Figure 1.--These wonderful illustrations showcase the racial diversity around the world. The artist is Birte Koch. Click on the image to visit her website. |
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Race has at time been a powerful force in history. Race has been a major factor in American history. America is a multi-ethnic society. Other countries like Japan have a more homogeneous population. The prominence of the Civil Rights Movement in America gave many the impression that racism was an American phenomenon. We note, however, that racism has played a prominent role in non-Western counties as well. The impact of racism has varied. In some countries it has been subtle. It does not appear to have been a major force in ancient Rome. In other countries like NAZI Germany it was overt and eventually deadly.
One interesting question is how race was a factor in ancient civilizations. Here we have only limited information at this time. Race seems to been a greater concern to moden people than in ancient civilizations. I am not sure precisely why this may have beem, but this is a topic we hope to persue.
AThe union of the Upper and Lower Kindoms meant a melding of people. A Black population was more pronounced in the Upper Kingdom, especially as it expanded north into Nubia. The prominance of Blacks in Egypt is a subject comntroversy. As Egyptology became a subject of interest in Europe during the late 18th and early century 19th, Europe strongly influenced by racism, tended to obsure the role of Blacks in Eguptian culture.
We am unsure about the role of race in Greece. The Greeks although separated in independent cities states were ethnically of the same stock. There was no racial dimension to slavery in Greece. In fact, the Spatans enslaved a whole other Greek city state, the Messians, although this was unusual. There were slaves in all Greek city states and they were in primarily other ethnic Greek themselves. Alexander tried to build a multi-ethnic empire.
We are ubsure about the full ramifications of race in Rome. At first citizenship was open only to Romans and not even other Italians. Gradually citizemnship was open to other Italians and eventually to people throughout the mult-ethnic Roman Empire. This included Gauls, Britins, Spanish, and peoples from the East in Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt. The Empire included North Africa, but we are unsure to what extent it included areas with Black populations. There were some Black slaves, but as in Greece there were no racial connotatuons to slavery. Many slaves were of Italian stock. One of the aspects of the wars conducted by the Romans was obtaining slaves. Thus the slaves pouring into Rome often reflected the most recent war. Wars with the Celts resulted in lkarge numbers of blond, blue-eyed slaves.
We have little information on racial attitudes in Medieval Europe. We know that strong atitudes of racial superority began to form in the 16th century as the Voyages of Discovery brought expanded contacts with non-European poples.
Islam when the Arab conquet began developed approches for dealing with the "conquered peoples". The conquered peoples were "protected persons" only if they submitted to Islamic domination by a "Contract" (Dhimma), paid poll tax - jizya - and land tax - haraj - to their masters. Any failure to do so was the breach of contract, enabling the Muslims to kill or enslave them and confiscate their property. Their fundamental concern was religion. Race does not appear to have been a factor of importance in Islam. Christians are normally seen as having played a major role in the African slave trade. In fact Arab slave traders apparntly played a major role in the slave trade. We believe they primarily targeted pagan African tribes.
Modern attitudes toward race are strongly colored by the fact most successful modern countries are ppopulated by people of largely European ancestry meaning Caucasian people. As a result many Americans and Europeans naturally concluded that caucasians were superior peole. Using this logic, the NAZIs in Germany took the next logical step, maintaining that thet among caucasian people that there were superior strains, the aryans of Nordic ancestry. The development of undustrial Japan in the 19th century and the Aaian Tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore) in the 20th century confirmed that race was not a meaningful factor in the success of Western civilization. A historian has recently discussed the historical process but which Europe emerged as the leading center of civilization in the modern world. [Diamond] He stresses the importants of guns, germs, and steel. He presents powerful arguments, although he often negelects China and as a result overlooks the importance of law and economics. Even so he does persusively explain why major civilzations did not develop in areas peopled by blacks.
An all to important part of European imperialism was racism. We are not entirely sure why that was. Racism does not always flow from imperialism. There were many empires in history that did not develop such fervent racist attitides as the European colonialists. This appears to be the case with the Persians, Romans, Ottomans and other great empires. We note many many web pundits that insist that colonialism by its very nature is racist. This has, however, not been the historical experience. A reflection of this was slavery. This was an institution that until modern times was common and often an important part of the imperial economies. Slavery in these empires, unlike the slavery created by the Europeans was not race based. European colonialism, however, was indeed racist. And we do not fully understand why racism became so intense in the Western world. There seem to have been several different factors that fueld European racism. 1) The inballance in technology seemed to suggest that white Europeans were a more avanced people. 2) That technological inballance led to an inballance in military power. Thus the Europeans had the ability to impose their will on others peoples. 3) The inballance in technology as well as the ability to exploit other peoples created an inballance in living standards which strengthen the European view that they were superior. 4) Christian religious teaching fueld and justicied colonialism as bringing civilization to the heathen. (Here Christianity also taught against the worst abuses and was a major factor in the fight against slavery.) 5) Science by the 19th century became seen as road to the future and some authors connected evolution with racism--Social Darwinism. 6) Nationalism emerged as a powerful force in the 19th century and some rabid nationalists connected race with the nation. This was especually true in Germany, ironically the European power with the least experience with other races because of its small colonial empire. Racist attitudes varied from country to country. Here historical experiences affected popular attitudes toward race. And within countries there were a range of indivudal attitudes.
Race has at times been a powerful force in modern economics and history. Race seems to be a more important factor i the modern world than was the case in earlier eras. We are not sure precisely why this was, but surely improved communications and mixing of peoples is a factor. Race has played a relatively minor role in modern European history, although the economics of the slave trade was a major factor in the growing wealth of pre-industrial Europe. It also colored European colonial policies and was an important element of European Fascism. Race has been a major factor in American hisyory during the 19th and 20th centuries. Most Americans fail to appreciate the importance of race in American history. The importance of race in Amerucan appears to be subsiding, but it is still a powerful force. . Race may be more of a factor in Europe in the 21st century as populations of Middle Eastern and Arican peoples grow in importance. One important factor to note is that racism is not a white or European phenomenon. There are many instances of racism in Asia and Africa. European and American racism is perhaps best studied because it was in Europe that powerful countries developed which established colonial empires. America was a major importer of African slaves.
Race has been a major factor in American history. The importance an ramificaions of race are factors still not fully appreciated by many Americans. The overiding issue has been slavery. Slavery in America was limited to blacks, in part because theIndians proved impossible to enslave. There were Whites subjected to indentured servitude. It took the Civil War to end slavry, but the impact of slavery continue to affect America. America is a multi-ethnic society. A series of immigrant waves from Europe have left their imprint on th United States. The prominence of the Civil Rights Movement in America gave many the impression that racism was an American phenomenon. The Movement suceeded in ending state-sponsored rascism, but thelingering impact of racism continues. Blacks have been the largest ethnic minority in america. Vlacks have now been replaced by Hispanics as the largest minority. The immigration in the 19th and early 20th century was largely from Europe. This changes with new immigration laws in the 1960s. Immigration now occurs from all over the world and this is changing thecracial makep of the United States.t
Germany was one of the European countries most affected by racism in the late 19th century. In the German case racism was mixed with a volitile blend of nationalism and folk culture. In the German case the groups most promitely identified as the outside or threatening group were the Jews and the Slavs. After World War I, the Frnch U.S. of African troops to occupy the Rhineland resulted in mixed-race babies which necame a target of German racism. When the NAZIs took power, racism became overt and a matter of state policy (1933). Hitler saw history as a stark, brutal struggle between races. A racist outlook was aggressively promoted in both the schools and Hitler Youth. It became deadly, leading directly to the Holocaust. After the War, German ethnicity became a feature of ctizenship. German ethnics from allmover Europe could claim citzenship while the descendents of Turkish "guest" wokers who had been born and raised in Germany could not. Many Germans today continue to look askance of non-ethnic Germans.
We note, however, that racism has played a prominent role in non-Western counties as well. The impact of racism has varied. There are a range of ethnic groups on the Indian sub-continent. Race is very important in India. Newspaprs carry personal ads with men seeking light-colored brides. The Untouchable caste is largely compsed of dark-completioned Indians.
Some countries have extremely homogeneous populations. The Japanese with there very insular history are extremely race conscious and marriage with non-Japanese is frowned on. Korea was for four decaded a part of the Japanese Empire. As a reult, Koreans are the largest ethnic minority in Korea and they face discrimination. Interesting there is a group of Japanese looked dpwn on. They are not a destinct ethnic group, but rather the descendents of Japanese who had low-status occupations like tanning.
Holland never had segregationist laws, at least not the home country. The situation was different in the Dutch East Indies. Public opinion after 1945 has been strongly antiracist and political culture is almost neurotically focused on countering racism and discrimination. Yet the past 5 or 6 years have seen an extremely rapid spontaneous segregation of schools in our inner cities. By far the majority are now either "black" or "white" whereby blacks include Moroccans and Turks that would probably be labeled white in the United States. The government are much concerned about this and the Left would rather implement forced re-integration if they could. However the very same Constitution that emphatically forbids discrimination also guarant! ees freedom of education. The political Right on the other hand are experiencing backfiring on a different if related matter. The constitutional right to organize education along denominational lines -heritage of a period when Protestants and Catholics had to settle for an equilibrium of sorts - is now invoked by Muhammedan fundamentalist groups that foster segragation for very different reasons.It is fun to see politicians of all sides tack between officially
accepted attitudes and the realities of a desintegrating social fabric, thereby trying to reconciliate politically correct thinking and the gut feelings of their constuency.
Spain may have developed less rascist attitudes than other European countries. Over the 700 years Moorish presence in Iberia, there was much intermariage, leaving a Moorish imprint on the Spanish people. With the Spanish conquests in the Americas a debate raged as to weather the Indians were human.
Pan-slavism has been an important current in Russian history. The Slavs were a people targeted by the NAZIs in World War II. Today many Russians are still influenced by Pan-Slavism. Many people in neighboring countries (especially Poland and the Ukraine), however see Pan-Slavism as a tool of Russian imperialism. Russian serfdom which evolved into a condition little different than slavery did not have racial connotations. Serfs were ethnic Russians. The Rusians are known for strong ant-Semitism. Tsarist and Cossock pogroms drove many Russian and Polish Jews to emmigrate to Western Europe and America. During the Soviet era students from Africa were given scholarships. Communist idelogy promoted internationalism. They portrayed America as a rascist state and claimed that rascicm did not exist in the Soviet Union. The African students in the Soviet Union were often unpopular, but overt acts were rare because of the potential legal consequences. After the disolution of the Soviet Union, the Affrican students stranded there were often the targets of rasist attacks.
Switzeland is a country that has been divided along national and linguistic groups, but not racial grounds. Switzerland has an enviable record in English of avoiding some of the linguistic, national, and religious conflicts that have plagued other European countries. There have not been racial problems in Switzerland because the population of racial minorities has been very small. This has begun to change in recent years. Nowadays with more than 20 percent of the Swiss population made up of foreigners, a certain kind of mistrust against foreigners is undoubtedly developing. This mistrust is a disguised kind of racism, stronger against other skin colors than against white foreigners, stronger also against those that that either refuse integration or where the various differences at same time of language, culture, religion, dressing habits etc do make such integration a slow and difficult process.
Some argue that children do not notice race. This is simply untrue. Children are very observant and notice all aspects of physical appearance. I got in trouble once when vary young for loudly asking my dad, "Daddy, why is that man so fat?" Children notice all kinds of phyical differences among people and some of gthose differences are race based. What children do not know is what importance to attribute to racial differences. Here the "South Pacific" song, "You have to be taught" rather much summs up what happens. While children anf youths can be unconcerned about race they can also be very racist depending on just what they are taught. This is in part because they have limited experiences and education to offset racist teachings. Here it should not be assumed that children are overtly taught racist ideas. Some cues they pick up without being taught. The 4-year old daughter of a friend suddenly announced that she doesn't like blacks. They are still trying to sort out where she picked up such thoughts.
A Swiss reader writes, "Racism could be looked at as when contemplating one of those famous four-faced statues of Angkor-Wat: one face was white, the second black, the third yellow, and the last red. But this statue has also a brain where the different parts could represents the hundreds of existing religions, big ones as well as small sects. Then the hands, ten fingers standing for the different cultures. The eyes - one for the richs, one for the poors. The ears - one for education, the other for lack thereof, etc. etc. Such a statue represents the human being in its diversity. Racism is not only the hate of people of another race (or skin color). It is above all xenophobia, the fear from those that are different. And the more you add up all possible even tiny differences, stronger will be this xenophobia."
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel.
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