Social Construction of Race

A single of the least identified information about the notion of race is that that it is a socially constructed ideology. Race and subsequent racism was designed by White Europeans and Americans in order to justify the enslavement of millions of persons for profit. When persons really feel guilty about an action they committed, they will generally attempt to discover methods of justifying their actions. This is what Europeans and Americans did when they decided to clarify away the actions of human bondage by declaring Africans subhuman. In performing this, they changed the interpretation of history itself. A land exactly where complicated civilizations had existed for centuries was decreased to the "Dark Continent" and its people today declared savages. All in the name of profit for the status quo and converting the "natives" to Christianity. The history of Africa was rewritten to make Whites the conquerors who 'civilized' the natives.

Even though 'race' as a description of the physical situation most likely dates back to the dawn of the human species, most scholars agree that it was mainly via European expansion in the 16th to the 19th century that 'race' as a physical description emerged. It was when European colonizers, whose aim was primarily to seek out beneficial main goods such as sugar, tin, rubber and human labor, came into get in touch with with 'native' populations who had been 'people today of colour' that racism became a dominant force in Western society. In order to preserve manage of these populations, they had been defined as inferior human beings mainly simply because of their various cultural practices as nicely as their not being White, the preferred and 'normal' skin colour. Pushing such people today to the margins did not quit European men from sexually mixing with nearby ladies creating, wherever colonialism prospered, a so-known as 'mixed' race of folks. Therefore, race as a biological aspect was constructed in racism and became a primary aspect in racial discrimination. This ideology quickly spread all through Europe and other locations such as North America, spreading the doctrines of alleged racial inferiority.

This ideology of racial dictatorship and hierarchy rapidly took root in American society by the signing of a well-known document, "The United States Constitution." This document clearly states, 'We the People today of the United States.' The query proposed from this statement is, who precisely are "the Men and women?" It definitely was not the enslaved Africans simply because they have been viewed as to be 3 fifths of a human being. In addition to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence also posed quite a few queries of racism. The Declaration of Independence was written to sever ties in which men and women have been denied their unalienable rights. On the other hand, the Constitution was nevertheless denying quite a few men and women of their life, liberty, and or the pursuit of happiness. It is clear to see that the Constitution laid the framework for which a segregated, racial society was formed in America.

Enslaved Africans have been just as human as the White men whose rights had been secured via the signing of the Constitution, but their rights did not matter. For the reason that they did not have any rights, they have been forced to reside in a society in which the government officials did not represent them. Equality and justice was not for all, just for wealthy, land-owning White men. The practice of discriminating on the basis of skin colour was born and would be legal till the six decade of the twentieth century. Even in the new millennium, racial inequalities nonetheless plague America and till this nation can admit the wrongs accomplished to enslaved Africans and their ancestors, no One particular will be absolutely free.