Rikia Evans 10/3/16
How did The Term Race Become Normalized in America Today?
Throughout the United States, Caribbean and other Countries, we have been taught for generations that race is based on two types of people. In the new world this concept gave people a new social identity that you were either black or white. In fact the term race had no specific meaning before the 1500's according to Benjamin Isaac it was referred to as having a set of idea's (Isaac, 2004). The term was established in the new world when European explorers came across Native people in North America in which they were fascinated by the darker skin complexion, different language, and different ways of life (Kincheloe III, 2007 p.1). Even then the word race wasn't as widespread or meaningful as it will later in the United States.
According to Jean R. Soderlund in Upon These Shores, Race became concrete starting in Barbados where the Englishmen would refer to the darker skin people as inferior and suitable for enslavement (Soderlund, 2000, p.63). The term race had started to have a biological meaning to it, now applying it to someone's skin. The U.S. adopted word in the 1600's and also used it to say people who looked different were different. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy it states that race reflected biological foundation, meaning a group of members of one race all shared common characteristics, beliefs and physical features that another group of members did not have (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008). It also started to mean that each generation would inherit these characteristics based off of origin. The U.S. in the 1700's used the racial ideology to justify slavery, stating that black people or people of color were inferior, animals and less than a man, and that white was superior and pure. These views were carried down from one generation to the next making them become normalized in American society today.
From the 1800’s until today in the U.S. race is perceived as a dividing tool along with religion and class. The invented term is now used widely and has been given a deeper meaning. Because of that it has also caused racial inequality between white Americans and black Americans through systematic racism. Putting a system in place that is disadvantaging for blacks economically and socially but advantaging for whites (Erwin, Miller, Katz, 2014,). The term race gathered a whole new meaning that would separate people of color in the U.S. and cause problems for generations to come.
References
Isaac, Benjamin. (2004) “The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity” Princeton University Press.http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i7737.html
Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2008) “Race”
Erwin, N. Miller, C. C. Katz, S. M. (2014) “America’s Racial Divide, Charted” The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/20/upshot/americas-racial-divide-charted.html?_r=0
Kincheloe, W. John III. (2007) “American Indians at European Contact” http://ncpedia.org/history/early/contact
Soderlund, Jean R. (2000). "Creating a Biracial Society 1619-1720."Upon These Shores: Themes in the African American Experience 1600 to the Present. Ed. William R. Scott. New York: Routledge, 63-82. Print.
You've included all the requirements- your name is at the top and you have 2 outside sources as well as 2 external links and a copyright permissible image. Your title is interesting though I don't think the 'Evans101BlogPost' was necessary.
ReplyDeleteFormat wise, it wasn't double spaced so that made it a bit difficult to read, especially because there was no space between paragraphs. Your content was very clear, though and you hit on all the points that were asked for in your writing.
You have all required parts. I do agree with Cydney about the "Evans101BlogPost" is not needed and that the post should be double spaced to make it easier to read. Overall, your post was very informative and you gave a clear explanation on the effects of the ward "race".
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