Gail Bederman, author of “Manliness and Civilization” published in 1995, explains how manliness is associated with race and civilization. She states that historians explain manhood as a normal aspect of human nature and although it may be expressed differently at different times, the meaning of it always remains the same. Bederman indicates her thesis, “ This book will investigate this turn-of-the-century connection between manhood and race. It will argue that, between 1890 and 1917, as white middle-class men actively worked to reinforce male power, their race became a factor which was crucial to their gender. ”(p.
The fears of “race” mixing are present in both Kindred and Dark Benediction as sexual implications between white and non-white individuals, black people and the infected dermies. The word miscegenation didn’t appear in the English language until the mid-19th century and was used to illicit fears of race mixing between white and (esp.) black society, especially as a race-baiting tactic against those calling for an end to slavery. This fear of the destruction of racial purity and white society continued through the 20th century, leading to racial violence against any implication of racial mixing and laws outrightly prohibiting interracial marriage.
As a young country, the United States was a land of prejudice and discrimination. Wanting to grow their country, white Americans did what they had to in order to make sure that they were always on top, and that they were always the superior race. It did not matter who got hurt along the way because everything that they did was eventually justified by their thinking that all other races were inferior to them. A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki describes the prejudice and discrimination against African Americans and Native Americans in the early history of the United States.
In his article “White Ignorance, ” Charles Mills argues that ignorance has largely contributed to the creation and segregation of racial and gender groups. He supports his case by identifying the “originally solitary Cartesian cognizer,” which is the imperialistic British state of mind where whites, especially white males, were dominant, and the historical implications of that state of mind, specifically the idea that all non-whites were inferior in thought process and mannerisms therefore do not deserve the time of day required to be understood. Although he labels this ignorance “white ignorance,” he does not limit this intentional ignorance to just white males or the repercussions to racial separation. Instead he designates it as a specific way of thinking that encourages ignorance in favor of the dominant party in a given situation. At the end of his article, Mills comes to the conclusion that ignorance, in general, is damaging to society, specifically interactions between people, and comes up with
But back when Marco Polo was alive, the “west” were people who lived in the Mongol region. Marco Polo was from Venice, and there they referred to westerner’s as “others.” Throughout the reading, the word “other” is said a lot, especially in a certain part of the story line. “Other visitors…” (Latham, 130), “Other city…other province…”
“So we may well call these people barbarians, in respect to the rules of reason, but not in respect to ourselves, who surpass them in every kind of barbarity” (Montaigne 156). Here Montaigne directly addresses the idea that Europeans are more savage and “barbaric” in many ways than the natives are. In this instance, once again while critiquing European society, he employs barbaric in a negative way. Montaigne argues that although Europeans may call the natives “barbaric” and mean this in a derogatory way however in reality, he inherently suggests the indigenous peoples should only be called barbaric if they are being described as
In the essay, “A Genealogy of Modern Racism”, the author Dr. Cornel West discusses racism in depth, while conveying why whites feel this sense of superiority. We learn through his discussion that whites have been forced to treat black harshly due to the knowledge that was given to them about the aesthetics of beauty and civility. This knowledge that was bestowed on the whites in the modern West, taught them that they were superior to all races tat did not emulate the norms of whites. According to Dr. West the very idea that blacks were even human beings is a concept that was a “relatively new discovery of the modern West”, and that equality of beauty, culture, and intellect in blacks remains problematic and controversial in intellectual circles
Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape.” (Golding, 150). Civilization is a choice and as soon as one stops choosing civilization over savagery, that person’s true self will be
For example the African female body was seen as desirable by Ligon however, a laborer body could not be seen as beautiful. So to justify actions for the slave trade Ligon and other European slave traders had to write their (African females) bodies off as repulsive and “monstrous”(26). Another relative example of the lust that the European explorers had for both African and indigenous women would be comparing their bodies to a medieval wild woman who’s breasted sagged to the ground and could be thrown over her shoulders. This imagery used in comparing shows the lust of the explorers, because it was believed that her beauty and youth was a disguise to permit seduction on her “victims”. In excerpts from the travel narratives of Richard Ligon and Sebastian Munster this idea of a woman’s body being both desirable and repulsive is clearly
(Seshadri-Crooks, qtd. in Nayak: 748) According to Fanon, white fantasies of blackness in their doubling of fear and desire are prevalent in white subject formation (Nayak: 748, Fanon: 225) Thus, by attributing Blacks as being “violent, hypersexual, athletic and so on” (Nayak: 748), whites in contrast
Frankenburg (1993) argues that studying whiteness will put whiteness in the centre of the spotlight of intellectual inquiry. Frankenburg (1993) further questions why scholars need to explore whiteness, identifying that there is a risk of contributing to the process of re-centering, rather than de-centering it, while reifying the term and inhabitants of whiteness. Furthermore, re-centering whiteness may result in whiteness studies developing into a discourse of love, lending itself to narcissistic self-promotion. This in turn would see whiteness progressing into social and bodily models (Ahmed,
Benjamin Franklin’s essay, “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America,” depicts the Native Americans as civilized people, but many dub them as “savages.” Franklin discreetly describes the Indians as civilized, polite, peaceful people; while, the white people are really the uncivilized slavish people. The essay contrasts the way most general white people diminish the lives and nature of the Native Americans. Based on feelings of superiority, the whites believe to be a more “perfection of civility,” believing that they are more civilized then the Indians. Franklin’s essay states, “Savages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which we think the perfection of civility,” the whites think of themselves in a higher esteem then the Indians.
It is important to find out whether his “going Bedouin,” so to speak, demonstrates a defense mechanism, a real fascination with Bedouins’ outlook and lifestyle, or a mere desire for assimilation or harmonizing with
All in all, the Europeans and the Umuofians both misunderstood their religions and cultures and only viewed them through a ‘single story’, but sometimes that ‘single story’ is proven
Moreover, Western civilization became the ideal civilization, and became way superior to African “civilization.” As a consequence, African tradition became perceived as primitive, outmoded, and sadly not welcomed by the rest of the world. Unfortunately, a lot of Africans experienced a trend of a dying out culture. (2) It can be implied that even the Africans’ self-perception dropped because the only lifestyle they knew was suddenly taken away from them and they were taught that it was substandard. Therefore, the indigenous inhabitants of the colonies, the Africans, had to adapt to a new, “superlative” culture and view it as more sophisticated than theirs.
