Race The Illusion Of Power Essay

855 Words2 Pages

Race for the past centuries in the United States has become a fundamental concept that determines where an individual falls within society, whether it is on the top of the social hierarchy or the very bottom. In the series, “Race: The Illusion of Power” in episode one, the idea of race is challenged on what it has thought to be historically, it defines race as not real in science but rather “a biological myth” (California Newsreel 2003). Race, on the other hand is a constructed idea brought upon the differences among individuals such as skin color and facial features. Through numerous tests by scientists it can be concluded that race is not at all linked with human genetics, for the human species itself is most similar with one another than …show more content…

Continuing on, Jefferson noted that Native Americans appeared to have the same values as whites, he claimed that Native Americans “were good human material, and the problem with them was not race but culture, that the Indians were savages but they could be civilized,” (California Newsreel 2003: Episode 2). Later on the whites enforced the “civilization” policy which encouraged Native Americans to assimilate into white society by turning them into the Christian religion and educating their young ones with the customs and norms of whites. As time went one and although many tribes successfully assimilated into the white culture, the land the Native Americans occupied where still wanted by the whites. Thus, as a result the Indian Removal Act of 1830 came into effect by president Andrew Jackson who claimed that the Native Americans could never “have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement” (California Newsreel 2003: Episode 2) as the superior race has, making it a necessity to remove them from land surrounding the whites and move them on west. Scientists during this time determined what the superior race was and which one wasn’t based solely on theories of the skull and concluded that the whites were the smartest human species in the planet, pushing the Native Americans and African Americans to the bottom of all

Show More
Related

  • DBQ on Jackson and the Indian Removal

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    The generalization that, “The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the 1830s was more a reformulation of the national policy that had been in effect since the 1790s than a change in that policy,” is valid. Ever since the American people arrived at the New World they have continually driven the Native Americans out of their native lands. Many people wanted to contribute to this removal of the Cherokees and their society. Knox proposed a “civilization” of the Indians. President Monroe continued Knox’s plan by developing ways to rid of the Indians, claiming it would be beneficial to all. Andrew Jackson ultimately fulfilled the plan.     First of all, the map [Document A] indicates the relationship between time, land, and policies, which affected the Indians. The Indian Tribes have been forced to give up their land as early as the 1720s. Between the years of 1721 and 1785, the Colonial and Confederation treaties forced the Indians to give up huge portions of their land. During Washington's, Monroe's, and Jefferson's administration, more and more Indian land was being commandeered by the colonists. The Washington administration signed the Treaty of Holston and other supplements between the time periods of 1791 until 1798 that made the Native Americans give up more of their homeland land. The administrations during the 1790's to the 1830's had gradually acquired more and more land from the Cherokee Indians. Jackson followed that precedent by the acquisition of more Cherokee lands.     In later years, those speaking on behalf of the United States government believed that teaching the Indians how to live a more civilized life would only benefit them. Rather than only thinking of benefiting the Indians, we were also trying to benefit ourselves. We were looking to acquire the Indians’ land. In a letter to George Washington, Knox says we should first is to destroy the Indians with an army, and the second is to make peace with them.      The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of 1793 began to put Knox’s plan into effect. The federal government’s promise of supplying the Indians with animals, agricultural tool...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Tranny Is Tyranny

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this letter Banneker expresses to Jefferson that blacks as well as other racial groups are also human and points out the struggle that Blacks have faced throughout history like being unequally treated and being used for slavery. On the other hand Jefferson supported and defended the Native Americans when the white settlers wanted to take over their lands. Later when Jefferson became president, he doubled the size of the land when he decided to purchase the Louisiana territory from the French. In Chapter 7 titled “As long as Grass Grows or Water Runs” Howard Zinn emphasizes the poor treatment that presidents Madison and Jackson were giving to the Native Americans. Madison and Jackson main objective was to remove as many Native Americans from the lands. That way leading to having more power and more territory. After Jackson and Madison presidency terms were over The Indian Removal act was approved by the congress as part of the Jackson

    Read More

  • Race: A Philosophical Introduction by Paul Taylor

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    Race-thinking: what is it? Isn’t the world past the issue of race? Do races even exist and if so, what does it mean to have a racial identity? Is colorblindness possible and how important is it? These are the questions Paul Taylor addresses in the book “Race: A Philosophical Introduction”. Paul Taylor is a self-proclaimed “radical constructionist” who will maintain that race is very real in our world and in the United States as a whole (p. 80). Taylor takes care to ensure he addresses the real needs concerning racial dynamics in the U.S., referencing historical events, prevailing policy affairs, and even pop culture to explain that everyone capable of forming opinions ought to have some sort of grasp of the concept of race-thinking. As Taylor will analyze, race and race-thinking “has shaped and continues to shape private interactions as well as the largest political choices” (p. 8). In other words, race-thinking encompasses everything we do and every interaction we have. In this paper I will attempt to interpret and expound Taylor’s views and definitions of race, concepts associated with race, and input my own interpretations as they are appropriate.

    Read More

  • What Are The Pros And Cons Of American Imperialism

    1658 Words  | 4 Pages

    American imperialism has been responsible for eradicating traditional cultures and languages. The Native Americans are an exemplary example of the corruption and destruction imperialism has caused throughout history. From the moment European settlers set foot on North American soil, they deemed the Native Americans, who were indigenous to the land, as “savages” and disregarded respect for their culture and traditions. Europeans brutally attacked and forcefully invaded Native American territories in an attempt of genocide. Tribes were annihilated by diseases brought to North America by the Europeans. On May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law, which aimed to remove Native American tribes out of the southern states and move them into western territory. The Indian Removal Act forced Native Americans that refused to leave their homeland to assimilate and obey the laws of the United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the goal of the government was to replace native cultures of Native Americans with White American values. Native American converts were expected to learn and adopt English customs, trades, and religious beliefs. Reformers sent many Native American children “to boarding schools to immerse them in White American culture while stripping away their native culture” (Francis Flavin). The aforementioned tactics and practices ultimately assisted in the eradication of a traditional culture and language. Many lives were lost in the battles fought to protect the Native American culture. American imperialism devalued and disrespected other cultures as it aimed to be superior in power, popularity, and

    Read More

  • Essay On Race And Biopower

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    For at least three decades race, gender and biopower have all been linked together. The three terms used, are frameworks installed by governments to manage the population by categorizing, regulating and controlling its subjects. Race, gender and biopower are intertwined to illuminate the treatment of the minority for centuries. The mistreatment, discrimination and suffering experienced by the minorities throughout history is evident in the texts provided.

    Read More

  • Jacksonian Era: The Removal Policy

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Andrew Jackson, who was the 7th President of the United States, signed the Indian Removal Act in May 28th, 1832 and this policy granted Andrew Jackson the right to forcibly move the Native Americans to land west of the Mississippi. Even though “it is presumed that any explanation of Jackson’s purposes is an attempt to justify the mass killing of innocent people…” (Remini, 45) some would say his childhood affected him; seeing and hearing Indians Attacking places near his home. Or how he was the second President to make it into the business without an education. Some people thought that with gold being found in Georgia, this led many new white settlers looking to buy land from the Cherokee Indians. Although a lot could be said about Andrew Jackson’s Removal Policy one thing is for certain, the way the Policy was carried out was a horror. If you could just imagine this with your heart and soul how the policy was carried out, then you could see how terribly the Indians were treated. All because they occupied the land they were given in a treaty. The policy affected many people, some in good ways; some in bad. Obviously the only people this policy affected in a good way were the white settlers looking to buy the Indians land. The Chickasaw Indians were the only Tribe to not have land in the New Territory even though they were promised it. They sold their land for $500,000 to the United States Government, and when they showed up and had no land they decided to lease land from Choctaws. The purchase of the land from the other tribe created a trust fund that gave the Chickasaw Indians up to $75,000 a year, and then enabled them to have a cash economy and not rely on the natural environment (Kidwell). The unfortunate situation in this enti...

    Read More

  • Effects Of The Indian Removal Act

    1746 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Indian Removal Act in the short term shaped the Natives culture and society very notably. The Indian Removal Act caused the destruction of Native American tribes, and lead to a loss of tradition and culture. However, it did allow for the Americans to gain the land needed to build their growing country and meet their economic desires. Desires that President Andrew Jackson had pushed for at Congress in his first inaugural speech, and had made an important policy for his presidency, as he viewed the results as beneficial, to “not only the states immediately concerned, but to the harmony of the union”. The harmony of the union was perceived to be gained at the loss of Native culture, as Jackson represented himself as the man of the people,

    Read More

  • Thomas Jefferson's Impact On Indian Policy

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    He saw them as equal, but at the same time “culturally retarded”. This basically means that they could grow to be like white men if they were taken out of their savage, uncivilized state. They just needed to understand how to work within the American culture. It is here that the difference between acculturation and assimilation can be seen. In this case, acculturation happens when individual cultures can exist among the American culture. A man can be a proud American while also being proud of his ethnicity and original culture. It is like one culture adapting in a way that lets it survive beside American ideals by incorporating some of them. This what John Ross fights for when going up against President Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830 later in court. Ross, himself, is a wonderful example of how acculturation looks. Being Cherokee chief and a lawyer, he is combination of Native American and British culture. However, what Jefferson if really pushing for is assimilation that influences view of Indians hereafter. This is where a culture is replaced, completely turning into the American culture. To see how this works just look at the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP). This is also how the describing term “melting pot” really works. It is as if all the ethnicities go into the pot and the one produced is American. An idea like this can be paired with that of “killing

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Race: The Power Of An Illusion

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racism is often considered a thing of the past, with its manifestation rarely being acknowledged in the United States today. Race: The Power of an Illusion, is a documentary that addresses the legacy of racism through its significance in the past, and its presence in society today. To understand racism, it is vital to understand the concept of race. Race is a social invention, not a biological truth. This can be observed through the varying classifications of race in different cultures and time periods. For instance, in the United States, race has long been distinguished by skin color. In nineteenth century China, however, race was determined by the amount of body hair an individual had. Someone with a large amount of facial hair, for example,

    Read More

  • Critical Race Theory Essay

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    Muhammad Ali, a famous boxer, once said, “Hating People because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. I’s just plain wrong” (Goodreads, 2015). For many centuries, ethnic conflict between the humans have existed immortally due the never changing differences of culture and values, spinning the cycle of war. Fortunately, some have ended however some still remain immortal in the eyes of those who have experience struggle to this date. The lack of awareness of problems in a cultural crisis concerning those who fall victim to a system and society that discriminates and alienates. With assistance of Critical Race Theory, this essay will examine how the role of race with has affected has caused consequences within the lives of marginalized groups within society through the lives and their relationship with those in their communities.

    Read More

  • Race : The Power Of An Illusion

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    Race: The Power of an Illusion was an interesting 3 part film. After watching this, it made me questioned if race was really an illusion or not. It is absolutely taboo to think that the one thing that separates people the most may be a myth in itself. “We can 't find any genetic markers that are in everybody of a particular race and in nobody of some other race. We can 't find any genetic markers that define race.” (Adelman and Herbes Sommers 2003). Racism is something created in the U.S made to create supremacy for the creator. Racism is not just the way someone thinks, it is something that has is manifested in our society to separate us and can be traced to our everyday activities.

    Read More

  • Ethnic Studies

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    Race has no biological meaning. There is only one human race; there are no subspecies, no single defining characteristic, traits, or even gene, separates one “race” from another. Instead of being a biological concept, race is a social construct, and a relatively modern one at that. It was created to give light-skinned Europeans an advantage by making the white race superior and all others inferior. Throughout its history, the concept of race has served this purpose well.

    Read More

  • Race: biological or cultural

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the past, races were identified by the imposition of discrete boundaries upon continuous and often discordant biological variation. The concept of race is therefore a historical construct and not one that provides either valid classification or an explanatory process. Popular everyday awareness of race is transmitted from generation to generation through cultural learning. Attributing race to an individual or a population amounts to applying a social and cultural label that lacks scientific consensus and supporting data. While anthropologists continue to study how and why humans vary biologically, it is apparent that human populations differ from one another much less than do populations in other species because we use our cultural, rather than our physical differences to aid us in adapting to various environments.

    Read More

  • Race As A Social Construct

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.

    Read More

  • Genetics and Diversity

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    Whether race is real or not depends on how race itself is defined. There are phenotypic differences among different populations but whether those differences are significant enough is debatable. The patterns of features that we notice in different races can be identified as characteristics of the areas from which they come and where their ancestors have been for thousands of years. We call the differences we see in each other ‘race.’ Race exists as more of a social construction than a significant biological entity. Race has a more social role in society and first came about as a sociocultural construction (Smedley, 1997).

    Read More

More about Race The Illusion Of Power Essay

Open Document