Human Rights advocates for the belief that all humans deserve and are entitled to certain basic rights simply because they are human. Although the idea of rights, whether legal or implied, has existed for most of history, the idea that certain rights belong to everyone has not been present all this time (Kabasakal Arat). Social status as well as race has, for as long as the idea of rights have existed, effected what rights you are said to deserve. We see this explained further in works like Charles Mills’ The Racial Contract, Haunani-Kay Trask’s The Color of Violence and Busangokwakhe Dlamini’s Homosexuality in the African Context.
The Racial Contract, according to Mills is “that set of formal or informal agreements or meta-agreements (higher
…show more content…
–level contracts about contracts, which set the limits of the contracts’ validity) between the the members of one subset of humans” (Mills 11). The Racial Contract categorizes people into a binary of “white” or “non-white”. Those who are “non-white” are considered subpersons – they are of subordinate civil standing, and are thought be be inferior or different in moral status. The subpersons are then excluded and do not conform to the moral ideals set forth by the whites. It is important to note that “all whites are beneficiaries of the Contract, though some whites are not signatories to it” (Mills 11). By this, Mills is saying that although all white people may not agree or promote racial inequality, they benefit from it regardless. Mills throughout the reading discusses the way in which the Racial Contract has evolved. He says that “The Racial Contract continues to manifest itself, of course, in unofficial legal agreements of various kinds” (Mills 73). The Racial Contract started with the colonialism of the New Word, then evolved when slavery began. From there it developed to “separate but equal” doctrine, and it is currently evolving again. In this “colorblind” society in which we live, many wonder how it the Racial Contract is still upheld. Although not overt like the previous contracts, the Racial Contract is continuing to uphold white supremacy by using words like “diversity” and “inclusion”. The words ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ are based within the theory of liberalism. The theory of liberalism regards “equal rights and equal treatment as a higher priority than material justice, or as an effective means towards it” (Kyra 1). Liberals attempt to sell diversity as a concept that is beneficial to everyone, when in reality it is simply maintaining white dominance. “diversity and inclusion whitewash and undermine the very basis of their value” (Kyra 1). By forcing diversity and inclusion, it still puts white people at the forefront of spaces. Regardless of what the group represents, the dominant group will always be the main focus. So by making all spaces diverse, it allows white people to be in charge of groups, just as they have always been throughout the history of the Racial Contract. In her chapter “The Color of Violence”, Haunani-Kay Trask discusses the human rights violations of the native peoples of Hawaii.
What her chapter in this anthology does is provide yet another example of the Racial Contract and how non-white persons are considered subpersons and are deemed not worthy of basic human rights according to the contract. Trask states that “In a racist society, there is no need to justify white racist behavior” (Trask 83). She then goes on to detail how the native people of Hawai’i are subjected to “peaceful violence” a direct result of the colonializing of her country by white settlers. She describes peaceful violence as a covert form of racism, through practices of nuclearization and militarization, white settlers have contaminated the land, as well as the people. Through the testing of nuclear weapons on the native people, white settlers have shortened the life expectancy and raised the likelihood of cancer among these people – a clear violation of their human rights (Trask 85). The human rights violations of the native people and the infringement on their land was clearly based on race – because the natives are non-white, they were seen as not deserving of human …show more content…
rights. Human rights, as stated before, has a direct correlation to race as well as social status.
Because of the way in white people have established themselves as the “dominant race” this also effects how we understand the history of the countries in which they have colonized. This concept of the relationship between race and the making of history is apparent in Dlamini’s discussion of homosexuality in Africa. Settlers colonization of Africa was accompanied by European ideals, religious and social ones. With their colonization came Christianity, and this religion altered the way African peoples understood their history. There has been ample proof that tribes within the continent of Africa engaged in homosexual relations however, it was not until European settlers that this was acknowledged as “wrong” (Dlamini 129). Acts such as these had no name until European settlers categorized it as prohibited because of their religion. It was because of European ideals of African people that it was believed that homosexuality didn’t occur in Africa. Dlamini states that Europeans saw Africans as “'primitive man'. Since primitive man was perceived to be close to nature, ruled by instincts, and culturally unsophisticated, he had to be heterosexual; his sexual energies and outlets devoted exclusively to their ‘natural’ purpose – biological reproduction” (Dlamini 132). The history of homosexuality in Africa presents a clear relationship between race and the making of history. The dominant race is
the determining factor of how history is redistributed and understood globally. It has been shown time and time again through the distribution of history as well as the distribution of human rights that white people, who established themselves as the dominant group when they colonized the “New World”, are in clear control of how these things happen.
Her book focuses on the myriads of issues and struggles that Indigenous men and women have faced and will continue to face because of colonialism. During her speech, Palmater addressed the grave effects of the cultural assimilation that permeated in Indigenous communities, particularly the Indian Residential School System and the Indian Act, which has been extensively discussed in both lectures and readings. Such policies were created by European settlers to institutionalize colonialism and maintain the social and cultural hierarchy that established Aboriginals as the inferior group. Palmater also discussed that according to news reports, an Aboriginal baby from Manitoba is taken away every single day by the government and is put in social care (CTVNews.ca Staff, 2015). This echoes Andrea Smith’s argument in “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing” that colonialism continues to affect Aboriginals through genocide (2006, p. 68). Although such actions by the government are not physical acts of genocide, where 90% of Aboriginal population was annihilated, it is this modern day cultural assimilation that succeeded the Indigenous Residential School System and the Indian Act embodies colonialism and genocide (Larkin, November 4,
Lives for Native Americans on reservations have never quite been easy. There are many struggles that most outsiders are completely oblivious about. In her book The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich brings those problems to light. She gives her readers a feel of what it is like to be Native American by illustrating the struggles through the life of Joe, a 13-year-old Native American boy living on a North Dakota reservation. This book explores an avenue of advocacy against social injustices. The most observable plight Joe suffers is figuring out how to deal with the injustice acted against his mother, which has caused strife within his entire family and within himself.
As majority of the narrative in this poem is told through the perspective of a deceased Nishnaabeg native, there is a sense of entitlement to the land present which is evident through the passage: “ breathe we are supposed to be on the lake … we are not supposed to be standing on this desecrated mound looking not looking”. Through this poem, Simpson conveys the point of how natives are the true owners of the land and that colonizers are merely intruders and borrowers of the land. There is an underlying idea that instead of turning a blind eye to the abominations colonizers have created, the natives are supposed to be the ones enjoying and utilising the land. The notion of colonizers simply being visitors is furthered in the conclusion of the poem, in which the colonizers are welcomed to the land but are also told “please don’t stay too long” in the same passage. The conclusion of this poem breaks the colonialistic idea of land belonging to the colonizer once colonized by putting in perspective that colonizers are, in essence, just passerbys on land that is not
The Hawaiian culture is known throughout the western world for their extravagant luaus, beautiful islands, and a language that comes nowhere near being pronounceable to anyone but a Hawaiian. Whenever someone wants to “get away” their first thought is to sit on the beach in Hawai’i with a Mai tai in their hand and watch the sun go down. Haunani-Kay Trask is a native Hawaiian educated on the mainland because it was believed to provide a better education. She questioned the stories of her heritage she heard as a child when she began learning of her ancestors in books at school. Confused by which story was correct, she returned to Hawai’i and discovered that the books of the mainland schools had been all wrong and her heritage was correctly told through the language and teachings of her own people. With her use of pathos and connotative language, Trask does a fine job of defending her argument that the western world destroyed her vibrant Hawaiian culture.
Native American’s place in United States history is not as simple as the story of innocent peace loving people forced off their lands by racist white Americans in a never-ending quest to quench their thirst for more land. Accordingly, attempts to simplify the indigenous experience to nothing more than victims of white aggression during the colonial period, and beyond, does an injustice to Native American history. As a result, historians hoping to shed light on the true history of native people during this period have brought new perceptive to the role Indians played in their own history. Consequently, the theme of power and whom controlled it over the course of Native American/European contact is being presented in new ways. Examining the evolving
The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.
“.When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters.” –Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Over the years, many groups of people have been denied basic human rights based on simple things such as gender or race. These acts go against the UDHR, or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR is a document of the equal and inalienable rights/freedoms all people are born with.
Since 1840 the Hawaiian Islands have been an escape to a tropical paradise for millions of tourists. People all over the world encounter alluring, romanticized pictures of Hawai'i's lush, tropical vegetation, exotic animals, beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, and fantastical women. This is the Hawai'i tourists know. This is the Hawai’i they visit. However, this Hawai'i is a state of mind, a corporate-produced image existing on the surface. More precisely, it is an aftermath of relentless colonization of the islands' native inhabitants by the United States. These native Hawaiians experience a completely different Hawai'i from the paradise tourists enjoy. No one makes this as clear as Haunani-Kay Trask, a native Hawaiian author. In her book, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai'i and through her poetry in Light in the Crevice Never Seen, Trask provides an intimate account of the tourist industry's impact on native Hawaiian culture. She presents a negative perspective of the violence, pollution, commercial development, and cultural exploitation produced by the tourist industry. Trask unveils the cruel reality of suffering and struggling through a native Hawaiian discourse. Most of the world is unaware of this.
Over time concepts of ‘Race’, defined as a distinct group with a common linage, and ‘Primitive’ which pertains to the beginning or origin, , have been inextricably linked with the perception of Africa. The confusion of the two in the minds of people at the end of the 19th centaury, and some of the 20th, caused a sense of superiority amongst the ‘White Races’ that affected every aspect of their interaction with ‘the Black’. The ‘Civilisation’ of Africa by conquest and force was justified by these views.
According to Oxford Dictionaries, race relations are "…Relations between members or communities of different races within one country" (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017). Race relations are based on differences an individual possesses (physical and genetic traits) in comparison to other people. The traits explained by G. Edwards "are important in contributing to the observed ecological, economic, social, and political which constitute the subject matter of race relations" (Edwards, 2008). Therefore, the way in which a person differs from a certain racial group will lead to the same differences in cultural characteristics. Additionally, many critics claim race relations have seen a positive shift since the end of WWII and brought about a change in the composition of racial minorities; members within a group who appear less powerful in comparison to a larger group
The world has been shaped to make European domination with racial contract. Racial contract is a set of formal or informal agreements between one subset of humans also known as a contract between whites. The purpose of the racial contract is a privileging of the whites as a group with respect to non whites as a group because they white supremacy. The agreement mostly concerns the third parties which are blacks. Yes I believe that what has happened with america electing trump can be explained in terms of racial contract.
Race, as a general understanding is classifying someone based on how they look rather than who they are. It is based on a number of things but more than anything else it’s based on skin's melanin content. A “race” is a social construction which alters over the course of time due to historical and social pressures. Racial formation is defined as how race shapes and is shaped by social structure, and how racial categories are represented and given meaning in media, language and everyday life. Racial formation is something that we see changing overtime because it is rooted in our history. Racial formation also comes with other factors below it like racial projects. Racial projects seek
Thompson, Kenneth W., and Asmarom Legesse. "Human Rights in African Political Culture." The Moral Imperatives of Human Rights: A World Survey. Lanham: University of America, 1980. 123-24. Print.
Human Rights are the rights that are believed to belong justifiably to every person. “Human rights are what reason requires and conscience demands. They are us and we are them. Human rights are rights that any person has as a human being. We are all human beings; we are all deserving of human rights. One cannot be true without the other” (Kofi Annan). Human rights are a way to hurdle the obstacle in our struggle for justice, equal opportunity, and human development. Many nations ignore the fact that every human deserves rights. This is a guiding factor as to why we chose this topic for our project. Human rights involves many topics but we feel as if human rights start with the younger generation, and by building a connection with them we could shape the future for humans and their rights.
…rights which are inherent to the human being ... human rights acknowledges that every single human being is entitled to enjoy his or her human rights without distinction as to race, [color], sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. [To add on, human] rights are legally guaranteed by human rights law, protecting individuals and groups against actions that interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity (Human rights for