Issue Of Race Throughout history
Throughout history one can observe the existence of racist feelings in practically all societies against people of different physical as well as religious and cultural characteristics. In Europe, the intensity of such feelings increased to the point that they were transformed for the first time into a form of racism we call anti-Semitism. Since the nineteenth century, racism gradually incorporated intensive racial prejudice and attitudes, racial hatred, violence and harassment, racial segregation as well as persecution, expulsion and extermination. Arthur De Gobineau, Joesph Conrad, and Adolf Hitler exhibited these feelings of racism in works. These feelings only represented one side of the spectrum however. Those who combated racial inequalities represented their cases just as strongly as to those of racial hatred. Mahandas Ghandi and Fredrick Douglass fought for equality and righteousness in their writings and actions throughout their lives. Arthur de Gobineau, the French philosopher/theorist, expressed in his Essays on the Inequality of the Human Races the notions that there are races and that races have different characteristics and that there's a continuation of racial superiority to racial inferiority. That the Cauc
ity of the Jewish race, by claiming that its preservation and evolution relies on the ideas of other races. It is inferred from this argument that Jews are a rather primitive, individualistic people who have no knowledge of how to achieve a unified existence as a culture. Without the assistance of other peoples, Hitler suggests that the Jewish people would live like beasts, eventually leading to the obliteration of their own race. The history of racism contains many distinct and personal views held by many different people. The proof of this statement is never more evident then in the readings of Adolf Hitler, Arthur de Gobineu, Joesph Conrad, Mohandus K. Ghandi, and Fredrick Douglass. Although these are only a select few of the many racially oriented people, they create a clearer picture of how things were viewed in their eyes. Joesph Conrad was certainly not completely free from prejudice. He lived in a time when some forms of racism seemed almost natural, when he wrote "Heart of Darkness" he gave an emphasis to the bitter struggles of the Africans and the cruelty of the Europeans - their utter darkness. Along with colonialism and trade came the forced ideals of a race that thought themselves more superior than those who occupied the land before them. In the Heart of Darkness where we see the Whites completely dominate the Blacks. Conrad says the helpers withdrew there to die. That these people were not helpers, but slaves who were forced to work till physical exhaustion. The blacks are not given any personal traits or uniqueness unless they posses a similarity to the Whites. Even then, we see no glimpse of humanity in their characters. Further in Heart of Darkness, there is a real contrast between what is light and what is dark. These contrasts work within the real of what is considered civilized a! 3) it advan
Some common words found in the essay are:
Reich Hitler's, Declaration Independence, Heart Darkness, Human Races, Mahatma Gandhi's, , Fredrick Douglass, Mohandus Ghandi, Blacks Conrad, Adolf Hitler, arthur de, joesph conrad, fredrick douglass, defining color, ghandi fredrick douglass, heart darkness, ghandi fredrick, contrast light dark, jewish people, color terms, light dark, contrast light, arthur de gobineau, black defining color, defining color terms,
Approximate Word count = 1237
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
