Discourse On Colonialism Analysis

Colonization is an action in which one civilization captures and controls another civilization, preferably one which may be considered to be of lower status. This action is performed with the intent of civilizing and guiding another civilization.. However, this is a misconception; the advancement of a civilization is not synonymous with the physical aspects of the citizens found within that specific society. Colonization, in simple terms, is fueled by racism, an idea which assisted in the construction of the concept of white supremacy. White supremacy, or the delusion that the White race is the most superior race of all, was the powerful drive which allowed for brutal attacks to happen against people of color for thousands of years. However,

Cesaire further emphasizes his point by stating that “colonialism results in the massive destruction of whole societies - societies that not only function at a high level of sophistication and complexity, but that might offer the West valuable lessons about how we might live together and remake the modern world” (21), and that colonization also allows for the Boomerang Effect to come into play. This particular effect can be described as “the colonizer, who in order to ease his conscience gets into the habit of seeing the other man as an animal, accustoms himself to treating him like an animal, and tends objectively to transform himself into an animal” (41); the colonizer is so preoccupied with the notion of civilizing others, that he forgets to civilize himself within the process. Although, the main motive of colonization is to civilize the uncivilized, it does quite the opposite: it destroys well-established societies, and forces the colonizers to behave uncivilized themselves. Racism could be considered as the main cause for colonization, especially when considering Cesaire’s example regarding certain instances in which colonist Europe has disregarded the pleas of the peoples of Asia and Africa: “it is the colonized man who wants

Dunbar-Ortiz began her book by introducing the audience to the fact that the colonization of the Indigenous People of present-day United States and the captivation of their land by Anglo settlers was motivated by both their “belief in white supremacy” (36) and the theory of Social Darwinism, a theory which became popular in the mid-nineteenth century (39). For one, according to Dunbar-Ortiz, “skin color has been and continues to be a key component of racism in the United States” (36); racism is what fueled white supremacy to formulate, allowing for Anglo settlers to consider themselves more supreme that the Native people of North America. In addition to the perception of white supremacy, Anglo settlers were also influenced by the concept of Social Darwinism, in which English scientists theorized that people of color “has descended from apes, while the English were descendents of ‘man’ who had been created by God ‘in his own image’” (39). Both the concept of white supremacy and the Social Darwinism theory allowed for Anglo settlers to continue with the mistreatment of the Indigenous, for their actions seemed to be justified by both a racial point of view and a religious point of view. However, the colonization of the