Introduction
Racism is a controversial topic that has sparked hundreds of debates on equality issues. Society has become committed to the belief in equality and freedom. The revolutionary concepts regarding equal rights have become widespread. Some people are discriminated against based on race because they have some outstanding deficiencies that make them less human. Racism has continued to deepen its roots in the world every day and has led to various controversial issues. The history of racism illuminates various contemporary topics such as intersectionality, cultural racism, color-blind racism, and Islamophobia. Racism is a broad subject; therefore, it is crucial to explore the historical origin of the idea of race and how race and racism have evolved with time.
Historical Origins of the Idea of Race
Racism is a word that was invented in the 1930s, mainly to respond to the Nazi project to remove Jews from Germany. Germans were aware that Jews belonged to a distinct race that endangered the Aryan race, which belonged to authentic Germans. The Nazi project was, perhaps, the longest hatred ever perpetrated. The race is intermingled by cultural and biological elements such as facial features, skull size and shape, and hair categories. The idea of race became recognized when the word ‘race’ was used in English languages during the late sixteenth century. Before the eighteenth century, the race had a general meaning that was the same as classification words such as kind, type, or sort. The race was a method of describing society’s genetic decoding and a person’s family heritage.
The idea of race is a modernist view developed in recent centuries due to three transformations that caused divisions between Europeans and other persons. The enslavement of Africans and other communities that were considered inferior was one of the transformations. The spread of European dominance in the world and European superiority led to the birth of the race. Slavery and conquest created the notion of a race where European believed they were superior religiously, educationally, and culturally. The idea of race was initially developed to be a justification for brutality. Racism, which can be interpreted as the exploitation of slaves by European masters, caused the idea of race. The idea of race was created to justify white superiority and racist assertion. In essence, the idea of race originated from colonialism by Europeans.
How The Idea Of Race And The Practice Of Racism Has Changed Over Time
The idea of race and racism can be traced back to ancient civilizations. In ancient Egypt, Asians and Africans who were non-Egyptians were depicted as distinct. Racial ideas have been buttered as time went on. Non-Egyptians could be differentiated by their clothes, hairstyles, and physical differences. In the early centuries, Greeks were separated based on speech since those not fluent in Greek were called barbarians. Christian hatred and antipathy towards Jews were established only gradually. Anti-Semitism started in the fourth century as Christian preachers propounded notions of the Jews as gluttonous and lewd. Virulent anti-Judaism started happening in the eighth century, caused by Christian hostility towards the Jews leading to sharp divides.
The Middle Ages can be associated with a symbolism that linked otherness to monstrous, wildness, and blackness. The otherness was used to justify the enslavement of Africans. Disparaging conceptions of other persons as well as color symbolism linking whiteness to blackness and goodness with adverse qualities are evident in Islamic and Arab practices and texts. The idea of race was incorporated into systemic meditations during the Enlightenment period. The Enlightenment principles dominated the thinking of most Europeans which contradicted the practice and principle of enslavement. While principles of equality and human freedom inspired revolutions, racial slavery continued in European empires and the United States.
Scientists made an attempt to explain race as they stated that it was a key instrument for comprehending human variation. Additionally, scientists argued that physical markers characterize different races, such as skull shape and size, hair texture, facial features, and skin color. Further, races can categorize people in a hierarchy of beauty and talent. With time race became promiscuous as no scientists could agree on race classification. Skin colors became vague as races mixed while racist ideas became popular and began to coalesce. As European states developed, the division between foreigners and citizens widened. The United States’ founding provides clear examples of conflation between nation and race.
Whites discriminated against black people since they did not have the same rights. In the late Victorian period, an essential cultural realignment took place. Eugenics movement and Social Darwinism reinforced that the critical factor of the human division was race. The late 1800s were epitomized by the emergence of eugenics from rare science. Eugenics seeks to advance the human race by preventing the worst in society from breeding. Eugenicists argued that a country could be interpreted as a biological community that should be protected from threats such as mixing with inferior races. Ernst Haeckel categorized humankind into ranked races, with Europeans at the top and Africans as well as the Jews at the bottom. The ideas of eugenics and race formed the basis of the Nazi ideology in the twentieth century. Black slaves were maltreated and forced to work for no money. The United States had policies that governed the conduct of slaves.
Americans could give many reasons for using slaves, but the real one was the desirability of slaves who provided labor and benefited their masters. Today, only a few people can admit that they are racist. Races have become mixed, and people cannot define racism. Today, people talk about racial profiling and discrimination but argue that race does not exist. Racism is now defined and discussed in plural because of its multilayered manner and complexity. Contemporary forms of racism, such as religious racism as evidenced in Islamophobia, have emerged. Western countries fear that Muslims can carry out terrorist attacks. As a result, Western administrations have general suspicions of Muslims, which causes discriminatory behavior towards Muslim communities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is critical to examine the historical origins of the idea of race and the evolution of racism practice, and the idea of race with time. The idea of the race started with the desire to conquer colonies and slavery. While the concept of race was used to refer to general things, it changed quickly to define a person’s traits, such as the size and shape of a skull, skin color, and hair features. The idea of race was born from Europeans’ need to justify slave labor. They thought they were superior to other communities. The racism that exploited slaves led to the creation of race. The idea of race has changed significantly since the first use of the word in English. Race and racism can be traced back to the eighth century when Christians’ hostility and hatred for other religions started. Scientists tried to justify racism while Europeans gained cheap labor from their slaves. Today, the race is defined in plural due to its complexity and multilayered way.
Bibliography
Banton, Michael. The Idea of Race. New York: Routledge, 2019.
Rattansi, Ali. Racism: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.
Tickell, Paul. “Racism: A History.” United Kingdom: BBC Four (2007).