Racism in History
According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, Racism is: “Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.” And then there is another meaning: “The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.”
Unfortunately, there has been racism since the beginning of history. And if you really get into it you will find facts that you did not want to know, for example, when you realize that even one of your favourite philosophers like the Greek Aristotle said that Greeks are free by nature while Barbarians (non-Greeks) are slaves because they are more willing to submit to a despotic government! This statement is published in a book by Kevin Reilly called ‘Racism: A Globar Reader’.
Just imagine how popular Aristotle would be if he had said that in 2019, he would probably lose all his credibility or would only be supported by the few racists that mingle with us in the 21st century. Or ar they not so few? Many people think that the United States of America, Spain or even Great Britain are still racist countries…
Racism in the United States has been there since the very beginning, we are talking about the Colonial Era. Only white Americans had privileges and rights while all other races had no rights at all. Education, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, etc, were exclusive privileges for white Americans. These kind of things remind us that we are true animals indeed, and that we don’t know anything about humans and how we really are. Racism in history still makes black people want revenge in America, let alone native Indians.
But black people and Indians weren’t the only ones who’ve suffered from racism throughout history, what about Jews after World War I ? Anti-semitism “was successfully exploited by the Nazi Party, which seized power in 1933 and implemented policies of systematic discrimination, persecution, and eventual mass murder of Jews in Germany and in the territories occupied by the country during World War II (see Holocaust)”, according to britannica.com.
Did you know that even National Geographic had a Racist Coverage for decades? And how do we know it? Because they have acknowledged it in an article by Susan Goldberg (Editor in Chief). This is what she wrote: “It is November 2, 1930, and National Geographic has sent a reporter and a photographer to cover a magnificent occasion: the crowning of Haile Selassie, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah. There are trumpets, incense, priests, spear-wielding warriors. The story runs 14,000 words, with 83 images. If a ceremony in 1930 honoring a black man had taken place in America, instead of Ethiopia, you can pretty much guarantee there wouldn’t have been a story at all. Even worse, if Haile Selassie had lived in the United States, he would almost certainly have been denied entry to our lectures in segregated Washington, D.C., and he might not have been allowed to be a National Geographic member.”
