiltrate German society. He argued further that if the leaders will not do anything to correct the problem they will suffer under the rule of what he called the Jewish menace.
He was alarmed by the rise of the Jewish people within Germany and he wrote: Among them there was a great movement, quite extensive in Vienna, which came out sharply in confirmation of the national character of the Jews: this was the Zionists (Vol.1, II). Hitler explained why the Jews belonged to a weaker race and he pointed out the following:
The cleanliness of this people, moral and otherwise, I must say, is a point in itself. By their very exterior you could tell that these were no lovers of water, and, to your distress, you often knew it with your eyes closed. Later I often grew sick to my stomach from the smell of these caftan-wearers. Added to this, there was their unclean dress and their generally unheroic appearance (Vol.1, II).
Using a standard that was clearly his own, and Hitler, believing that there is no need to expound why he concluded that their works were evil went on with his assertion that, nine tenths of all literary filth, artistic trash, and theatrical idiocy can be set to the account of a people, constituting hardly one hundredth of all the countrys inhabitants, could simply not be tanked away; it was the plain truth (Vol.1, II).
He then went on to say that the Jew was no German (Vol.1, II). His vilification of the Jews ended with this statement: If, with the help of his Marxist creed, the Jew is victorious over the other peoples of the world, his crown will be the funeral wreath of humanity and this planet will, as it did thousands of years ago, move through the ether devoid of men (Vol.1, II). Many Germans believed his rhetoric.
The Solution
He proposed racial purity. He used history to explain the basis for his plan and then he pointed to the law of nature to persuade others to follow his chosen path. Hitler said that North America was populated by people with Germanic elements and the reason why they were rich and strong is because they were conscious not to extensively intermarry with the locals.
He contrasted it with the Latin American countries and he wrote: the predominantly Latin immigrants often mixed with the aborigines on a large scale & by this one example, we can clearly and distinctly recognize the effect of racial mixture (Vol.2, XI). This was a mere prelude to his final solution which is extermination.
Hitler made it clear that racial purity and the ascendancy of the Aryan race could not be done quietly, meekly or peaceably; for it must be attempted aggressively and to those who opposed him he countered:
But you will never find a fox who in his inner attitude might, for example, show humanitarian tendencies toward geese, as similarly there is no cat with a friendly inclination toward mice (Vol.2,XI). He added that the Jews must respect nature and should not intermarry with the members of the Aryan race and then he issued a thinly veiled threat:
If a people no longer wants to respect the Nature-given qualities of its being which root in its blood, it has no further right to complain over the loss of its earthly existence (Vol.2, XI). He was willing to murder in order to achieve his goal.
Aside from racial purity, Hitler advocated the spread of the Aryan influence all over the planet. It can be compared to the Hellenization of Europe as practiced by those who believed that Greek culture is far superior to other cultures on earth. Hitler boasted, All the human culture, all the results of art, science, and technology that we see before us today, are almost exclusively the creative product of the Aryan.
This very fact admits of the not unfounded inference that he alone was the founder of all higher humanity& (Vol.2, XI). Thus, it was clear that Hitler will never stop with the creation of a new Germany for his eyes were also focused on the whole planet, if not the whole of Europe.
His desire and ambitions shaped his idea of what German foreign policy should be and he said:
One must also bear in mind the fact that the restoration of lost districts which were formerly parts of the State, both ethnically and politically, must in the first instance be a question of winning back political power and independence for the motherland itself, and that in such cases the special interests of the lost districts must be uncompromisingly regarded as a matter of secondary importance in the face of the one main task, which is to win back the freedom of the central territory (Vol.2, XIII).
Aside from consolidating the lost districts he also wanted to strengthen the political and military position of Germany and so he asserted that the new Reich must not tolerate the rise of two continental powers in Europe and any attempt to do so must be interpreted as an attack against Germany (Vol.2, XIV) After strengthening the core of the motherland, Hitler said the following:
A state which in this age of racial poisoning dedicates itself to the care of its best racial elements must some day become lord of the earth (Vol.2 XV). It is clear that Hitler wanted to rule the world.
Conclusion
Hitlers patriotism led him to formulate a belief system that will encourage his fellow Germans to rise up against the status quo. The status quo comprise the corrupt and weak politicians of Germany and his allies; the Hapsburg Empire; and the Jews whom he said were influential because they were able to intermarry with the members of the Aryan race.
He proposed a new government, a new nation where all the citizens are from Aryan stock. But a rejuvenated and empowered Germany was just the first phase of his plan. Hitler always wanted to rule the world, if not the whole of Europe justifying it as a means to ensure the security of Germany and its people.
Hitler is known the world over as the man responsible for killing 6 million Jews. He is also the reason why the world experienced another global war when it was believed that the First World War was the war that should have ended all wars. Hitler was able to do so because he was motivated by hate and frustration. He was angry and frustrated because of the poverty of the German people.
His anger grew even more when he realized that Austrians were never considered Germans but a part of the Hapsburg Empire. Finally, he blamed the Jewish people for weakening the German race and he believed that this was the reason why the German people can never be the master of their fate even though they were destined to be the lords of the earth.
Background
This study is an attempt to understand Hitlers worldview, his attitude towards race, politics and foreign policy. It will be revealed later that his actions were motivated by patriotism that reached fanatical levels because of his love for Germany.
He was willing to attack and destroy whatever stands between him and the rise of a German Reich populated by a pure race the Aryan Race. However, it is impossible to understand all of it without first attempting to analyze where all the hate and frustration came from. It is necessary to go to his early years as a boy growing up in Austria.
When his father and mother died leaving him an orphan while he was still a teenager he was forced into a life of poverty. He was also forced to live and work in the city and it is was the cultural and social shock that he experienced as he transferred from the rural to the urban that changed the way he look at life and his nation. But first it all started with a feeling of injustice and his desire to do something about it.
He decided that someday those who oppressed the people will have to pay for what they have done and he wrote: What was and still is bound to happen some day, when the stream of unleashed slaves pours forth from these miserable dens to avenge themselves on their thoughtless fellow men? For thoughtless they are! (Vol.1, II). Thus, a seed of hate was planted in his heart.
When he was an adult he saw not only the poverty of the German people but also the weakness of the whole nation. He felt humiliated every time he will hear his own people praise the French whom he considered as their arch-enemy (Vol.2, XIV).
He demanded why Germans are so timid while the French kept on boasting and he said: The fact is that the young Frenchman is not brought up to be objective, but is instilled with the most subjective conceivable view, in so far as the importance of the political or cultural greatness of his fatherland is concerned (Vol.1, II).
He also wanted Austria be free from the clutches of the Austrian Empire and return to Germany. Hitler was convinced that there is no other way and he wrote:
In the conviction that the Austrian Empire could never be preserved except by victimizing its Germans, but that even the price of a gradual Slavization of the German element by no means provided a guaranty of an empire really capable of survival, since the power of the Slavs to uphold the state must be estimated as exceedingly dubious, I welcomed every development which in my opinion would inevitably lead to the collapse of this impossible state which condemned ten million Germans to death (Vol.1, II).
Hitler believed that Germany and the German people must rise up. He believed that all the territories that were lost after World War I must be returned to Germany and he also believed that the State must be strengthened by destroying any semblance of a European power that threatens to enslave them.
However, his hatred was focused on the Jewish people because he was sure that they were the reason why there were poor, weak, and lacking national pride.
The Jewish Menace
Hitler detested the Jews because he believed that they are an inferior race and yet so cunning that they were able to infiltrate German society. He argued further that if the leaders will not do anything to correct the problem they will suffer under the rule of what he called the Jewish menace.
He was alarmed by the rise of the Jewish people within Germany and he wrote: Among them there was a great movement, quite extensive in Vienna, which came out sharply in confirmation of the national character of the Jews: this was the Zionists (Vol.1, II). Hitler explained why the Jews belonged to a weaker race and he pointed out the following:
The cleanliness of this people, moral and otherwise, I must say, is a point in itself. By their very exterior you could tell that these were no lovers of water, and, to your distress, you often knew it with your eyes closed. Later I often grew sick to my stomach from the smell of these caftan-wearers. Added to this, there was their unclean dress and their generally unheroic appearance (Vol.1, II).
Using a standard that was clearly his own, and Hitler, believing that there is no need to expound why he concluded that their works were evil went on with his assertion that, nine tenths of all literary filth, artistic trash, and theatrical idiocy can be set to the account of a people, constituting hardly one hundredth of all the countrys inhabitants, could simply not be tanked away; it was the plain truth (Vol.1, II).
He then went on to say that the Jew was no German (Vol.1, II). His vilification of the Jews ended with this statement: If, with the help of his Marxist creed, the Jew is victorious over the other peoples of the world, his crown will be the funeral wreath of humanity and this planet will, as it did thousands of years ago, move through the ether devoid of men (Vol.1, II). Many Germans believed his rhetoric.
The Solution
He proposed racial purity. He used history to explain the basis for his plan and then he pointed to the law of nature to persuade others to follow his chosen path. Hitler said that North America was populated by people with Germanic elements and the reason why they were rich and strong is because they were conscious not to extensively intermarry with the locals.
He contrasted it with the Latin American countries and he wrote: the predominantly Latin immigrants often mixed with the aborigines on a large scale & by this one example, we can clearly and distinctly recognize the effect of racial mixture (Vol.2, XI). This was a mere prelude to his final solution which is extermination.
Hitler made it clear that racial purity and the ascendancy of the Aryan race could not be done quietly, meekly or peaceably; for it must be attempted aggressively and to those who opposed him he countered:
But you will never find a fox who in his inner attitude might, for example, show humanitarian tendencies toward geese, as similarly there is no cat with a friendly inclination toward mice (Vol.2,XI). He added that the Jews must respect nature and should not intermarry with the members of the Aryan race and then he issued a thinly veiled threat:
If a people no longer wants to respect the Nature-given qualities of its being which root in its blood, it has no further right to complain over the loss of its earthly existence (Vol.2, XI). He was willing to murder in order to achieve his goal.
Aside from racial purity, Hitler advocated the spread of the Aryan influence all over the planet. It can be compared to the Hellenization of Europe as practiced by those who believed that Greek culture is far superior to other cultures on earth. Hitler boasted, All the human culture, all the results of art, science, and technology that we see before us today, are almost exclusively the creative product of the Aryan.
This very fact admits of the not unfounded inference that he alone was the founder of all higher humanity& (Vol.2, XI). Thus, it was clear that Hitler will never stop with the creation of a new Germany for his eyes were also focused on the whole planet, if not the whole of Europe.
His desire and ambitions shaped his idea of what German foreign policy should be and he said:
One must also bear in mind the fact that the restoration of lost districts which were formerly parts of the State, both ethnically and politically, must in the first instance be a question of winning back political power and independence for the motherland itself, and that in such cases the special interests of the lost districts must be uncompromisingly regarded as a matter of secondary importance in the face of the one main task, which is to win back the freedom of the central territory (Vol.2, XIII).
Aside from consolidating the lost districts he also wanted to strengthen the political and military position of Germany and so he asserted that the new Reich must not tolerate the rise of two continental powers in Europe and any attempt to do so must be interpreted as an attack against Germany (Vol.2, XIV) After strengthening the core of the motherland, Hitler said the following:
A state which in this age of racial poisoning dedicates itself to the care of its best racial elements must some day become lord of the earth (Vol.2 XV). It is clear that Hitler wanted to rule the world.
Conclusion
Hitlers patriotism led him to formulate a belief system that will encourage his fellow Germans to rise up against the status quo. The status quo comprise the corrupt and weak politicians of Germany and his allies; the Hapsburg Empire; and the Jews whom he said were influential because they were able to intermarry with the members of the Aryan race.
He proposed a new government, a new nation where all the citizens are from Aryan stock. But a rejuvenated and empowered Germany was just the first phase of his plan. Hitler always wanted to rule the world, if not the whole of Europe justifying it as a means to ensure the security of Germany and its people.
The civil rights movement marked the period in American history when African-Americans vehemently fought against white supremacists to demand full legal equality. Prior to the civil rights movement, people of color faced discrimination in employment, housing, education, and transportation in the US, particularly in the South.
Consequently, segregation became a major barrier to unity throughout the Americas during the mid-1950s and 1960s. African-Americans mounted resistant but non-violent campaigns to end racial discrimination with outright strategies such as freedom rides, sit-ins, civil disobedience campaigns, non-violent protests, marches, boycotts, and demonstrations and rallies, which received national and international recognition as the media aired the tribulations to end racial inequity in America.
In addition, they challenged anti-discrimination legislations through courts of law. This paper will extensively analyze why the Civil Rights Movement is considered the most successful and important movement in American history in addition, the paper will ardently explain how the rights movement impacted US history and the lessons we can learn from these freedom movement of the 1960s.
The paper will briefly narrate the major events encountered during the civil rights movement and examine the views of African-Americans and white supremacists. Finally, the paper will look at both the positive and negative achievements of the civil rights movements including an assessment of how the rights movement continues to influence the socio-economic and political aspects of the American society and a brief justification why these changes ought to be considered the most pertinent to emerge during the 21st century.
The history of civil rights movement dates back to the late 19th century when the concept of segregation was born due to deficiency of slaves after the American Civil War. In the South, Majority of the blacks faced absolute discrimination in schools, hospitals and other public places after state legislatures enacted unequal laws famously called black codes that sternly curtailed the rights of African-Americans.
These laws severely limited property ownership rights by blacks for example; it was illegal for African-Americans to rent properties in towns and cities. Also during the 19th century even government enacted rules segregating white and black schools, courts, and juries. Ultimately, these laws effectively prevented blacks from sharing the American dream with the whites.
In fact, the blacks opposition to segregation laws began during World War I when they started migrating in large numbers from the South to the North. These migration continued through the 1930s and eventually peaked in the 1940s and 50s. After World War II, African-Americans began agitating for reforms to streamline Americas legal and constitutional structure and other measures aimed at ending racial discrimination.
The massive migration of blacks from the South to the North altered the demographic patterns of African-Americans in Northern towns and cities. Many blacks became increasingly urbanized during the second half of the 20th century because their principal objective was to look for better employment opportunities, better schools for their children and to find an environment where they could receive equal treatment with the whites.
The civil rights movement sought for and successfully restored citizenship rights for blacks as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. In fact, there wasnt any social and political movement of the 20th century that had a profound effect on Americas legal and political institutions compared to the civil rights movements of the 1960s (Brenda 56).
In addition, the movement significantly changed the relationship between the state and the federal government since they leaped major achievements including suffrage rights and educational rights for the blacks.
The civil rights movement had profound impacts on the US for instance; state policies and government laws were challenged in the courts. In several occasions, the federal government was forced to intervene and enforce its laws in order to protect black citizens for example; President Dwight Eisenhower was forced to send troops to Central High School to enforce the federal court order demanding non-discrimination in public schools when the state governor defied the courts ruling and sent black students away.
In addition, the civil rights movement reinvigorated the American justice system as the guardian of constitutional liberties against majority power. Ultimately, the civil rights movements redefined the existing conceptions of the nature of civil rights and the role of the federal government in safeguarding these rights (Foner 15).
Most importantly, the civil rights movements secured constitutional amendments that prohibited slavery and re-established the citizen status for African-Americans and other legislations grounded on these amendments such as the 1954 Supreme Courts ruling on Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Supreme Courts decision in the Brown lawsuit clearly demonstrated to the movements activists that the litigation strategy employed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) could as well undermine the supremacists practices prevalent in the South if blacks boldly stood up and said no to racial discrimination. As a result, this led to the emergence of other organizations ready to oppose state policies and laws undermining the rights of blacks.
In reality, these legal changes brought numerous opportunities for women, disabled people, and other minority groups who had been discriminated against for a long time.
However, these changes did not come on a silver platter because even after he court ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional, rights activists still had to press the government to enforce the ruling and to extend its principles to other areas such as hospitals, taverns, and in the transport sector. Thus, throughout the 50s and 60s, the rights movements, through NCAAP and other organizations sponsored several lawsuits, which sought to broaden social changes in the American society.
Apart from the Brown case, Rosa Parks initiated another major event in the civil rights movements in the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks was jailed because she refused to give up her seat to a white passengers leading to the citys bus boycott by blacks that lasted for more than one year.
Her courageous act and subsequent boycott demonstrated the inherent unity and determination of African-Americans resulting in the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; a clergy led organization that advocated for civil rights for blacks. Three years later, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed with the aim of ending segregation at lunch counters, a culture that had dominated American taverns and canteens for a long time.
The most profound campaign of the civil rights movement came in 1963 when SCLC launched an intense campaign in Birmingham that eventually culminated in the March to Washington, which attracted more than 250,000 protestors. These demonstrations received significant media coverage, which eventually forced President John F. Kennedy to call upon Congress to pass the civil rights legislation.
Despite the fact that white conservatives vehemently opposed the rising protests, the spirit of the rights activists especially from their leader Martin Luther King Jr. ensured that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. The act prohibited segregation in public places and outlawed racial discrimination in schools and work places. On the other hand, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee vehemently demanded voting rights and emphasized on black voter registration and an end to segregation laws.
Eventually, President Lyndon B. Johnson heeded the rights activists call and he ratified the new voting laws in 1965 that significantly increased the number of southern black voters. In essence, the suffrage rights for African-Americans represented an important step since it gave them the democratic right to elect leaders who could advance their cause.
Nevertheless, it is imperative to understand that that during these non-violent protests several rights participants were injured and some lost their lives as they sought their constitutional rights. White supremacists used the courts to stop protests but demonstrators defied court orders and proceeded with protests.
Sometimes opposing sides formed organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, which terrorized pro-rights leaders. Towards the end of the 60s, the civil rights movement groups faced opposing challenges from newly formed militant organizations particularly the Black Panthers Party.
Moreover, a few rights proponents regarded the rights reforms as inadequate because they believed they did not address other equally pertinent problems such as the number of rising poor blacks. Rigorous government suppression and multiple assassinations of the civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X saw the rights movements protests decline towards the end of the 60s.
Nevertheless, the rights movement struggles left an indelible mark on America. Five decades later, the achievements realized by the civil rights movement continue to influence todays socio-economic and political aspects in the American society. For example, explicit forms of racial discrimination and segregation ended and today African-Americans attend same schools with the whites.
Like other movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, the civil rights movement transformed US democracy as blacks began dominating political offices and in fact, today President Barrack Obama, an African-American heads the US. In addition, women and other minority groups immensely benefited from the civil rights movement and today women head high profile jobs in American politics.
The changes realized by the civil rights movement have been vital in remaking America as the beacon of democracy and a hub for the respect of human rights. Whereas racial discrimination is behind us, other equally important milestones in civil rights laws are on our books for purposes of regulating equal access to public facilities, equal justice, equal housing, educational, and employment opportunities (Isserman and Kazim 52).
In conclusion, the paper has extensively described how the civil rights movements ended racial discrimination and segregation in America. It has also analyzed why the Civil Rights Movement is considered the most successful and important movement in American history, besides the paper has ardently explained how the rights movement influenced US history and the lessons both present and future generations can learn from these movement.
The paper has narrated how the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Birmingham and Washington marches contributed towards the liberation of African-Americans. Finally, the paper has looked at both the positive and negative achievements of the civil rights movements and assed how the rights movement continues to influence the socio-economic and political aspects in the American society.
Works Cited
Brenda Gayle Plummer. Rising Wind: Black Americans and US Foreign Affairs, 1935-1960 Chapel Hill, 1996.
Foner Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History, Vol. 2, Second Seagull Edition Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc., 2008.
Isserman Maurice & Kazin Michael. America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s, Third Edition New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
The dominant fact of the American past was movement; the great westward expansion that animated the American life throughout the 19th century. It was so deeply ingrained in the imagination of the masses that it remained not just a plain and simple area but came to epitomize in the later years the identity of the American nation. The myth of the frontier is one of the strongest and long-lived myths of America that animates the imagination of the Americans even to this day.
The frontier cannot be marked simply as a geographical line; it has to be located in the American history as the delineator of an entire culture. In his book The Imagined Communities Benedict Anderson theorized the process by which communities, and ultimately nations, are products of unified imagination. The concept of frontier or the myth of frontier was one such imagined concept created to unify the nation into one whole, with distinct characters of its own.
The distinct character that has come to define the Americans has been created over the years through innumerable discursive practices-like through speeches, films, newspaper, theatre, songs etc. adopted at critical junctures of American history. In this paper, an attempt has been made to prepare an anthology of quotes, drawn from various sources dealing with American culture and identity. It intends to form a clear idea of the process by which this American identity was created and re-interpreted at various historical stages so as to construct a positive Oneness of their way of life- rogueness and why the hell not? attitude- making it dominant on the negative construction or the Otherness of the non-American subordinate groups.
Why should you take by force that from us which you can have by love? Why should you destroy us, who have provided you with food? What can you get by war? (Robert Blaisdell 4).
Powhatan Wahunsonacock, head of the Native American tribal confederacy, in an emotional appeal to his conquistadors coxed them to shun violence. It reminds us of the bloody battles and violent extirpations that had rocked the world of the aborigines of the distant New Land faced with the swords of their conquerors. They witnessed doomsday wrecking their way of life in the name of civilization. It was with much disdain that the question was asked, What can you get by war? Answer to that question though unfathomable has shaped a civilization, an identity, a way of life, called America.
Turner and Buffalo Bill told separate stories; indeed each contradicted the other in significant ways. Turners history was one of free land, the essentially peaceful occupation of a largely empty continent, and the creation of a unique American identity. Codys Wild West told of violent conquest, of wresting the continent from the American Indian peoples who occupied the land. (White 9).
The narrative of Buffalo Bill and that of Turner brings alive the memories of the great westward movement. The memories hark back to the days of energetic movement, action and adventure, deeply rooted not just into the character of the Americans, but also visible in their sensibilities. Though they differ in their description, their essential characterization of the American spirit remains the same. Thus, they variantly draw a picture of an American with plow in hand and the other with a gun in hand, their purpose and spirit calls forth the integral element of Americanness, to strive endlessly, to seek fearlessly, and to progress endlessly (just like the American sense of frontier which though geographically declared dead never died from the identity of the Americans.)
Like baseball, the western is a sacred part of Americas post- Civil War national mythology- a shared language, a unifying set of symbols and metaphors, and a source of (mainly male) identity. ( How the Western was Lost . Village Voice, 1991).
As emerges from this statement the West appears in American imagination not as a physical topography but as a set of values. These values have often been dubbed as the true qualities of an American. The metaphors they have ingrained in the American imagination few cherished images- of rogues, adventurers, and land boomers (as pointed by Richard Slotkin) have come to be identified as the founder of the new nation. This image has been standardized in the historical discourse continuum as the model to be aped, to be felt and to be developed to become a true (male and white) American.
In speaking to you, men of the greatest city of the West, men of the State which gave to the country Lincoln and Grant, men who preeminently and distinctly embody all that is most American in the American character, I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy pence, but to the man who does not shrink from the danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph. (Theodore D. Roosevelt. The Strenuous Life . 1899)
The speech delivered by Theodore Roosevelt in 1899 beholds the very image of American identity, so deeply entrenched in the minds of the Americans. This identity remains open ended yet is highly conglomerating in temperament. Roosevelt sets in this speech the basic characteristics that build the identity of an American. It has so far been successful in consolidating every hard working, and roguish soul, ready to accept a strenuous life to reinvigorate the American Dream, into the folds of the nation. This has acted as the ultimate triumph of a highly structured mindset called Americanness.
Today some would say that those struggles are all over that all the horizons have been explored that all the battles have been won that there is no longer an American frontier.
But I trust that no one in this assemblage will agree with those sentiments. For the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won and we stand today on the edge of a new frontier and perils a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats. (John F. Kennedy. A New Frontier . 1960).
John F. Kennedy in his famous speech delivered at the Presidential debate held at Los Angeles on 15th July 1960 sounded new hopes for the Americans by opening a new horizon- a new frontier- for them to conquer. It was in this speech that he reinvested the spirit of America- the spirit of fearlessness, the spirit of adventure and above all the spirit of frontier, back into the nationalist discourse. This speech re-affirms the American way of life, one that stands on the edge of a new frontier . The indomitable American spirit and identity knowing no other bonding force other than the frontier, which held the community together, has remained intact so far by maintaining the myth of the frontier of opportunity.
Clear and predictable on most occasions, the idea of the frontier is still capable of sudden twists and shifts of meaning, meanings considerably more interesting than the conventional and familiar definition of the frontier as a zone of open opportunity. (Limerick 68).
American identity is presented in a new light by Patricia Nelson Limerick with her concept of Velcro frontier. She characterizes in her work the essential elements of the American identity and sensibility, which were colored and shaped by the frontier. As the frontier moved westward a new source of opportunities were opened for the Americans, which Limerick has identified as a zone of open opportunity. It is in this movement a narrative of adventure, fearlessness and progress was etched which in the folkloric imagination of the Americans attained the status of the essence of American life and dream.
Southern California is sharply defined region, not merely in the geographic sense, but in the sense that it is made up of people bound together by mutual dependencies arising from common interests. (McWilliams 138).
The book of Cary McWilliams on Southern California is an enjoyable and an amazing piece of work, which makes us aware of the folklores associated with the frontier and the land beyond it. He brings forth to his readers the world beyond the frontier, which was narrativised, in the folkloric imagination of America as a land of wilderness yet adventure and opportunity, waiting to be won with sheer force. Yet demystifying the frontier from this folkloric characterization he brings out the picture of a frontier, which also fostered togetherness arising from common interest. Thus, the book reveals that the narrative of the West has so far concentrated only on the warring frontier to ingrain amongst the masses a nationalist discourse, which would invariably construct a progressiveness (both in mentality and ability to lead a strenuous life) in the American identity.
Once Americanized, former hostile groups, with the worst among them exterminated, can no longer pose any threat and indeed can assist in the prolongation of conflicts against remaining evil-doers. (John Brown. Our Indian War Are Not over Yet: Ten Ways to Interpret the War on Terror as a Frontier Conflict .)
The essay written by John Brown reveals the true character of the American identity. It is sensational as it exposes the duality dominating very construction of American identity. The essence of the adventurous American depends solely on its construction of Otherness of its opponents, be it the Red Indians (constructed as savages), or the anti-socials (constructed as terrorists). Such binary constructions are essential to stress the singularly powerfulness of the Americans because the dominating group in the process of self-elation creates the Otherness of the subordinate group so as to justify their Oneness (Beauvoir 18).
American identity, with their essential element of rogueness, virility, and why the hell not? attitude, have become the world standard of conduct. Its position calls for construction of otherness and to effect its Americanization . The frontier thus lives on providing American identity its source of sustenance.
The good thing about being Chinese on Amtrak
is no one sits next to you. The bad thing is
you sit alone all the way to Irvine. ( (Lim).
In this poem of Lim, the ethno cultural divide that plagues America has clearly been revealed. The revelation is truly sensational as it adds a new side to the American identity. It is in the very act of vilification or humbling the Other that America survives its identity. The duality, which we have already discussed pervades in spirit and essence in this book and clearly demarcates the position and identity the non-Americans have in America. The frontier which shapes the identity of the Americans on the other hand bars the ethno-cultural groups from this identity because it is on their very non-Americanness or Otherness that their Americanness rests. Therefore, the very frontier that binds the nation into a community bars the immigrants to be absorbed into that community or exclusive identity.
Bibliography
Eric Black. Our Constitution: The Myth that Binds Us. New York: Westview Press, 1988.
Eric Black candidly brings home to the reader the story underlying the making and subsequent authority held by the American Constitution in America. Breaking free of the boring narrative of sumptuous legal jargons the book brilliantly extols the history of the American Constitution drawing the reason behind its continued enjoyment of a superior status in America. He projects the Constitution as a mirror with the help of which each generation transform their believes, prejudices and attitudes into the sanctimonious law of the land.
In fact he goes so far as to unveil the mythical character of the Constitution serving to substantiate and justify believes of each generation. This book deserves to be graded with an A because this book helped me to form a clear idea about the role of the Constitution, the sacred document of a nation, in contextualizing its jargons to impart some its sanctity to the laws that is constructed from it by each generation. So, Black brings home to his readers the true nature of the constitution, a document contextualized by every generation to serve their believes and preferences. (Black)
Robert Blaisdell & Bob Blaisdell, (ed.), Great Speeches by Native Americans. New York: Courier Dover Publication, 2000.
In this book Blaisdell gives translated versions of the speeches and statements made by the aborigines or the native Americans. At different historical stages the natives of the land has had an important role to play in shaping the course of history. However, until recently they have either been kept hidden from history (Rowbotham) or have been negatively portrayed by the historical narrative of the conquerors. If we go by the standard of historical narratives so far written and recorded then it will become history of the victorious and not of the vanquished.
The voice of the subordinate is however essential to our analysis of the true nature of historical evolution. This particular book can be graded as B because it gives us a peek into the lives of the hitherto unheard of. The book accrues to the standard western narrative pattern in describing the Other subordinate group. Nevertheless, this book has helped me immensely to understand the anathema of duality or binary opposites deeply entrenched in our present society, which is responsible for creating the deep-seated tensions within the society, especially those related to racism and ethno-cultural divides. (Robert Blaisdell)
David Brooks. On Paradise Drive. London: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
In a satiric humor, this book exposes the reader to a whirlwind world of America where everybody is still moving westward, towards the frontier and is intent on re-inventing themselves out of the sheer hope of adventure that the frontier promises to hold in their imagination. The movement of the story is superb and gripping as it gradually onion peels the nature of each American locality, the urban, the sub urban and the inner-ring immigrant enclaves. It becomes the drive of a nation and its lot of citizens driving or striving towards the hope of a paradise by the sheer force and nature of their identity, the American identity.
Measured in this scale the book certainly deserves to be graded with an A. This book has helped me to contextualize the present situation, robust materialism garnered by the desired to conquer newer frontiers, in historical perspective. In fact, this book has assisted me in understanding the delicate intricacies of the American culture, more importantly American identity that has been shaped by the frontier and now serves to shape the American future by pushing it to go beyond the frontier, to build new frontiers. The frontier continues to be made and re-made and along with it American identity is redefined to move along the road to paradise. (Brooks)
Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni, William E. Justice, James Quay. California Uncovered Stories for the 21st Century. Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2005.
In this excellent collection of stories, the editors bring together a remarkable range of short stories and poems, which explore the hidden side of the American dream. In various poems and short stories brought together in this section reveals a completely new world to the readers, a world not of the Americans (the ones possessing the typical American robustness) but of the ethno-cultural populace of the country trying to align and re-articulate their fate in relation to an alien frontier.
The myth of the American Dream and the darker side of it is dealt with in this book. It explores the world of the immigrants who come to America enticed by the American Dream and have their hopes shattered by the stark reality of Otherness imposed on them because they lack the frontier related hope, that sets the American apart and binds them into the folds of nationhood. As a community (and a nation) imagined and felt by the force of movement of the frontier the Americans leaves no space for people lacking this very spirit. These people ultimately become one of the many voices who remain hidden from history .
I would grade this book with an A because its contribution to my understanding the grave situation the immigrants presently are in America is paramount. The frontier not being an integral part of their nationalist imagination the immigrants have never been able to develop an American identity. Therefore, though they reside in America they continue to be considered as alien to the land, as they lack the very spirit, which marks an American from the rest of the world. (Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni)
Daniel R. Katz (Ed.). Why Freedom Matters: Celebrating the Declaration of Independence in Two Centuries of Prose, Poetry and Song . New York: Workman Publishing Company, 2003.
Thomas Jefferson believed freedom was worth pledging ones life for it. This book celebrates such pledges made in the name of freedom by great men and women. The very essence of the poems, songs, and prose brought together in this collection reminds one of the importance and value of freedom in the life of every American.
I would grade the book C because it has helped me to get a clear view of the discourses of the nation; discourses that has spun the nation into one whole. However, the discourses also reveal that the nation so built is based on the potentiality of the frontier to progress, because it is the very expansibility of the frontier that American identity hinged on. (Katz)
Andrew Carol (Ed.). Letters of a Nation. Portland: Broadway Books, 1999.
An extraordinary collection of letters spanning over two centuries giving us a glimpse into the minds of people who shaped America as we know it today. The headings in the Table of Contents, like Letters of Arrival, Expansion, & Exploration, Letters of a New Nation, Letters of Slavery & the Civil War, Letters of War, Letters of Social Concern, Struggle, & Contempt, Letters of Humor & Personal Contempt, Letters of Love & Friendship, Letters of Family, Letters on Death & Dying, Letters of Faith & Hope, are self-evident of the nature of the documents and letters that have been used in this anthology.
A clear picture is held before our eyes of the pioneers of the nation who came to create and concretize the spirit, the indomitable spirit of America that continues to shape the future of the nation. I would grade this book with a B because it has helped me to identify the trends of different ages and how such trends of thinking has been justified in every age by taking recourse to the sanctimonious spirit that ever-dominates the American life. These letters, which has been given in a collected form in this book, tells the narrative spun in each age using the rhetoric of American adventurism and material robustness. (Carol)
Patricia Nelson Limerick and Richard White, The Frontier in American Culture. California: University of California Press, 1994. A remarkable historical work, which highlights the role played by the frontier in shaping the identity and culture of the nation, as we know it today. But how could a frontier have shaped an entire nation and its culture? This is the prime question around which the analysis of the entire book revolves. The different essays try to address this very question and interpret it in varying manner. Opinions though varying only contribute towards enriching the ongoing debate on the sanctity of the frontier concept in the American history and how over the years it has come to epitomize the American spirit.
This book definitely deserves to be graded an A because it has been an immense help to me to better understand the nature of the main force, the Velcro frontier, the myth that has come to enshroud it through different narratives, and the role it has played in bringing a whole new nation. The same values and especially the same spirit that governed the course of history of America in the past continue to animate it even today. The rogue adventurism and robust materialism with an uncanny inclination towards the unknown the spirit of Odysseus in America continues to march towards the vanishing horizon, epitomized in the frontier. (Limerick)
Carey McWilliams. Southern California: Island on the Land. Utah: Gibbs Smith, 1973.
The essays in this book analyses various folklores and images associated with the frontier or the western lands, which were constructed through various discourses in the minds of the Americans. The images that came to epitomize the frontier or the western lands became folklores that continue to grip the imagination of the nation. The book shows how the frontier, particularly Southern California, came to be colored in the imagination of the masses as a land of exotic climate, with rich pastures, and a land of savagery of wilderness that enticed the northerners into winning over the unknown. Myths spun around a land, a frontier moved the entire nation. They flocked to the frontier, to claim it, to civilize it, and re-invested the myth with prolonged sustenance.
This book deserves to be graded a C because it has helped me to understand the process by which culture can influence not just the course of history but also of climate, topography and the entire humanity. It was the myth about the frontier that pushed the Americans towards the unknown and in the process invested their identity with a permanent robustness and pushing-to-the-extreme quality. This quality has been continued even to this day if not by the Americans themselves but by the discourses that continue to take recourse to the myth to ignite the Americans to the cause of the nation, which was composed of the frontier, for the frontier, and by the frontier. (McWilliams)
Claudine Chiawei OHearn (Ed.). Half+Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial and Bicultural. New York: Pantheon Books, 1998.
One definitely wonders while looking at the culture that America has come to house how it came to be so. The anthology of essays in this book gives us a clear picture of the phenomenon of racism that implicitly governs most of the cultures of the Western world, especially that of America. There is an attempt in this work to expose the truth behind the color fetishization that has come to dominate the American life. In the very act of identifying ones Americanness the nation has deprived many into the oblivion of Otherness where they become simply a race or an ethic group. Such absurdity associated with constant identification with color, race, language frustrates the very being of the person who has to deal with it. The book demonstrates how this constant dealing with your constructed otherness splits your inner world into two cultural halves.
I would grade this book A because it has made me realize how the oneness I enjoy in my land through the different discourses would be subject to abject otherness in a foreign land, making my world split into two cultural halves. It is interesting to note that the present situation facing America with their Global War on Terrorism the stance that has been adopted against the Asian populace of the country has led their inner world to be fragmented into two distinct cultural identities.
Faced with the threat of being marked as an anti-social element in the world they have grown up into the new generation of Asians in America have developed two distinct identities- one of an American (an identity they come to adopt) and the other of their ancestors. Torn between these two identities, as the book clearly points out, has definitely made them bi-cultural. In addressing and understanding this particular problem and contextualizing it in the grains of history. (OHearn)
Anna Deavere Smith, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2003.
Documentary theater has been one of the specialties of Smith, which has won her several accolades in the past. This present work under review is another of her excellent works, which adds another feather to her hat of success. This documentary theatre is a first person narration of the atrocities associated with the riot, which took place in Los Angeles in 1992 after the verdict on Rodney King case, was passed. Smith interviewed more than 200 people, who were directly affected by the riot, and tries to depict their experiences in the plot of the narrative. I would grade this book an A because it brings us face to face with the stark reality of America. it brings home the reality that even after Reconstruction and abolition of slavery racist mentality continue to color the opinion of the people of America. Decisions are still taken based on such myriad considerations.
As she aptly points out in the introduction to the printed version of this drama, that the living condition of the Latinos and the Blacks has not improved in any way and they continue to be the butt of various acts of humiliation, indignation, and atrocities.
Coming face to face with the reality the question that is forced onto our existence is that why did things come to such a pass? The answer hits back rather forcefully and forces us to look to the frontier, once again for understanding the root cause of this problem. The frontier, as we have already discussed extensively, was the force behind the Americanness that continues to shape American character and identities. Moreover, we have discussed that the very process of creation of this Americanness calls forth the construction of Otherness of the minority. This constructed Otherness is often asserted rather vituperatively whenever the oneness of the American identity comes under threat. Therefore, I owe much to this book for making me realize the forces that has shaped and to an extent distorted the American spirit as it stands today. (Smith)
Conclusion
American culture is an intriguing way of life with the vivaciousness, robustness and roughness that we normally associate with it. However, it would be wrong to imagine that this culture was created one fine day. Cultures are normally the outcome of multiple discursive elements, which contest amongst themselves in the public arena, and the ones that win shape the culture of a nation. American culture was constructed with the single most powerful discursive element, which holds a sway over the American imagination even to this day. This singularly powerful discourse was that of the frontier. Frontier did not mean any physical boundary but was an abstract concept-epitomizing wilderness, savagery and the ultimate adventure in winning over it, which definitely had a masculine overtone to it.
In this paper dissimilar sources and quotes from them have been brought together to present a narrative of the frontier as an essential component in building the American identity. Though belonging to different sources they reiterate a singular truth, the truth of the American identity. The quotes, some extracted from speeches of great national leaders like Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, excerpts from some extraordinary historical works on the frontier myth-both fiction and non-fiction, have been used here to develop a clear idea about the role the frontier played in creating an American identity-united in its Oneness and equally racist and ruthless in developing Otherness to its self.
The paper ponders into the western identity and sensibility, which in the recent years has come dogmatically to be associated with the American identity. My paper tries to address the question of identity, especially that of America, as a key to understanding how and why the American Dream though widely promoted and encouraged remains to be highly elusive and simply a metaphor to muse oneself with.
In understanding the unique identity of America, the book by Patricia Nelson Limerick and Roger White The Frontier in American Culture has been immensely helpful. Writing this paper I have come to view America and the myth surrounding it in a new light. Understanding of the frontier myth as the driving force in America has enabled me to view the issues prevalent in modern times, one of racism, terrorism, and ethno-culturalism, in a new perspective. Overall, I have been able to contextualize each issue present in todays society in the historical continuum, which has enriched my understanding of the cultural we are living in.
References
Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. London: Vintage Classics, 1997.
Black, Eric. Our Constituion: The Myth that Binds Us. New York: Westview Press, 1988.
Brooks, David. On Paradise Drive. London: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Carol, Andrew. Letters of a Nation. Portland: Broadway Books, 1999.
Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni, William E. Justice, James Quay. California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century. Berkeley: Heydey Books, 2005.
Katz, Daniel R. Why Freedom Matters: Celebrating the Decleration of Independence in Two Centuries of Prose, Poetry and Song. New York: Workman Publishing Company, 2003.
Lim, Shirley GeokLin. Riding Into California. Chitra Bannerjee Davkarnuni, Jmaes Quay, William E. Justice ed. California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century. Heydey Books, 2005.
Limerick, Ptricia Nelson. The Adventure of the Frontier in the Twentieth Century. Richard White, Patricia Nelson Limerick, James R. Grossman, Newberry Library. The frontier in American culture: an exhibition at the Newberry Library, 1994 1995. California: University of California Press, 1994. 67-102.
McWilliams, Carey. Southern California: An Island on the Land. Utah: Gibbs Smith, 1973.
OHearn, Claudine Chiawei. Half+ Half: Writers on Growing up biracial and Bicultural. New York: Pantheon Books, 1998.
Robert Blaisdell, Bob Blaisdell. Great Speeches by Native Americans. New York: Courier Dover Publications, 2000.
Rowbotham, Sheila. Hidden from history: 300 years of womens oppression and the fight against it. London: Pluto Press, 1977.
Smith, Anna Deavere. Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2003.
White, Richard. Frederick Jackson Turner and Buffalo Bill. Richard White, Patricia Nelson Limerick, James R. Grossman, Newberry Library. The frontier in American culture: an exhibition at the Newberry Library, 1994 1995. California: University of California Press. 7-66.
Racism is the misconstrued belief that race is the fundamental causal factor of human abilities and traits and that differences in race results in automatic hierarchical disparities among people. Most global conflicts and major points of diversions result from racial differences. From the Middle East conflicts to east-west divide to African tribal clashes, the drive remains taxonomical differences. Numerous ways have been explored in an attempt to close the differences and build a harmonious world where everyone appreciates the other fully without any prejudice and misguided perceptions. Indeed racism remains one of the most important and persistent social problems in the modern world. A racial grouping which feels threatened by eminent loss of power decides to exercise some economic religious or political strength to ensure they maintain privilege. This results instabilities and conflict. There is no biological bias for race. Race difference is just a variation of a common humanity. The taxonomical differences manifest on the bodies often result in separations of the mind. It is these mental divisions that separate the society. Various solutions have been applied to specific situations to resolve racial issues. The US has legislated affirmative action to address inequalities among whites and blacks. However, education has been touted as the most important route of reducing the racial disparities. This paper exposes the ineffectiveness of education in effective unlearning of racial inequalities.
The proposition that people should be educated on racial issues in order to boost tolerance makes much sense. Across the globe special curricula have been developed to instill racial information in the minds of young children in a bid to make them more accommodative to people of different races. The problem with this method is that it focuses on the surface issues. Too much emphasis is given to the skin colour instead of the deep level value systems. These value systems define how people think and act in accordance to the world they live in. Clearly, the problem is not whether one is white, black or brown, as proposed by the educational system; it is the deep value systems within us that do not merge. The value systems strongly advice the decision making process. The decisions made automatically differ resulting in conflicts.
It is thus common to find a middle-class white person share more similarities with a middle-class black person than a higher class white person. Therefore, what divides us is not our genetic make-up but our difference value systems. Genes only give the skin color but the value systems define our actions. Similarities in action patterns among people of the same race are only based on close relations and commonality in origins and cultures but not intrinsic to their color. This understanding is very different from the principles employed in using education to unlearn racial inequalities. The educational system is based on the precept that one should accept and appreciate the other regardless of the color of their skin as this is the right thing to do. Not much consideration is given to understand why certain people behave the way they do. This is the only viable approach to fully induct the recipients in the in depth truth of the solitude nature o human race and the pointless divisions that have continuously haunted the world.
A basic understanding that racism is the refusal to accept the other as an equal should be the starting point. Since racism has no biological basis, it is caused by a consistent social orientation which can be effectively unlearned and unstructured socially. The basic requirement to effectively fight racism is the understanding of the other persons point of view and appreciating their concerns while making their choices. This minimizes conflicts resulting from divergences in determining the correct action to take. Whether one is a victim, a victimizer, a by-stander or a rescuer in a racism case, the common understanding should be that no one race is superior than the other and that difference views emerge from different orientations and not the skin color.
Such profound understanding is the most viable start of healing and reconciliation among the races in the world. Relying on school education to enlighten the person and make him /her see beyond race is not the best option. Evidence points to the fact that racism cuts across the educational qualification. The very highly educated are as racist as the illiterates. Advice should be towards self evaluation in terms of the beliefs, values and the thoughts towards others. If indeed other people who may be different to us elicit some form of discomfort then a self probe may be necessary to dig out the main reasons for the discomfort. This is because the greatest basis of racism is prejudice. On understanding the reasons, enquiries should then be made to clear out the unknowns in order to make informed judgments regarding the group. This is best way forward as it digs deep into the root causes and once the realization is home, one completely changes his/ her way of thinking forever.
The fact that racism was an integral part of the U.S. history is undeniable. However, little concerns are represented in regard to the role of Asian immigrants arriving to the New World. In the context of narrative history of Oriental minority groups inhabiting the United States, an acknowledged historian Ronald Takaki introduces a unique perspective on the Asian American history.
In particular, the scholar asserts that racism has become the major factor determining the diverse experiences in the U.S. history. More importantly, he reconsiders the influence of capitalism on attitude to Asian immigrants in 20s and 30s of the past century. During this period, planters developed cultural diverse mechanisms of controlling the flow of labor power.
Representing Chinese workers are tool for advancing capitalism, they strive to create the competition and encourage indigenous population to accept the working conditions. Therefore, the Asian ethnic groups are often neglected in the Asian American history because their roles were confined to workforce development only.
In his book, Takaki asserts that from all ethnic groups arrived to the continent Asian people were the most excluded ones from the written record. Myths and stereotypes about Asian people as foreigners and aliens are more common in American society. In particular, the historian notes, many existing history books give Asian Americans only passing notice or overlook them together (Takaki 6).
Though American people express their ignorance toward Asian ancestries in an innocent and casual way, the ethnic group is still underestimated. In addition, U.S. history often neglects the achievements and discoveries made by Asian people that contributed to economic and social development of the country.
The issue of racism in Asian American history should be reconsidered with regard to the arguments introduced by Takaki. This is of particular concern to the stories the historian reveals while thinking over Asian identity.
Takaki expresses his concern with social position of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino, as well as analyzes how they treat their contributions to the U.S. history in general and Asian history in particular. To enlarge on the issue, it should be stressed that in the telling and retelling of their stories, the elderly immigrants reclaim the authorship of their own history (Takaki 9). The younger generation should be aware of the experiences that their ancestors endured.
Insufficient attention to the history of Asian Americans is proved by lack of written records describing their lifestyles and traditions, as well as defining their place in the American history. In fact, because Asian immigrants were mostly regarded as workers taking lower positions in society, they were rarely mentioned in historic books. To support the idea, Okihiro claims that Asian history, like history of other people of color is enriched with remarkable events, contributions, and achievements.
It also bears huge importance for the overall history of humanity. In particular, the historian presents a family album that &is emphatically personal account that is often isolated from a social context an insularity that is both is attraction and its danger (Okihiro 94). The events illustrated images of poverty, despair, and isolation. They also highlight the social relations in which Asian people have been engaged while arriving in the United States.
Visual history of Asian Americans, therefore, reflects vividly the structure of the community in immigration. Moreover, it identifies individual identity and its role in the social order. Thus, individual accounts of peoples lives in immigration allow a historian to define the social relations tracing their attitudes and beliefs. Confronting the reality of America, Orientals did not expect that their historic significance would be underestimated.
Although the Asian Americans sought for better life and appraisal in a new world, they also strived to maintain the sense of belonging to the ethnic community. Therefore, the immigration policies and legal regulations established in the United States have shaped relationships with Asians.
In particular, Hing insists, [Asians] learned to selectively ignore, rediscover, reinterpret, recombine, rewrite, and recycle laws, treaties, and agreement to respond to shifting and often conflicting views about Asians (341). Thus, immigration policies have a potent impact on gender, social status, employment rates, income, and identity.
Asian American history is also closely associated with constant attempts of American authorities to controlling and remaking the ethnic minorities. However, limits of legal control provide consequences of immigration regulations. In particular, policy makers typically considered Asian people as a monolith, seldom acknowledging their social and cultural diversity (Hing 190). The U.S. government characterized Asian Americans as objects, neglecting their ingenuity in response to regulations.
Moreover, they considered that these ethnic minorities should not be involved in political and economic processes and, therefore, the dynamics of immigrations was insufficiently controlled. Such an attitude to the roles of Asian Americans in developing the U.S. history points to racial inequality, discrimination, and pressures.
Misconceptions created about the contributions that Asian immigrations reflected the narrow viewpoint on the American history. A great number of existing history books attain secondary importance to role of Asian Americans in building the history of United States. As a result, wrong stereotypes have been created about pioneers and outstanding figures that played a pivotal role in building the U.S. nations. Many Asian representatives were even excluded from this list of contributors.
Reluctance to include Asian activist relates to the wrong images of cultural identity and background of the people. In fact, many stories about the immigrants need to be reconsidered and included into books to complement the U.S. history and make it more meaningful for the Asian American people.
In this respect, Takaki emphasizes, the view of Asian immigrants as sojourners and European immigrants as settlers is both a mistaken notion and a widely held myth (10). Many newcomers from Europe and Asia planned to stay in the United States for a short period of time. Many sojourning travelers had left their families expecting to find a well-paid job in America and return home after a while.
Many immigrants from Europe remained in America for a much longer period; they immobilized by getting married and raising family here to become the part of the American society. However, the majority of newcomers from Asia felt they are not encouraged to stay in the United States despite the fact that Asian people had lived for three generations here.
Unequal and discriminative attitude to the newcomers closely relates to the theory represented by Simmel. In particular, the sociologist explains discrimination as the intention to the society to consider intruders as the ones that corrupt national identity.
Therefore, they are in a state of detachment, viewed as clannish, rigidly attached to their old country and their old culture (12). Such an assumption, however, is inadmissible to the current policy of globalization and cultural diversity. Moreover, the United States can be regarded as a country of multiple cultural diversity.
Estrangement stands out when immigrants inhabit the new land and develop trade relations in an effort to establish ties of locality and kinship. Within the context of the host society, the newcomers are not considered from the angle of their individuality and identify, but from the angle of their alien origin. Thus, American society was reluctant to consider tradition and nationality as part of American culture. Lack of cross-cultural awareness was among the most important factors determining racism in the United States.
Detachment of American society from traditions and customs of marginal groups reveals their inability to face cultural diversity. Merger of cultures and nation has always been a complicated process and, therefore, Asian Americans met strict opposition on the part of the dominating society. In this respect, Takakis arguments in favor of Asian American history are justified.
In conclusion, it should be stressed that U.S. history is closely intertwined with such urgent issues as racism, inequality, and discrimination. Insufficient attention to the Asian groups living in the United States is an unquestionable fact because few written records mention their roles and contributions to the development of American society.
Ronald Takaki, an acknowledged historian, challenges the American history to emphasize significant gaps in recounting the events related to immigration. In particular, the scientist emphasizes negligent attitude to the Asian nation, including Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino as an important source of controlling labor power. Asian American marginal groups lack original ties and relations with the dominating society because of the wrong stereotypes created in regards to their identity.
Works Cited
Hing, Bill. Making and Remaking Asian America. US: Stanford University Press, 1994. Print.
Okihiro, Gary Y. Margins and Mainstreams: Asians in American History and Culture. US: University of Washington Press, 1994. Print.
Takaki, Ronald. From a Different Shore: Their History Bursts with Telling, In Strangers from a Different Shore, Ronalrd Takaki (Ed.), US: Little, Brown and Company, 1998. Print. pp. 3-18.
The British colonization was a long, complicated, and severe process that has influenced and either positively or negatively changed the lives of thousands of people. During an extended period of time, the British Empire had its colonies in a significant number of countries, including Africa, America, and Australia. Unfortunately, the ways the colonial government and the English settlers treated the native people were horrible and inhuman. There was no respect, empathy, and brotherhood but only cruelty and the desire to destroy. Australia and its indigenous population were not an exception: while facing injustice, discrimination, and inequality, they became witnesses of various manifestations of racism from the British people. Precisely this colonial racism and genocide can be considered to be the cruelest in the history of the world and may have influenced the ideas and plans of Adolf Hitler, who got inspired by the destruction of the indigenous population.
Definition of Racism
Before discussing the impact of the British colonies on the indigenous Australians and racism in general, it is crucial to mention the definition of racism. It is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized ( Definition of racism in English, n.d.). Thus, any negative thoughts, words, and actions towards a person that are based on the color of his or her skin are considered racism (Miles, 2004). In this particular paper, the English colonial settlers cruel actions against the indigenous Australians, including unnecessary killings, incidents of raping, human trafficking, and hunt for people, are referred to as racism.
Background Historical and Cultural Information
About the Indigenous Australians
The English colonial settlers arrived in Australia in 1788, but the continent has been occupied by indigenous Australians for more than 40000 years. Those people used to survive on wild foods while being gatherers and hunters: women collected honey, shellfish, insects, and vegetable foods, and men fished or hunted (Bultin, 1993). Depending on the availability of food and water resources, they used to constantly move and did not have permanent settlements or domestic animals (Kiernan, 2007). Mens weapons included boomerangs, shields, throwing sticks or clubs, hunting spears, and stone axes, while women used digging sticks.
It is essential to notice that the indigenous Australians used to produce tools and goods for their own usage, satisfaction, or consumption, not for exchanging or selling them. The fact that they recognized more extensive kinship relations that were of vital importance to many of their economic and social practices makes it rather difficult to claim that these people were primitive, less-developed, and wild tribes (Bultin, 1993). On the contrary, they were quite civilized in the most simple and positive meaning of this word (Kiernan, 2007). What is more, these larger kin groups acknowledged property rights in land, ritual, and other assets. There were some conflict episodes and a limited trade beyond and within these groups.
A significant number of indigenous people used to live on the continent several centuries ago. When the English settlers arrived in Australia, there were between six and seven hundred cultural-linguistic groups (Bultin, 1993). Researchers estimated that in 1788 there were between 300,000 and one million indigenous people inhabited in Australia; however, some scientists tend to believe that the actual number was up to a million and a half (Jalata, 2013, p. 2). Unfortunately, in 1901, fewer than 100,000 indigenous Australians remained alive (Kiernan, 2007). The suggested reasons for this societal destruction are cruel killings, the withdrawal of resources, and severe disease episodes.
The truth is that the Australian population lacked immunological defenses, and European diseases that exposed them to destruction included tuberculosis, pneumonia, measles, influenza, venereal disease, and smallpox. Nevertheless, precisely cruel racism is considered the primary reason (Bourke, Edwards, Bourke, & Edwards, 1998). The English settlers and their descendants believed that they were exclusively worthy of life and wellness, unlike the people of the native population who were referred to as wild and primitive (Craig, 2011). The colonists expropriated the land by removing the Australians, taking them away from what they loved, cutting them from their valuable water and food resources. Finally, the English colonialists engaged themselves in horrible genocidal and racial massacres.
The History of the British Invasion
Before discussing the effect of the British colonization of Australia on racism, it is essential to describe the history of invasion. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the west coast of Australia had already been explored and mapped by Dutch, English, and French sailors. However, at that time, no attempts were made to populate the territory (Kiernan, 2007). In 1770, James Cooks British expedition explored and mapped the east coast of the continent, disembarking for the first time on April 29 at Botany Bay (Bourke et al., 1998). Many years later, on January 26, 1788, captain Arthur Phillip established a convict settlement in Sydney Cove, which later became the city of Sydney. Precisely this event marked the history of the British colony named New South Wales. The colony included not only Australia but also New Zealand. Later, in 1829, the settlers founded the Swan River Colony that became the nucleus of the future state of Western Australia. First, it was established as a free colony, but then, it also began to accept convicts due to an acute shortage of labor.
The colonization of Australia was accompanied by the establishment and expansion of settlements across the continent. Therefore, extended areas were cleared of forest and shrubbery and prepared for agricultural purposes. Unfortunately, this process started to destroy the lands, had a severe impact on the lifestyle of the Australian aborigines, and forced them to retreat from the coasts (Bourke et al., 1998). The British settlers were interested in their own prosperity, which meant that they had to get rid of all obstacles on the way to their purpose (Conklin & Fletcher, 1999). Thus, they systematically undermined the foundations of the lives of the indigenous population; in other words, they conquered their living space.
The British colonialists considered the Australian aborigines as primitive people who could not develop and were not worthy of life. Wild tribes were killed and exterminated by the settlers and convicts (Craig, 2011). However, the gentle and kind-hearted indigenous Australians were not so submissive, and after the farmers took their land from them, the natives took their spears and tried to resist the outsiders, who were armed with firearms (Jalata, 2013). Unfortunately, the forces were unequal, and the British organized a real hunt for the aborigines.
What was happening at those times, especially in Tasmania, was the real genocide. The evil created by the settlers and its consequences resulted from the rude and shameless behavior and a monstrous, unforgivable crime (Jalata, 2013). What seems even more horrible is that the indigenous Australians seemed to have only two choices they could either fight and be murdered or give up and become parodies of themselves and their ancestors (Craig, 2011). In the late 1830s, looking at the indigenous Australians was horrifying: they were humiliated, depressed, confused, exhausted, and lost (Jalata, 2013). It was unbelievable how the living people and the natural masters of this land turned into the ghosts of the past.
The Ways of Manifestation of Racism
The extermination of the aboriginal Australians could be viewed as hunting or some kind of wild sport. The colonialists were proud of their actions, and killing a native was considered a success. It is well-known that the indigenous Australians were not the only ones who had to suffer from the cruelty and mercilessness of English people (Conklin & Fletcher, 1999). On the other part of the world, native Americans were also hunted, murdered, raped, and faced endless horror (Daunton, 1999). In Africa, native people faced extreme injustice and ha to either fight for their lands and die or give up and hope for the mercy of the settlers (Diamond, 1997). Therefore, such terrible behavior of the English people in Australia was not an exception but a rule (Huttenback, 1973). For some reason, to populate new lands, they decided to abandon the laws of conscience and morality and choose the path of violence and racism.
Negative Attitude
As mentioned above, there were many ways the English colonialists manifested racism and genocide. First, it was their utterly negative attitude to the aboriginal Australians. British people did not choose coming with peace, uniting with the natives, sharing their cultures, and building a robust mixed community (Huttenback, 1973). They did not even try to respect the fact that Australia belongs to them and leaving some parts of the land to the indigenous Australians. Instead, the settlers decided to choose the path of war and take what did not belong to them. The reason for acting like this was that British people did not consider the aboriginal Australians as people who are equal to them (Jalata, 2013). As mentioned above, they were seen as primitive, undeveloped, and ugly creatures. Precisely this attitude, as well as considering oneself higher and more worthy of living than another, is primarily referred to as racism.
Murder
Second, as already discussed in the paper, the settlers thought that they had the right to murder the indigenous Australians. They used to organize real hunts for people, chase the aborigines through the forest, make them feel like beasts who are hunted down, and enjoy this inhuman and cruel process (Nogueira, 2013). The colonialists used to kill men, women, and even children, destroying the whole families. In 1885, a new method of killing the aborigines emerged, which was considered quite sophisticated and amazing among the settlers and their workers. Frightened and desperate Indigenous Australians were given food, which they trustfully ate (Carey & McLisky, 2009). Some of them were invited by the colonialists to their place and fed with meat. However, it was not done with the best intentions, since all the food was half strychnine, which is why the natives who tasted it died in terrible agony (Carey & McLisky, 2009). The owner of the Long Lagoon colony, using this trick, destroyed more than a hundred natives. Despite this terrible crime, he was never punished or judged for his actions.
At the end of the nineteenth century, another innocent fun appeared in Queensland, located in northern Australia. The settlers amused themselves by driving the whole family (a husband, a wife, and all the children) into the water with the crocodiles. Murder, in any way, was considered the only correct treatment of the natives. One of the best ways, however, was to shoot them like wild or sick animals. To a modern person, such ideas will seem inhuman, bloody, and cruel actions that require immediate punishment, but in those days, it was the norm, a necessity, and a rigid principle (Hamerow, 1983). Some colonialists shot all the men they met in their pastures because they were considered cattle killers (Carey & McLisky, 2009). Women were killed because they gave birth to cattle-killers, and children because they would inevitably become cattle-killers in the future.
Rape
Despite the fact that the aborigines were not considered human, the trade of native women flourished among Anglo-Australian farmers. The English settlers hunted them in whole groups, and those women who could be caught were waiting for terrible torment and slow death (Kociumbas, 2004). Their women were passed from farmer to farmer, and after a while, they were simply thrown out into the street, where they slowly died of the disease.
What is more, rape was also used as a unique terror mechanism that helped destroy indigenous Australians communities and families. Researchers note that some settlers held indigenous women and small girls and used them for sexual gratification (Jalata, 2013, p. 8). This attitude towards women of any race is not permissible and should be severely punished. However, the British colonialists did not care that they were violating all the laws of morality and conscience, and the government did not see it necessary to punish them either. The rape of indigenous women is a terrible, inhuman manifestation of racism.
Human Trafficking and Kidnapping
Unfortunately, those actions of the British settlers discussed above were not the only ones. Another way of manifestation of racism was human trafficking. Not only they captured aboriginal women, men, and children and sold them to other countries, but they also got engaged in trade in body parts of indigenous people for scientific purposes (Jalata, 2013, p. 9). Researchers note that European scientific societies and medical schools were rather interested in dead and living specimens (Kociumbas, 2004). Therefore, they made a deal with the English colonialists and purchased various parts of bodies, skulls, and skeletons.
In addition to raping women and slaughtering, massacring, and trafficking in men, children, and the aged, the English settlers also used to kidnap young girls and boys. They needed them to satisfy their demand for labor for harvesting and housework (Kociumbas, 2004). Fortunately, in Australia, there were no manufacturing industries and rich mines (Woollacott, 2015). That is why the colonialists had never wanted much from Aboriginal people except their women and their land; for the labor, the settlers mainly depended on convict labor and imported coolies (Kociumbas, 2004, p. 92). Therefore, they did not kidnap the indigenous people frequently; nevertheless, such crimes were committed, and the children had to work in the settlements and endure beatings and humiliations.
How Racism Was Supported and Encouraged
To understand why the colonialists were not prevented from these actions, it is necessary to explore how British authorities reacted to these terrible actions. For example, in Tasmania, the hunt for people was entirely sanctioned by the English government (Nogueira, 2013). Final extermination on a large scale could only be accomplished with the help of the authorities and the military. The soldiers drove the natives between two boulders, shot all the men, and then dragged the women and children out of the rock crevices to kill them too (Moorehead, 2000). What is more, all these measures were not kept secret. The murders, rapes, and violence were public because the more natives a settler kills or captures, the more respected he or she becomes (Carey & McLisky, 2009). The British government supported such a policy and did not consider it necessary to stop the settlers from being cruel.
For example, in the years when the aboriginal Australians were fed poisonous meat in New South Wales, it was useless to try to achieve justice. Those who invited the natives to their homes and gave them poisoned food to kill did not receive the punishment they deserved (Schwarz, 1996). Politicians, many academics, government, newspapers, and the colonial police fully supported any form of violence against the aborigines.
As mentioned above, the English colonialists used to sell body parts of the natives for scientific purposes. Precisely the fact that the aboriginal Australians were so extensively dismembered and exhibited as scientific freaks made for a particularly virulent form of racism (Jalata, 2013, p. 9). Unfortunately, this fact made it not only challenging but increasingly impossible for even an educated and model indigenous people to become and feel acceptable in settler society (Kociumbas, 2004). Although white colonial men continued to rape the native women as it was their right, the aboriginal men appeared to be extremely vulnerable to being found guilty of raping white women and capital conviction (Paradies, 2016). This fact proves the impunity of the settlers and the readiness to punish the indigenous Australians even for those crimes that they did not commit.
Scientists
A significant number of scientists used to come to Australia in order to become witnesses of the crimes and humiliations. Most of them were not terrified but amused by the actions of the English colonists (Schwarz, 1996). Those philosophers, writers, doctors, scientists, and politicians referred to the laws of evolution and argued that only the complete destruction of the aborigines would make the further development of the white race possible. In other words, they did not consider the aboriginal Australians as equal to them. Such horrific statements from authority figures encouraged the colonists, who continued to kill.
Government
As for the government, no authorities were interested in preventing the settlers from committing those inhuman crimes. It was meaningless to seek justice and ask the British government for help or support (Schwarz, 1996). The only purpose they wanted to achieve was the extension of lands and power of the British Empire, and the terrible and bloody price did not scare or confuse them.
Journalists and Newspapers
A number of journalists and newspapers also contributed to the increasing racism of the English colonists. Week by week, they used to print some scathing comments, rude remarks from colonists, and racist remarks from academics and politicians (Jalata, 2013). It is difficult to deny that reputable newspapers greatly influenced people since they were practically the only source of information. Not only the colonists and people in the British Empire but also the inhabitants of the whole world read them (Cabrera & Unruh, 2012). Therefore, most people became more and more confident in the legality of the actions of the English settlers and the insignificance of the lives of the Australian aborigines.
Uniqueness and Influence of Racism in Australia
Actually, it is rather disturbing to think about how one group of people decided to use modern legal means, technology, and education in order to hide severe, terrible, and unforgivable crimes against humanity. Racism and genocide in Australia may be considered unique but not because of its violence but due to the apparent modernity and legality. Precisely modern technology made the effectiveness and pace of the killing possible, and modern law provided the judicial niceties that condoned it (Jalata, 2013, p. 9). Not colonial ignorance but modern education took part in the creation of those conditions in which legally sanctioned cover-ups and official silence were able to prevail (Kociumbas, 2004). If not for these conditions, it would be easier to combat racism and genocide.
Justifications of the Racism
Nowadays, it is evident that racism and genocide are extraordinarily wrong and unforgivable crimes. All people are equal, and fortunately, this idea is recognized by most humans (Cabrera & Unruh, 2012). Though equality and justice are not achieved ultimately, and racism is not entirely destroyed, the modern world is closer to these goals than ever. The rules of morals, conscience, and laws usually do not let people discriminate each other. Currently, racism and genocide are less likely to happen than empathy, compassion, and support.
However, because of these ideas of the modern world, several questions arise. Why were English colonial settlers acting so cruelly and remorselessly? Why were they not stopped by the authorities, newspapers, governments, religion, or at least moral principles? Finally, what were the justifications that approved violence, trafficking in women and children, hunt for people, and a significant number of killings, rapes, and assaults? How did the English colonialists defend their actions, and why were they sure that there will be no punishment for these crimes?
To answer these questions, it is necessary to investigate some facts related to the ideas of the settlers and the reaction of the government. For example, when the aboriginal Australians acted rebelliously and tried to fight back, the English settlers believed that the only way from such a situation is to exterminate them completely (Rose, 2001). It was their justification for terrible actions; it is hard to disagree that when a person sees only one choice, he or she has to make it (Paradies, 2016). Those indigenous people who became captured were transported from the continent (Nogueira, 2013). On June 30, 1933, there were 80710 full-blooded and half-caste Aborigines ( Statement from the aborigines progressive association, n.d.). Nowadays, there are about only 47,000 full-blooded Aborigines left in Australia.
The colonialists did not realize and did not even think that they were breaking any laws by killing or selling the natives. The main argument of the British people who killed twenty-eight peaceful natives in 1838 was that all the settlers were doing this, meaning that such actions were correct and necessary (Woollacott, 2015). Seven English settlers (from the lower classes) were hanged for such a crime that year. It can be assumed that the punishment for the murder of Aboriginal people was more the exception than the rule because before this terrible massacre at Myall Creek, all actions to exterminate Australias indigenous people remained unpunished.
Another common belief that could justify the genocide of the aboriginal Australians consisted of the attitude to them as creatures. The problem was that the colonists were ensured that the natives did not have souls (Jalata, 2013). In other words, they were worse than animals, just some empty shells that looked like people but actually were not them. For the religious British colonists, this fact completely changed their attitude towards the aborigines (Cabrera & Unruh, 2012). Since they do not have souls, it means that they can be killed, sold, and raped from the point of view of all existing rules and laws. This racist attitude was widespread not only in Australia but also in the colonies of America, Africa, and Asia.
The Attempts to Stop the Racist Settlers
Fortunately, especially in the early twentieth century, not all people supported the unjust and brutal killing of Australian aborigines. Moreover, in 1927, a serious attempt was made to punish those settlers who continued to commit crimes against the natives (Nadel, 2019). A year earlier, there was a massacre of the indigenous Australians, which finally attracted public attention. The conditions under which it happened were so egregious that they forced the government to take the necessary measures (Nadel, 2019). Thus, in 1927 the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Alleged Killing and Burning of Bodies of Aborigines in East Kimberley and into Police Methods When Effecting Arrests was established (Nadel, 2019, para. 3). Its purpose was to find out how many natives were killed by the colonists and police at Forrest River. This official investigation was not successful, and the commission was fundamentally compromised. However, it was the first severe attempt to stop the killing of indigenous Australians.
What is more, Christian missionaries have also tried to end the killings and violence against Australian Aborigines. They challenged the notion of soullessness among Aboriginal people and saved the lives of many of Australias last indigenous people (Walls, 1997). However, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia originally mandated that Aboriginal people be ignored when counting the population of individual states (Jalata, 2013). Thus, the aborigines were declared not people already at the constitutional level, which was difficult to prevent.
The Influence on the Worlds Racism
It is hard to disagree that such a process of killing the aboriginal Australians had a significant impact on the history of the whole world. Some researchers believe that precisely this colonial racism and genocide may have influenced the ideas and plans of Adolf Hitler (Bernhard, 2017). He got inspired by the destruction of the indigenous population aimed at making more space for those who considered themselves better and more worthy of living. Moreover, the ideas of the unworthiness of the lives of the indigenous Australians reminds of Hitlers beliefs (Bernhard, 2017). Just as the colonists were sure that the complete destruction of the aborigines would lead to the white peoples development and domination of the whole world, Hitler considered it necessary to get rid of all non-Nordic races. Therefore, the racism of the British colonization had an extremely significant effect on the racism of the world.
Nowadays, racism is not as strong as it used to be several centuries ago. However, the fact that it still exists makes it necessary to define the reasons for that and eliminate them as soon as possible. For example, Goodfellow (2019) suggests that one of the reasons the modern generation sometimes performs racist actions is that they do not know their countrys history.
The genocide of the indigenous Australians was an inhuman and terrible process, but it did happen, and nowadays, it is unforgivable to forget or keep silent about it. People cannot change the fact that it took place but can use this event in order to make sure that it will not happen again (Morris, 2020). The writer notices that if we were all taught about colonial history in school, we would learn that many of the people who came here from colonies and former colonies did so as citizens (Goodfellow, 2019, para 4). It is evident that the racism of the British colonists has negatively influenced the whole world. However, knowing and telling about this event can contribute to the elimination of racism in general.
Conclusion
To draw a conclusion, it is possible to say that the British colonists had used social organization and capitalist technology for being engaged in violent and cruel crimes against humanity in Asia, Africa, Australia, and America. In the Australian continent, the settlers perfected their racist acts of genocide and terrorism in order to benefit their Empire at the cost of the aboriginal Australians. The English colonists may be considered the global leaders in racist activities both in terms of a talent for innovation and overall efficiency. Their actions have significantly influenced the worlds racism and cannot be forgotten.
References
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Racism, especially in the U.S., is a real social vice that has attracted noteworthy attention for many years. Different people living in America during different periods, especially from the nineteenth century, viewed racism as a social threat that needs concerted efforts to come to an end. Frederick Douglass and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento are some of the earliest scholars to write about racism to advocate for equality. Dr. King Jr. is famous for publicly declaring his dream of a U.S. free of racism in the future. However, the dreams of Dr. King Jr. and several other leaders wishing for a fair America remain a mere dream to date. Arguably, racism remains a critical issue in America because of the significant division and contradiction among its scholars and parties pushing to alleviate the vice in the U.S. communities. The present work uses Hookers book to correct the notion that real differences exist between racial accounts between Mexican and African American scholars.
Reading different scholarly accounts on racism often makes one perceive the issue as subjective. For example, there is a mistaken notion that racial reports from Mexican scholars and authors differ from those provided by African American authors. This aspect often leads to wars and further divisions among parties fighting against racism, thus, creating room for the vice to continue (Lopez and Candis). Such divisions, however, stand to decline or end courtesy of literary works like that of Juliet Hooker. Hooker is a political science scholar in the U.S. who is highly concerned with racial issues. The authors 2017 book, for instance, seeks to shed light on the commonality and thematic similarities among four racist scholars and writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Hooker juxtaposes the works of two Africa-America and two Mexican race scholars to show their similarities in anti-racial concepts. Among the four scholars are Douglass and Vasconcelos, the first persons to write influential accounts on races. Douglass was African American, a former slave, and a brilliant individual who fought to become a powerful public figure and author. On the other hand, Vasconcelos was a witty Mexican politician, revolutionist, and philosopher with a deep interest in race and racial issues, just like Douglass. These racial scholars lived during different times, but their works exhibit noteworthy similarities. By covering the two scholars and others, Hooker succeeds in showing that the perceived differences between racism as viewed by Mexicans and African Americans are erroneous. He instead, proves that Douglass and Vasconcelos works on racism inform each other (Hooker 196). Consequently, the author insists that racism scholars and policymakers must understand the connections between the two seemingly antagonizing hemispheres of racism scholars, Mexicans, and African Americans, to work together.
Additionally, Hookers work discussion of Mexican racial accounts or experiences as exceptional is wrong and leads to mistaken thematic divisions that are not warranted. Using the example of Douglass and Vasconcelos, for instance, Hooker insists that both Mexicans and the African American scholars arguments target similar plights of racial minorities in the U.S. Hooker juxtaposition Vasconcelos Cosmic Race theory to Douglasss account of ethnicity-based segregation in the U.S. as a way of showing the similarities between the racial versions of the two Americas. Vasconcelos theory is a twentieth-century concept that finds its basis in Douglasss ninetieth-century work on Americas racial disintegration (Hooker 37). Therefore, the two scholars works do a great work of informing each other for a clearer understanding of racism.
In Vasconcelos work, the scholar provides Latin Americas mestizaje communities with a lasting solution to Americas issues due to racism. Describing mestizajes effectiveness in providing social stability in the U.S. further makes Vasconcelos term Americas democracy as a weak one (Hooker 167). Despite their perceived differences, both Douglass and Vasconcelos works serve a similar purpose of challenging Americas racial policies to change to include all races. The similarities in the two scholars accounts, thus, prove Hookers correctness in making her argument. To clear the air, Hooker accepts that Latin Americans version of racism often tries to present the regions account as superior to African Americans, leading to contradictions. Despite such a revelation, however, a deeper look into the arguments of both Mexican and African American authors on racism depicts noteworthy similarities.
Addressing the issue of hemispherical stands on racism also makes Hookers account genuine. The writer notes that the various dissimilarities between the two Americas concerning the subject matter (racial treatments and relations) are understandable by appreciating each writers experiences and period. According to Hooker, it is significantly impossible for Mexican scholars to have the same thoughts about racism as African Americans living in the U.S. due to their differences. Vasconcelos, for example, was a Mexican politician and revolutionist with significantly minimum exposure to U.S. racism. The author, therefore, wrote about the subject by simply relating the past racial accounts regarding the U.S. situation to the happenings in Latin America.
The Cosmic Race model, for example, came to be through Vasconceloss study of the U.S. civil war and comparing it to the peace realized in the Latin American region where people appreciated their bi-racial origins. Hooker employs the hemispherical concept to argue that being in the U.S. or Latin America gave one a different experience of racism (45). The writer utilizes the examples of the various prolific writers on the racial subject to make her work more compelling. By utilizing the hemispherical argument, Hooker justifies her account that managing racial issues can only become a reality if different hemispheres choose to work together instead of contracting each other.
The present work agrees with Hookers account of racism significantly based on several elements. Hookers primary purpose is to show that divisions among African American and Latin Americans versions of racism are unnecessary. That is because the works of elite scholars from the two hemispheres relate significantly. Hooker provides real examples of how Douglass, an African American scholar covering the issue of racism in the U.S., relates and informs Vasconcelos, a twentieth-century Mexican scholar on racism. Better still, he compares the works of Douglass and Faustino Sarmiento to show their relationship as nineteenth-century accounts of racism. Comparing real works by prolific authors from the two divides gives his argument a significant holding. Based on her work, African American scholars handling the issue of racism must learn from the advances realized by Latin Americans for synergy. However, Hooker maintains that separation and contradiction in handling racial concerns make managing the social vice hard.
In conclusion, Hookers argument regarding the need to end philosophical wars between Latin Americans and African Americans on racism is compelling. The author refers to the two groups as two Americas that oppose each other. To prove the need to end the unwanted rift and fights, Hooker uses accounts of Douglass, Vasconcelos, Du Bois, and Vasconcelos to show the outstanding similarities in concepts and ideas. As such, Hooker maintains that analyzing the various scholars accounts in conjunction instead of comparing them forms the beginning of getting their similarities.
Works Cited
Hooker, Juliet. Theorizing Race in the Americas: Douglass, Sarmiento, Du Bois, and Vasconcelos. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Lopez, Bunyasi T, and Candis Smith W. Stay Woke: A Peoples Guide to Making All Black Lives Matter. New York University Press, 2019.
Even though racism and practices of racial discrimination had been banned in the 1960s after the mass protests and the changes to the laws that banned racial discrimination institutionally. The society has made progress towards ensuring that there is no discrimination against people based on the color of their skin. However, there are still instances of racism today that point to the important cultural and perception problems that have to be addressed. Even though racism has been banned institutionally since the 1960s, America today still suffers from cases of racial discrimination.
Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, America was a segregated country with separate spaces dedicated to people with white and black skin. According to Delvin (2021), there are still beliefs and unconscious biases against the back Americans affecting society today. For example, the author refers to research showing that white people tend to move to different neighborhoods or newly built suburbs if their current residency areas inhabitants are people of color. According to Delvin (2021), when a neighborhood becomes 20 percent people of color, white people move away (para. 5). This affects the public schools funding, which is derived from property tax and results in poorer education for people of color. Hence, the system of school funding is flawed because it does not allow the people of color residing in underprivileged communities to get a good and quality education.
The underlying issues with the legal and tax system that affect the funding of the public schools lead to the so-called school to prison pipeline. This is a phenomenon Delvin (2021) uses to describe the children of color who engage in crime early on in their lives because of their environment and inability to get proper education that would provide them with a decent job in the future. Hence, these children engage in crime and often go to prison, unable to change their lives for the better. Delvin (2021) notes that statistically, the predominant majority of people in prisons or juvenile detention centers have low reading skills and are school dropouts. This shows an institutional problem that persists to exist in modern-day America since people of color who were born in underprivileged communities do not get a chance to receive a good education and escape the road leading them to prison.
The biases and barriers for the black people exist not only within the education system but with other state-led agencies as well. For example, black people are often arrested and incarcerated for crimes that other races do not get prosecuted for, such as drug possession (Devin, 2021). These statistics take into consideration the number of possession cases and the action that the justice system agents take. These nonviolent offenses lead to a circle of imprisonment, crime, and poverty for the black population. Moreover, this bias seems to be implicit since, with these offenses, people of all races should be treated equally, but black people are more often prosecuted.
In summary, this paper examines the racism that continues to exist in modern-day America. Although the Civil Rights Movement has had an effect on the legal system and the ban of segregation practices, some implicit biases against black people persist. For example, black people typically go to publically funded schools, which generally provide a poorer quality of education. Moreover, the people of this race are more often prosecuted for nonviolent crimes, as opposed to other races.
Reference
Delvin, E. (2021). Racism in America tackles problems of today. Web.
It is important to note that the longitudinal impact of historical racism in a systematic and institutional fashion cannot be washed away quickly. Damon Galguts interview encompasses these societal challenges, which are reflected in the current American and South African politics (Peirson-Hagger, 2021). The path for development and equality lies through unity and a single vision voiced coherently, which is complicated in the case of South Africa.
Historical Racism in South Africa
Although the author claims that the issue of race is reluctantly addressed in the United States, it is evident that South Africa and America had distinct issues of racism. One of the major differences between the US and South Africa is the fact that in the case of the former, an African American minority was brought to the continent to serve the White majority. However, in South Africa, a White minority dominated over the African majority in their historical continent. Therefore, achieving unity among South Africans is a far greater challenge than coordinating efforts among fewer African Americans. In other words, the impact of oppression and racism will likely have a much longer impact on South Africans. The United States is a more prosperous nation with stronger institutions, which is why the South African government is deeply affected by corruption.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Damon Galgut provides invaluable insights into race dynamics in South Africa. However, some analogies presented in the interview dismiss key historical differences between the two nations. The situation in South Africa is the result of large-scale racism, which makes it difficult to achieve unity in voice.