After viewing the websites below, write a response to each of the following:
1) How has our conception of race changed over time?
2) How did prior conceptions of race impact slavery?
3) Discuss 3 key shifts in terms of race in America.
-“Is Race for Real”
-Documenting Slavery: Timeline and Theme
Ideas and definitions of race have changed over time, depending on social and political views. Racial groups were created either to exclude or have a disadvantage for others outside of that social class. In the past, race was considered a group and or what classified an individual’s heritage. An individual’s pigment color was not unusual to others if they weren’t the same as everyone else’s coloring. Back when many immigrants colonized the United States, many English, Polish, Italian, Spanish, speaking people found others that have the same cultural background. Citizens of the same language, ethnicity, and culture, usually would band together; forming a community. Racial disputes in today’s world are more stereotypical and races are classified by criminal intent, brains, and or money. Prior conceptions of race impacted slavery because African American’s were born into farm working and back breaking physical duty in the fields. They were farmers, and cattle breeders; they also had industries, and art and crafts. African American’s also had additional immunities to worldwide diseases. Overall, they were better laborers and were most likely not to escape once brought to the new world. Colonists began to understand that they could not bear to live without Africans, because of their valuable hard work. All of the slaves were taken from Africa, which makes their racial differences stand out amongst the Europeans. If it had been Japanese people enslaved, they, today, would look worthless in the eyes of society. Race in America explains that certain people were not granted the right of freedom as others were. Americans used skin color as an excuse as to why they treated Africans so poorly. Americans see themselves as superior beings and slavery benefited them because it brought in wealth and riches for slave owners. They distributed their slaves as they did their cattle. American’s took it upon them to expand their own kind and wipe out the many Natives that first colonized the land.
ReplyDeleteOur Conception of race has changed over time. It started from 400 BC to now today and it keeps on changing over years and years of different views and ideas of race. Our conception of race has changed because we put people into categories mainly based on their skin color and that is not always the case if you are categorizing somebody by their race. As shown in the race is for real website where you have to sort people into their race categories just by looking at their face is pretty hard to do just by looking at their face because some people just have different features than what is expected for the general skin color of that race. The prior concepts of race impacted slavery because people back in the past times put people into races solely based on their skin color not based on their background or ethnicity. This impacted slavery because they chose the black skin color race to be slaves because in Africa they started slavery with a lot of African Americans being brought into slavery by white people and white people thought the black people should be slaves because they were a different color or race. Race or skin color as people used to go by did impact slavery greatly, for all you saw or have heard of being slaves were African Americans. 3 key shifts in terms of race in America were in 1790 when race was categorized by the free or enslaved whites and blacks, In 1930 Mexicans were added just as blacks were to the census, and in 1994 with the Black-white wealth gap. The first two shifts were mainly for slavery because once the races are defined and they know what they can have for slaves for particular races the white slave owners will go out and try to find more slaves that are good workers. The Black-White wealth gap showed the difference in the wealth of blacks and whites, to show what race is “better” in some sense.
ReplyDeleteThe conception of race has changed over times because of political and social differences. The color of someone’s skin was not the only dividing factor but it also was based on where someone fits in society. History has had an impact on how race has revolutionized because events that happened in history are why the differences in people occur and give another meaning to race that is not physical appearances. White people were given laws that benefited them but other races had laws that restricted them from participation in society. I think that it is so crazy to think how much has changed since the times of slavery. Different races, are what make America called the “Melting Pot.” The diversity is what makes America so different and free because everyone has rights to freedom and equality now. I also think that the United States had to go through the times of racism because it showed improvement in the country and how it fixed a wrong. The 14th Amendment gave everyone equal rights which was a turning point for the future of the country. The way people are characterized in society today is on social class, religion, and occupation which I think is not necessary because someone shouldn’t be of lower value to someone just because they make less money. Prior concepts of race impacted slavery because the ideas of the African American population was used to create and image for them that was one of lesser value. When the country was created the idea of slavery formed the economy. The different races was a way for Americans to make their money by using their labor. 3 shifts in terms of race in America were science, social, and laws. These things changed how races were treated. The laws that were made, gave equal rights to everyone and then social classes changed when the economy grew, different types of jobs were created which were for all races. Science was a factor because the new discoveries enabled the injustices to be solved against racism. Overall the race that identifies someone, does not identify what they are capable or wanting to do.
ReplyDelete1. Our conception of race has changed over time as people learned more about each other. As the exposure to new cultures grew so did the stereotypes and negative effects. In ancient times people did not use race as a way to classify or make assumptions about people. It was only until later that people were sorted into classes based on their race. This change was brought about due to certain historical events, such as the marriage between John Rolfe and Pocahontas. People were valued based on where they came from instead of who they are as a person. Before being exposed to other races, people did not even realize that they should focus on skin color to determine the characteristics of people.
ReplyDelete2. Prior conceptions of race impacted slavery because people had thought that other races were inferior to their own. This created tension between the races, particularly between black people and white people. This inequality set the stage for people to treat others of a different race unequally, which led to slavery. People had preconceived ideas about other races set in their minds because of stereotypes. This usually made the white peoples’ treatment to the black population very harsh.
3. A key shift in America on the issue of race was the ratification of the 14th Amendment because it guaranteed equal rights for all. It is said to be the basis of all civil rights arguments to this day. Another key point in American history was the end of legal segregation. This was thanks to Martin Luther King Jr.’s actions for his people, and it helped to create nonviolent protest as a way to make changes. Another example of a key point in American history was when the laws against mixed marriages were overturned. This displayed the ridiculousness of the laws that used to be in place. The government had finally realized that they could not control people based on their physical features.
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ReplyDeleteThe idea of race has changed drastically throughout time. Historically, people not characterize others based on physical characteristics, but rather on social or cultural characteristics. As the timeline showed, most people would categorize people by language, social class, etc. In ancient Greek times, anyone could become a Greek just by learning the language. Likewise, when Pocahontas married John Rolfe in 1616, most people in British court were outraged not because an Englishman married a Native American woman, but because Pocahontas, who was a princess in her Native American tribe, married a commoner. People were not worried about race until slavery began to be very popular in America. White people began to think that they were superior to Africans and people of races other than Caucasian. Perceptions of race prior to the ones of modern America impacted slavery. Before white began seeing themselves as a superior race, wealthy people in the colonies had European indentured servants and African slaves. There were not just slaves from Africa, but Europeans who needed to earn their way to America by becoming slaves as well. Race was not an issue with slavery until white began their rise to the top as “the superior race.” That was when slavery became limited to Africans and poor white colonists needed to find different ways to earn wages for themselves. The first shift in racial perceptions in America was when people began thinking of Caucasians as the superior race and enslaved people based on the color of someone’s skin instead of economic status as it was before. Another shift in race was when Asians began to emigrate to America. Many people were denied citizenship because they were not “white.” Whites began their superiority to all races, not just Africans. All races were not able to apply for citizenship, nor were they granted the rights that white Americans had. People were not considered citizens unless they were white and were allowed to become naturalized citizens, or they were born in the country. Another shift was when citizenship and rights were granted to all people. This was a major shift in America because all people could become citizens and all people were granted the same rights as long as they became naturalized; rights were not only limited to white Americans any more.
ReplyDelete1. Race was used against people, whites were seen as superior and everyone who was not of the white race was seen as less, especially African Americans. They were viewed as property rather than people and it was okay to force them into doing labor and beating them if they did something incorrectly. Race was used to discriminate but is not anymore. Now people are not judged by race, people of all races are given equal opportunities and chances in America. This changed from many years ago and now shows equality throughout. Race is not used to distinguish superiority anymore.
ReplyDelete2. Prior conceptions of race impacted slavery because it showed that the slave owners really did not understand. Americans first thought that the African American slaves were bad and that they were not deserving of what the whites had. They determined this based on the color of their skin and other things that were mostly caused by race. Race gave the Americans an Idea that it was okay to force African Americans into slavery but they later found out it really was not.
3. Three key shifts in race in America is that eventually African Americans were freed out of slavery and were not forced into labor anymore. Another shift is the fact that African Americans were allowed to vote. The third change in race in America is that they were now allowed all the privileges of white people and segregation had ended. They were truly equal.
1. The way that society views race has changed much throughout the course of history. In ancient civilization, Greeks and Romans did not have a large concept of races of people other than a more general sense of who was and was not a foreigner. Groups of people were enslaved for a number of reasons such as social class, through war, and as indentured servants to pay back debts. As Europeans traveled across the sea to the New World, class was originally the most important factor, but into the 1700’s this idea began to change. The economic basis for the colonies was largely agricultural, requiring African slaves to continue economic stability. The communities began to show prejudice towards anyone because of their race. Race was a defining factor of who was enslaved.
ReplyDelete2. Prior conceptions of races led to justification for slavery. Scientists and scholars of the era supported the public view of the African race through ideas that whites were superior to other races. The theory of evolution was applied to society with the mentality of “survival of the fittest,” or Social Darwinism. Laws were passed to take away the rights of inferior races, so that they would be kept in their place. Feelings of superiority raged in America towards both blacks and immigrants. Some Americans were convinced that it was their civil duty to rule the lower races of people, leading to the idea that slavery was a good institution.
3. The concepts of races in America have changed drastically in history with three main changes in thinking, initial racial superiority, the abolishment of slavery, and the fair treatment of all races. In early America, slavery was an integral part of the economy. Slaves were thought to be less than white people, which was supported by race scientists. After the civil war, the racial divide in America was still strong. Laws were put in place to try to limit the rights of freed slaves. The 14th amendment guaranteed equal rights for all people causing a key shift in the view of slavery. Further laws were put in place to protect all people from racial discrimination with civil rights protests, bringing light to the injustices still suffered by particular demographics.
Our perception of race has changed drastically over time. This can be seen in the way racism is almost a new idea. In fact most ancient civilization did not truly discriminate against race. It was the only thing that was truly discriminated against was social class. America was the first true civilization to discriminate against race. This truly did not start until 1705 when the “Virginia Slave Codes”. These were some of the first laws that lead to America discriminating against African Americans, and this was due to the fact that the laws forced many African’s into a permanent slavery. However, over the years many fought to abolish racism, and this has resulted in a steady decline in racism. However, our prior perceptions of race also had an effect on slavery. This can be seen in the various supports made by racist people. One example of this is skull size and shape. This scientific claim was that whites were more superior because of head size. Even though this had almost no effect on intelligence, racists sadly used this to their advantage in order to prove that whites are superior even though they are not. This in turn had a drastic effect for whites, and allowed for racist ideas to form. The three big key shifts in America that pertain to race are huge. The first of these key points are the “Virginia Slave Codes”. This was major because it is a set of laws that forced African slaves into a permanent slavery. This in turn lead to discrimination against African Americans. The second is the abolitionist movement. Even though the movement did a lot of good for slaves, the movement ended up pointing out the differences between white and blacks. The last key point is jim crow laws. These were also a set a racist laws, but these laws were more focused on specifically race. This in turn lead to legal segregation and racism. All three of these combined show the true three turning points towards racial discrimination.
ReplyDelete1.) How our conception of race has changed is how in prehistoric times, African Americans were seen at as lower than whites. They were looked at as property and not given the same treatment as whites, which is something they should have been given. Today, our society can be racist, but it has died down much more. People do not tend to categorize other people based off their race. Everyone sees each other as equal, and that is how I think race has changed over time.
ReplyDelete2.) Prior conceptions of race did impact slavery. Even before slavery began, African Americans were not slaves, but they were hired as servants or somebody that was “under” a white person. Also, many whites started to explore other parts of the world. For example, they explored Africa, and thought that they were able to just take over the land even though there were people still living there. This is another example of how conceptions prior to race impacted the lives of slaves in the future.
3.) A key shift in American history that led to race was The Civil Rights Act. This was in 1964 and it ended all state and local required acts of segregation. This was a step closer for American in ending racial injustices. Another key shift was the passing of the 14th Amendment. This gave citizenship to African Americans. A last key shift that I read about was how the laws of mixed marriages was invalidated in 1967. People should be able to love who they want to love, no matter what color their skin is.
1)Over time, race has changed greatly. In earlier times, race was not a big deal at all. It pretty much didn’t exist as a concept. It was identified that people looked different, but it wasn’t something that mattered. As time went one, race became a bigger and bigger problem. Things like racism and segregation were flourishing and solely because of race. Luckily though, race has started to become a much smaller issue, although there are still terrible outliers who cause terrible problems. Hopefully race becomes nothing at all very soon, and we only see people as people.
ReplyDelete2)Prior conceptions of race impacted slavery because many of the Europeans that came to Africa saw those who inhabited the land to be less of humans compared to themselves. This is wildly inaccurate but this idea made the Europeans enslave the others because they just found the inferior and they thought it would be fine to do it. Everyone knows this is wrong and showed that race had an impact on earlier lives, but not now.
3)Three key shifts in terms of race in America are the freedom of slaves, the Fourteenth Amendment, and legal segregation ending. Slavery ending is huge because it finally allowed the slaves to be able to be free people, like they should be, without having to risk their lives to be free. Second, with the Fourteenth Amendment, it gave African Americans rights that they deserve as human beings. Lastly is the ending of legal segregation, which is fantastic because people should not be able to discriminate others, especially legally, just because of the color of ones skin.
The conception of race in America has changed over time. At first the idea of race in the new world was prevalent. The settlers discriminated the indians in many cases. Although in some cases settlers befriended the natives. Later on race is still used to separate people until segregation is annihilated. Race is still an idea in today’s world, but most people in the world are equal.
ReplyDeletePrior conceptions of race led to slavery because people always thought that caucasians were higher in life than anybody else. They thought that they deserved more than any other type of people. This led to caucasians enslaving “lesser people” compared to themselves.
One key shift of race in America started when slavery was abolished. This led to more equality for all. Another main shift of race in America was when Dr. Martin Luther King led the fight for total equality for everyone. This led to total equality. Another main shift in race in America was when segregation in the South ended. That meant that even in the worst racist parts of America there was equality.
Over time society’s view of race has changed drastically. People used to be socially classed as rich or poor because of their race because it was never deemed possible for a black man to make a good living as a free man back in the early 1800’s. Now in the modern day the race that you are doesn’t affect the place that you are in society and there are no advantage to being a certain skin color. Though people of the same ethnic background will still usually join together and became a sort of clique. This happens throughout all of society and can be seen wherever you go. Race did impact slavery in the beginning because people saw another skin color and immediatly look at the difference as something to be afraid of. People thought that just because the Africans skin pigment was different that they had to be inferior to them. They didn’t take a second to see them from a different view as people that are just a little different from them. If they just tried to make contact with them the whites would have seen they weren’t much different. The first key shift that happened in terms of race was the civil war where blacks got their first solid push towards freedom. The next was the 14th amendment that gave all african americans equal rights, this was the final true movement to get blacks full rights. The final movement was MLK going through with nonviolent protests showing that African Americans are civilized and all they want is freedom just like everyone else.
ReplyDelete1. Our conception of race has changed overtime because we have learned that everyone, no matter what their race is or where they come from, are genetically similar. For example an Italian man is as genetically similar to a Frenchman as a he would be to another Italian man. Early in history people were not sorted by race but were sorted by their religion, the language they spoke, political status, and social class. Being classified by race was uncommon until later in history. Today the discrimination and separation of races is still clearly a visible problem but not as bad as used to be as African Americans and other races have gained more rights.
ReplyDelete2. Prior conceptions of race have impacted slavery greatly. White rich families in The United States started off by having poor servants that were white. Whites began to think that they were the superior race. This created a stressful time in which the hatred and disgust of other races grew. Eventually whites did become the superior race and started capturing, selling, and buying slaves from Africa.
3. A key shift in terms of race in America was when african americans and other non-white races were granted citizenship because of the fourteenth amendment in 1886. It defined citizenship and offered everyone equal protection under the law. Another key shift would be in 1803 when the Japanese and Mexican farm workers organized an agricultural union. They demanded fair wages and labor rights eventually they won the case. A third key shift would be in 1950 when UNESCO said that there was no scientific basis for race. They said that we should stop using racial thinking especially in scientific and political thought.
First thing i read on this thing and I already learn something new. The fact that they believed way back when that a skull found of the Caucasus mountains was the most precious of all and that is why many believe this started the idea of white superiority blows my mind. I find that so interesting because I did think that “white superiority’ actually had like an origin. I also find it interesting that caucasians apparently have different skulls which I definitely did not realize so that is crazy. Our ideas of race have changed over time because originally, people thought that it came down to the skulls and that scientifically, different races had different skulls. However, eventually in the 1950s after World War II, the United States made a statement and addressed the fact that race was not scientific and that everyone was the same except for their skin color. Eventually in 1972, a researcher discovered that local groups are a lot more diverse than they appear, but the human race as a whole is a lot more similar that we appear. Which that idea is kind of hard to wrap your brain around but it makes sense. Previous ideas of race affected slavery because from the beginning, people felt as though whites were more superior. That alone began the long lasting idea of racial discrimination and slavery. Three key shifts in terms of race in America were probably when the idea of the skull of caucasians being better was why whites were superior. Another shift is when the statement was announced that there was no scientific evidence on this skull theory. Lastly, the shift where segregation became illegal was a big step up for America and helped begin end discrimination against African Americans. Overall a very interesting article and timeline.
ReplyDeleteThe human conception of race has changed dramatically since the era of slavery in the united states; race has become a much more personal fact rather than one which would determine your classification in society as it once had, and in todays world, people are much less ignorant as to categorize people into races purely on their facial features. Although there is no denying that racism continues to be prevalent in todays world and that people do need to be much more educated not he subject of race than they already are today, the minds of Americans today seems to be opening up to racial ideas which have been denied in the past. After the 1950's, racially integrated marriage is a thing which has become very widely accepted in American society, although prior to that point, interracial love was a thing of sin and shame in America's racist society. These changes of people's perception of slavery are only few of the many changes in which society has made int heir perception of race throughout history. Prior conceptions towards race impacted slavery greatly; White people in the early says of America when slavery was a huge part of life, did not relate to African American's simply because of the color of their skin, and therefor determined that they were so different that their lives were not as important as theirs. White people began to believe that their race was superior to that of African Americans and slavery only ensured them that this perception was true. Three key shifts in the terms of race in America include the 14th amendment which granted rights to African Americans, the abolition of slavery which was the first step that contributed to the equality of the races, and the laws which made segregation illegal which also helped in the effort to make American a world where all are equal.
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing the articles on race by PBS, it is evident that the idea of race has changed since the beginning of time. Race in the first documented portion of the article deals with the Greek culture. The article first introduces the idea of African slavery in the year 1676. Through time, you can gradually see race become more segregated through the different cultures of the world. One of the largest segregational issues in the article deals with Europeans enslaving African people. I personally believe that the European men enslaving African people created a wave of racism and racial segregation to shock the world. Most people in the United States of America hear the word race and automatically begin to think about racism against non-whites, and when they hear the word slavery, they are most likely thinking about African slaves. The American culture tends to stick on believing that slavery and racism has to do mainly with the African American culture. Prior conceptions of race impacted slavery in America by making people seem like there is only problems with one or two races. Social identities became a huge part of many cultures, and that is when the individualization of races became more prominent. When Pocahontas married the englishman, it is said that there was not much of a problem with the Native American and English cultures clashing. I strongly believe that when Europeans began enslaving Africans is when cultures of European people began to individualize and discriminate against other cultures. One way race shifted in america is when slavery was abolished; this allowed Africans to be free from the tyrannical push of whites. Another way race shifted in America is when the civil rights movement took place; this allowed blacks to be treated equally. The third race shift in america is when Hispanics got more rights in their labor laws.
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