Thursday, February 21, 2013
Worth
Touching on the class reading book, "Invisible Man", which (to my knowledge), delves into the topic of racial differences. So for this weeks topic, I propose we ponder the factors and steps that lead a near total loss of respect for the value or worth or individuals of a different "race", thus resulting in racial tension. Today we know that there is no difference between someone with a higher concentration of melanin that someone with a low concentration, yet still ill feelings remain. What factors in beliefs or society lead to this?
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Surely there are other factors as well, but I think that it is largely the beliefs and actions of previous generations that lead to ill feelings of this kind. It seems to me that when we are little (6-10 years old, I suppose) that there seem to be no differences in the way we think of a person of our own ethnicity and a person of another. But as we get older, we tend to notice the difference in the way that people treat those of different ethnicity.
ReplyDeletePeople have an innate need to be like those around them, as countless psychological studies have found. This alone might lead us to treat people a certain way, and maybe eventually believe it is right simply because we refuse to believe we could act in a way that was so wrong. Also, I think that when we see someone acting a certain way, we tend to assume that there must be a reason for them to do so, and so we search for reasons that may or may not exist. Even if we acknowledge mentally that such discriminations are wrong, the need to have thought about it still leads to viewing people differently, though not necessarily in a negative way.
I agree completely. Some people feel better when judging others, and however terrible this may be, it may never stop.
DeleteErik very well said. Someone gave me the best advice just recently. It was : "Don't put others down to make yourself feel better."
DeleteI think that racial discriminations are brought on the same as general discriminations towards other people. From the time we are little we are either taught that everyone is equal or that we are supperior to others. I believe it has a huge thing to do with how one is raised and what environment they grow up in.
ReplyDeleteYou are different than I, so I will make you feel terrible because of that. I think that there are some base human instincts that make us as humans more hostile to things that we don't know or fear. We thought that the Africans were less than people because their ways were different than ours, as a result, we enslaved them. Then with younger generations believing that these humans are their property, they pass that belief down to younger generations and so on, until we have this belief firmly ingrained in our minds.
ReplyDeleteYou are onto something there Drew. The fear of what you don't know always causes rash actions and in many cases has led to many problems in society today.
DeleteI agree, Drew. I think it is just second nature to judge someone, even if you don't mean to. I don't think that racial jokes make it any better, but they are there!
DeleteI'm not sure what exactly causes this ill will but I will be the first to tell anyone that racism is alive and powerful in white communities. All my life in California I have still never seen the amount of racist remarks and actions that I have in good old Salmon Idaho.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Hunter. I too am unsure of what causes this but would much rather ignore it than anything else. Racism is still a factor in society. Such as Salmon. People here are not used to seeing a colored person so when we do see them, it is a suprise and we are not used to it.
DeleteI agree. Racism, even in the very word, has a mass amount of power. It's been around since humans have had different backgrounds. Racism has been around for centuries and is a horrible thing, but it's history gives it it's power and its power is what will never let it go away.
DeleteHahahaha, yes Salmon.
DeleteLike Hunter, I am unsure of what causes such thoughts or urges, but racism and unequality are major issues in society. These two issues have been a part of American history for ages and still will be an critical topic that will most likely never come to an end. Judging someone in general is a form of discrimination and on a regular basis, this takes place everywhere. Judging clothing of anothe person and etc. This issue in my opinion is a taboo topic and no matter what the evidence reveals, there is still no ending point or deciding decison.
ReplyDeleteIt really does seem like one of those things that is just impossible to solve, which is unfortunate. Maybe it is just human nature to stay with the ones that are most like ourselves.
DeleteI think that racial discrimination started out as more of a religious item than anything else. When white Europeans started to explore the world, they also tried to force their religion on any population that they encountered. Those that did not worship the European idea of a god were viewed as "animals" or as less of a human than those who did worship the same god.The book Heart of Darkness,which I recently read, touches on this. The native Africans are viewed as complete savages simply because they do not function the same way that a "civilized" person should. This idea is what led to the enslavement and complete dehumanization of these people. White people then viewed them as property and placed only a monetary value on them, and did not recognize their worth as a person. The slaveowner's children were taught this from an early age, and people in the south had these ideas passed down from generation to generation, and many still believe these ideas today. I honestly believe that there is racial tension on both sides, however, because of the way that the white population treated all other minorities for hundreds of years. What is in the past is done however, and I believe that at this point that there is no reason to have any distinction between the races. A person is a person, their race does not matter.
ReplyDeleteI agree we have developed this idea in our minds from hundreds of years of these thoughts.We need to move past what was done in our history.
DeleteWhy is it that the white Western European civilizations have been successful at conquering much of the world, why was it is not the other way around.? How would our world be different if Americans had been enslaved in the past and taken to Africa to live?
DeleteI believe that racism, or discrimination, came from differences in appearance. People tend to be scared, or intimidated, by new or different experiences. By having someone look different then what we are used to, we may be intimidated by someone with different skin color or stature than that of ourselves. I believe that racism came from simple intimidation. It came around to make people feel more secure about themselves, or even more superior to those who are different.
ReplyDeleteThe base factor that keeps racism alive and well in our current era of society is the fact that we are still scared of those that are different then ourselves. We see those who are not the same as being of lesser value. When many of our ancestors first witnessed the black man they feared him. They something that was different so they labeled him as being savage and ignorant when just as Logan said in the initial post the only difference is the amount of melanin in their skin.In Salmom this is a huge factor in the amount of prejudice that many people here seem to have. Many have never seen or spoken a person of another descent except for on television or in the media and when one does see someone different it seems to frighten them. This fact is what leads to racism still being an existing problem in America.
ReplyDeleteYes, Salmon doesn't exactly see a lot of diversity. Therefore, when kids like us go out and experience the real world, they get a taste of what is actually out there.
DeleteI believe that racial equality is not anything new or outlandish. We as humans feel the need to belittle others different than ourselves. It is some kind of internal characteristic that we all have to some degree and it will never change. I really do not know why people make such a big deal about racial inequality, inequality would still exist in society even if there were no racial differences. People would just find another group of people to pick on and discriminate against. Discrimination is wrong and unjust, but we must realize it is only part of all of us, so to overcome inequality we must overcome ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI believe that ignorance is the true cause of most racism. If people truly understood the other races and knew some people from different backgrounds, then they could understand that they are really not that different. Granted, some races develop their own subcultures that shelter themselves in some ways, and give them their own little sense of security. As nice as it might seem for each race to have their own spot though, it just promotes the separation and ignorance between races.
ReplyDeleteBeing in another place besides isolated Salmon, I am the minority. In Hawaii there are a lot of islanders and Asian people. One might think there is a lot of tension between races, but there isn't. Everyone treats every other person the same. My little sister is funny to watch though. She stairs at people that we would not consider normal. It hasn't been a problem though.
ReplyDelete