At the height of European colonization of the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries, the power dynamic and nationalistic tensions ran high between Spanish and English colonies. Despite both establishing major colonies which provided Gold and Glory to their respective crowns, the two powers had two distinct ways of accomplishing these goals, according The Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. The Spanish, the first to colonize the Americas, were infamous for their tactics of intermarrying with the natives, creating the Metizo ethnic group. The Metizo people were “to be treated humanely and not to be enslaved”, while under Spanish rule. Meanwhile, the English established colonies isolated from the natives. Contact with natives was …show more content…
limited, with exception of battles over the encroachment of land. Eventually, however, the Spanish colonies died down as a result of over ambition in worldwide colonization. The reduction of power and presecnce of the natives resulted in the English conitnuing to encroach and expand while trying to keep their bloodline ‘pure’. This same British ideology was again present during the time of African slaves, mixing and integration was not even legal. The basis of isolation and cultural purity at the birth of the nation established the blueprint for racial tensions for hundreds of years to follow. Caucasians, decedents of European colonists, dominated society economically, politically, and socially. Since then, the emacipation of slaves, the end of Jim Crow segregation, and the Civil rights movement has led to a more globalized, and integrated societies. Yet despite the progress that has been made, racial tensions are back at an all time high in 2017 with the election of Donald Trump. At a simple glance, what has appeared to have occured over time is that as the more globalized and integrated the U.S. has become, the better racial relations in the country have become. This can be attributed to the assumption that the more educated, or the more globalized one becomes, that they are no longer capable of being intolerant or racist. By the time I was able to walk, I had to been to eight countries and had a frequent flyers account. I went to an International school in, at the time, underdeveloped Doha where in elementary school we learned about Buddhism and it’s presence in southeast Asian countries. We learned about the geographical borders that facilitated the South African apartheid. In the sixth grade, we would be able to travel to Athens as a grade to view the Ancient Greek artifacts we would learn about in History, if you didn’t move on to your next international school by then. In an international school environment, our differences, our cultures, and the places we’ve visited and lived in, make up our sense of internationalism. We were taught that before indulging in the pride of our religion, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status to celebrate the plethora of human resources surrounding us. Our elementary school had barely 400 students but represented 63 nations. We were the “nowhere men” that Pico Iyer was referring to in his essay “Nowhere Man”. “Nowhere Man” by Pico Iyer, a British Indian essayist whose childhood was similar to that of mine, reflects on his childhood and goes on to describe a new generation of people, “nowhere men”, those whose childhood was globalized before they could speak. Iyer claims that the “nowhere man”-- a person who is similar to nonaligned nations -- has become accountable to no creed or country has inadvertently developed a “disquieting” apathy and passivity. In the 21st century, the narrative of being globalized is often expressed as one that will help breed a generation of peacekeepers and solutions to large scale international dilemmas. Iyer counters this by suggesting that the implication of a generation of “nowhere men” is that now there is a generation of people who now have no passions for or connections with beliefs or nations, rendering them “permanent residents of nowhere” thus calling them the ideal peacekeepers minimizes the idea that world peace can be achieved without the acknowledgement of domestic issues. Iyer’s outlook on himself and other nowhere men was undoubtly ahead of its time. Written in 1997, “Nowhere Man” focuses on globalization prior to Sepetmeber 11th, 2001. Post 9/11, a wave of Islamaphobia hit the U.S., and even after the wars abroad in the middle east, would remain prevelant in 2017 . The financial crisis of 2008 would launch a series of xenophobia towards immgrants, particulrarly Mexicans, as a result of job scarcity. This being in line with a more advanced and globalized U.S.. Since 1997, the U.S. has expanded its influence to more countries, and during the Obama era especially. But despite globalization, domestic racial tensions and tolerance suffered. The assumption that those who live in a globalized environment or consider themselves ‘nowhere men’ are the ideal international citizen and can solve the issues that countries face internally or externally, is a pretentious assumption. Because being Black in an international setting is something that even Pico Iyer could not advise me on. Despite my cultural safe haven in my classrooms, I experienced bullying because of the friziness of my hair and the color of my skin. While younger me struggled to understand how some of the most diverse and culturally aware people I knew could be so hurtful and disgustingly ignorant, I now understand that anti-blackness is prevalent in every community on this earth. I lived in a community that contradicted the assumption that Iyer argued against. Prejudice doesn’t rely entirely rely on intellect. While this globalized upbringing curbs other areas of ignorance, it neglects others and breeds a distance to harsher relalities such as a conversation of antiblackness. I wonder if the propnents of the institution of slavery knew that 143 years after the Emancipation of Proclamation, the nation would elect the first Black president. I wonder if during Martin Luther King Jr’s speech ‘I Have a Dream’ that his childern would witness the election of the first President. I wonder if the enforcers of the Jim crow rules, one of which was the banning of interracial relationships, knew that the first Black president’s conception was once illegal. I wonder if xenaphobes throughout the U.S.’s history knew that the first Black president is one of the biggest symbols of the ‘nowhere man’ generation. President Barack Obama, the 44th president of the U.S., was raised a half White half Kenyan boy in Hawaii and Jakarta with his Kansas-bred grandparents. And while globalization and internationalism doesn’t override and rid the world of racism, Obama’s rise to the presidency both provided an example that this background provides both the necessary skills of a world leader, it also has it’s downfalls. Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “My President Was Black” reflects on the end of the Obama era; one of the most historically significant presidency in U.S. history. The essay both stresses the significance and delves into a greater look at the characteristics of the Obama presidency to explain the role Obama had in Black America unlike other notorious black politicians. Coates looks at different time periods of Obama, looking at different challenges and solutions Obama took to becoming the president, which was evident through the organization of the six part essay. Coates managed to pinpoint that being globalized like he was, Obama being a “nowhere man” gained the trust of the American people, winning him the presidency.
He attributed part of it to Obama’s ability to trust white people, “people who were similar to his grandparents”, his strong suit in gaining trust of white people and white votes. He attributed Obama’s ability to get involved and win the trust of Black Chicago citizens, a more tight knit community, to gaining the trust of African Americans in general. He attributed Obama’s upbringing as a mixed child who lived a third culture kid lifestyle to the formation his “color blind policy” and subsequent unification of immigrant voters. Finally, he attributed Obama’s trust and never fleeting sense of optimism of hope to the key factor to the success of Obama, for not one but two terms. Coates adds, however, that while Obama pushed people from all groups out of thier comfort zone, it did not go unnoticed, as Van Jones once called a “white lash” reaction in response to Obama. Coates is referring of course referring the election of Donald Trump, the embodiment of the exact opposite of …show more content…
Obama. But the most interesting of all, is that despite the inherent similarities one could assume of Coates and Obama, Coates attributes the multifacted background that makes up Obama something that distances him from Obama.
Obama, a major symbol for the Black community, is not exclusive to Black people, like Michelle Obama would’ve been. He belongs to the White community, to the ‘nowhere man’ community, to the immigrant community. Coates himself sees himself as first and formost a Black man. Moreover, perhaps that this makeup challeneges Obama in understanding how to elevate Black America, because it is the part of him that is the farthest away. If anything, Iyer described it best. Obama, while being able to appeal to a wide vareity of people, is like a nonaligned nation. Thus for the average Black man, the appeal is not as bright to others, and the identification can only resignate so
much. Until I saw Obama, I thought I wouldn’t see another “nowhere man” like me. Black. But what he taught me was that my experiences in a globalized environment are only a prelude to the rest of the world. We confuse people. Similarly, I ponder the observations that Iyer detailed. What is the ideal international citizen. Is it the “nowhere man” with all their flaws? Is a combination? Am I an ideal International Citizen? As we move into a more globalized and international society, we see the effects of our own prejudice and have to evaluate how we plan to curb these. Globalization and internationalism alone will not combat the treatment of minority groups or prevalent anti-blackness. But, we still as a society focus on this solution to answer the quarries regarding international unrest, but domestic globalization in our own communities doesn’t but an end to domestic unrest. So what does? Every single person has their own prejudices. Being raised a “nowhere man”, these prejudices are often numbed or dissipate with the interaction with several cultures. Our ignorances are challenged constantly, however, they can still be present. Thus, while many suggest that a globalized upbringing is the solution to better equipt peacekeepers, “nowhere men” wouldn’t necessarily make a better peacekeeper than a person that strongly identified with one nation as their home.
In his opinion, life in the white community is like a dream, since there were no discrimination, no oppression, no threats for violence etc. He expressed the idea that it was impossible for the white people to give up this dream and they would do whatever necessary to defend it. “The problem with the police is not that they are fascist pigs but that our country is ruled by majoritarian pigs.” Coates believed that the root to all the unfortunate events were because of the country’s leadership. America had benefitted from slavery and many other policies that were discriminating against African Americans, yet the leaders failed to recognise the contributions they had made for this
Christopher Columbus discovered the America’s for Spain in 1492. The explorers and settlers that settled in Central and South America were mostly Spanish and Portuguese. The English took notice of the Spanish success in the America’s, so they decided to explore the upper part of the America’s, North America, in the late 1500’s.
In the 1400’s European countries had been thrusted into overseas expansion in the fever for land and gold. All throughout Europe, monarchies had sent explorers all over the world to conquer land for their country. Each country had conquered and colonized in various styles, but each had a specific goal that they wanted to achieve. During the European colonization of the Americas or the New World, both the Spanish and the French spread the idea of Catholicism throughout the Americas, however the Spanish believed in treating the Native Americans in a harsher way by enslaving them for labor whereas the French established trade relationships.
Colonization in Latin America had a major effect on the Americas because the Aztecs died of the disease that the Europeans brought over though the Columbian Exchange. Since the Aztecs could not do much about the diseases that were spreading a lot of them began to die. The evidence from the pictures show that the Columbian Exchange took place during the 16th century. (doc 1). A lot of the Aztecs got sick and died. People could not do much about the diseases because they did not know what kind of disease it was. The Aztecs were also not immune to any of the disease that were spreading. Those are some reasons why the colonization in Latin America had a major effect on the Natives.
At the time of this speech, Barack Obama is running for the Democratic Presidential candidate as well as being called into question when his former pastor publicly accused the government of committing hateful acts against black Americans. He addresses the American public then tries to persuade them to recognize that he understands both the white Americans and the black Americans. He uses ‘we’ and ‘us’ to show that he truly views the people as one as opposed to various separate groups, “… we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together, unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction…” He wants to move past the racial segregation and move towards a truly unified country, and he uses pathos by talking about his upbringing. The use of the descriptions of his youth with a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas shows that he can relate to the common person seeing as he had to adjust to both sides of his families as well as the stigmas that both sides had. The urgency in which Obama answered the accusations of being similar to Wright,
The Spanish began their movement to Southwest America in the late sixteenth century. From that point on, their influence both on the Native Americans and the environment was extraordinaire. The goal of the Spaniards with regards to the Native Americans was to transform them “into tax-paying Christians.” This is in contrast to the idea that their goal was to eradicate the Indians form the Americas. Consequently, the Spaniards took many Indians so that they may plant their religion in the Natives and to use them as cheap labor. This led many Indians to learn the customs and language of the Spaniards so they could to be able to thrive in the Spanish culture. Thus, some Natives acquired Spanish, which was the main source of their Hispanicization; this was the notion of Indians becoming encompassed by the Spanish society. Furthermore, Indians gradually learned skills, obtained land, and sometimes found Hispanic spouses, thus furthering their Hispanicization. They now began to live in a Spanish manner and blend into the bottom of the Spanish societal ladder. This “acculturation” of the Native Americans was in contrast to the models of early English colonization. Spanish goals and plans sought to involve the Indians so that they may live in their society even if at the lower end of it’s ladder. English colonies viewed the Natives as savages and looked to them for slave labor or to rape their women. They did not plan to take the Indians into their society as the Spaniards did so throughout this era.
A connection with the audience is imperative for politicians and presidents. Obama’s powerful arguments and speeches during his long journey eventually leads him to the White House. Many people anticipate President Obama's first Inauguration speech; in fact, from a historical context, many Americans never expect to hear such a speech. Being the first black president, Obama establishes popularity with the American people and attracts all types of audiences in his first inauguration speech by addressing the nation as “ a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non believers ” (Inaugural 2). Mentioning race is a strong way of forming a connection with the audience because instead of classifying the
It was hard for Obama to know that his father was the person whom he had the most resemblance in terms of physical appearance and he was never around. There were so many questions and confusions in Obama’s head. His mother was a white woman and he was black. Obama was in the need of finding a community where he would feel welcome. Despite Obama’s traumas produced by the deficiency of his father’s presence Obama proved to be very smart. He was a student at Columbia University. He was one of the few black students that went t...
Following Spain and Portugal's first efforts to claim the "New World" for their own, England, France and the Netherlands establish colonies throughout North America, predominantly seeking economic wealth and opportunities with occasional religious intentions. While the Spanish savagely plunder the riches of the natives to satisfy their own greed in this newly untapped world, the English, French and Dutch pursue a seemingly less violent approach through lucrative trade and establishing colonies, to meet their own intentions. In the northern regions of North America (what is today Canada) and the southeast (what is now Florida) occurred the beginning of French and Native American interactions for trade. On the Atlantic coast of what is today much of the Northeastern United States lies the English colonies that dominate their focus on producing tobacco and trading goods for luxurious furs. While there is the presence of a Puritan society that hoped for religious tolerance within the Massachusetts Bay colony, this was one of the few exceptions among the English settlements. In New Amsterdam, a Dutch colony in present day New York, lies a trading and farming community that is solely there to claim a stake in the "New World". Representing Spain, Columbus establishes a gold seeking society motivated in finding riches. As European countries settled vast expanses of territory through North America, each nation shows their desires for economic gains and a presence in the Americas.
Coates is tells his son about achieving The American Dream, the difficulties he seen and experienced due to racism, and unfair/injustice ways. His book shows how racism makes The American Dream difficult to achieve, how the environment we live in affects us and how the roots of black people has an impact on our lives today.
In the 1600s the land of Massachusetts Bay and Virginia were the first two regions to be colonized in the New World. Both colonies, New England and Chesapeake, had each of their own separate failures and of course, their successes. Virginia’s colony focused immensely on labor and profit which took the attention away from forming community infrastructure and stability which is what allowed Massachusetts Bay to start their settlement on the right foot. Massachusetts Bay, or New England, Puritans were looking for a community wholly or at least predominantly based on religion causing conflict with the church of England. Chesapeake’s uncharitable and irrational behaviors kept them from forming the rather more important characteristics of a community. These perspectives and actual flourishing accomplishments of these two colonies, the Massachusetts Bay colony thrived in all the relevant places: Labor, economy, and community.
The Spanish rule had effectively started to take over in 1598 when a man by the name of Juan de Onante began his invasion on the indigenous people. Onante was able to set up the first Spanish colony which consisted of soldiers and women and children. The land that he invaded was inhabited by the Natives but when they had the first colony the Spanish began to segregate the natives into two groups the “Barbaros” and the “Pueblos”. The Spanish colonization had over 100 communities spreading over hundreds of miles. Although, they were lumped into ‘...
The Spaniards arrived at the Americas prior to the English. The Spanish mainly wanted to explore in the first place because after the Black Death, the population increased, and thus, so did the frequency of commerce. There was a sudden new interest in new products and the new strong monarchs who sponsored the journeys wanted to be more affluent. Therefore, explorers such as Christopher Columbus attempted to go west to target Asia. However, he ended up on Cuba and called the natives Indians. The Spanish soon started to consider the Americas less of a blockage and could now see it as a source of resources. In 1518, Cortes arrived into Mexico with his group of conquistadors, or conquerors, which is a proper name because the men after gold exterminated native areas using their military skills, brutality and greed to turn the Southern America into a vast Spanish empire. The smallpox the Spanish unknowingly carried also helped wipe many people out. When they saw the religious ceremonies of the Aztecs that produced many skulls, they thought of these people as savages and not entirely human. This of coarse was quite hypocritical because the Spanish have killed before during the Inquisition for their faith. It was this contempt that made them think it was all right to slaughter the natives. Spanish colonies were established when conquistadors had gotten a license to finance the expedition from the crown to fixture encomiendas. These encomiendas were basically Indian villages that became a source of labor. The Spanish dreamed of becoming wealthier from South America, but they also wanted a profitable agricultural economy and to spread their Catholic religion (the Pueblo Indians converted to Christianity), which became very important in the 1540s.
Obama emotionally influences the nation to move forward from the issues of race that is hindering America. Without dwelling on his family tree, Obama reminds us that his father was black and his mother white, that he came from Kenya, but she came from Kansas: “I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slave and slave owners — an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
The coming of the Europeans led to the colonisation of the region by the powerful European colonies such as England, Spain, and Portugal, etc. was aided by various expeditions that led to the discovery of North America. Christopher Columbus played an important part in the exploration of the American continent which shed more light on the existence of North American lands that were good for both agriculture and other developmental abilities. This paper examines the extent that the European colonisation of North America was a utopian experiment. A critical review of existing literature is conducted to illustrate the factors brought forth in the report to develop the viewpoint taken into the body of the literature.