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Racism in literature
racial discrimination in Literature
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Comparison of Racism in History
“ I have a dream... where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.';
-Martin Luther King Jr.
We have come a long way since the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Our cities are filled with numerous minority groups with different religions and cultures. We live in a multicultural society where we don’t have to think about hate crime too much. We can feel safe when going to the corner store without being pasteurized by a mob of “haters';. We live in a very safe country, but instances during the World Wars make us pray that non-of that will ever happen in Canada again.
This ISP will examine the similarities and differences of racism and racial issues between a “true-story'; novel called Obasan, by Joy Kogawa, and a fictional play called “The Komagata Maru Incident';, by Sharon Pollock. Each story is set in a different period during Canada’s history: World War I and II.
In the play “The Komagata Maru Incident';, Sharon tells a story of the racist Canadian Government. The setting of the play is in Vancouver and it takes place right after World War I. It’s about a group of 376 East Indian Immigrants who sail to Canada to start a new life, but are not excepted due to the racist immigration officials. The immigrants had a right to be in Canada because they were British subjects, but Canada decided to shut their doors. This shows how cruel the people were at that time. Slowly the East Indian communities within Vancouver were beginning to get racist threats. The “whites'; complained about how the immigrants were taking over jobs because they were willing to work cheap. It is overwhelming to think that just because of a different race, it would mean non-whites couldn’t do what whites do: make a living.
In the novel Obasan, it describes the hardship of a young girl, Naomi, growing up in Vancouver, while in the midst World War II. During this period, her family was torn apart, due to government orders, and sent to camps or sugar beet farms in Alberta and Manitoba. The reason why there was so much focus around Naomi and other families like her was because her family was Japanese. It is so inconceivable to think that Ca...
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...nadian government was paranoid enough to single out a race.
The novel Obasan and play “The Komagata Maru Incident'; can be compared, but really shouldn’t be. The situations and level of racism are much too different to compare.
In conclusion, when looking at the exterior of a person, it is much too easy to get the wrong impression, due to their skin colour, religion, or culture. This leads to the mind scurrying up stereotypic ideas about that person. Too often are projections about a person are totally inaccurate. It’s unfortunate that by the time we find out there’s much more to that person, it’s too late. Can Canada ever learn from it’s mistakes from it’s past? Or will racial conflict occur in Canada lead into another war? It’s too hard to say. With all the similarities in the novel Obasan and the play “The Komagata Maru Incident';, it showed that racism is present in the past and will be in the future.
Bibliography
Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. Canada: Penguin Books, 1983.
Pollock, Sharon. “The Komagata Maru Incident';. Toronto: Playwrights Canada, 1978.
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,
Stereotypes, which often is the foundation of racism, has negative effects on cultures all over the planet. These cultural generalizations are harmful and prove to be negative and untrue. The North American culture appears to be generally ethnocentric, which is clearly shown in this short piece. The short story “A Seat in the Garden”, a narrative by Thomas King, is a fictional piece which makes one realize how these interpretations are in many ways narrow-minded understandings of human experience. King’s piece touches the concept of stereotypes in a variety of ways. He speaks of the overall negative generalization of Aboriginal culture, the impact of the media regarding stereotypes, and how mainstream society continues to uphold these stereotypes.
Eden Robinson and Constance Lindsay Skinner depict the harrowing treatment of Indigenous people through intimate unveiling of memories and dialogue, allowing readers to connect and sympathize with the characters. It also shows the intergenerational damage of residential schools and injustices experienced, and continue to be experienced, by the Aboriginal population. Birthright and Monkey Beach show that past abuse and injustices can lead to a continually viscous cycle of violence and trauma.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
During World War II, countless Japanese Canadians, and Americans, were relocated to internment camps out of fear of where their loyalties would lie. Because of this, those people were stricken from their homes and had their lives altered forever. Joy Kogawa’s Obasan highlights this traumatic event. In this excerpt, Kogawa uses shifts in point of view and style to depict her complex attitude and perception of the past.
The Japanese living in Canada during World War II (WWII) faced one of the harshest and inhumane living conditions in Canadian history. One unidentified woman remembers, “it was terrible, unbelievable. They kept us in the stalls where they put the cattle and horses.” Before WWII, the Japanese were targeted for their culture. An example is the Anti-Asiatic League that was created to limit the number of Japanese men that could immigrate to Canada. Canadians did not want the potential competitors in farming and fishing. 22,000 Japanese Canadians were interned during WWII, even though 14,000 had been Canadian born citizens. This was because the Japanese had bombed Canada’s ally, the United States. With this in mind, the Canadians viewed the Japanese as the enemy. This made the innocent Japanese Canadians become the victims of unfair suspicion and they began to fall through the cracks of Canada’s developing society and government. Internment camps were created to forcibly keep the “dangerous” Japanese from the seemingly “innocent and civilized” Canadian citizens.
In conclusion, Japanese Canadian interments in World War Two have left life-long scars on Japanese Canadians by violating the rights to their properties, rights to build their own social status, and basic human rights. Therefore, in order for Canada to truly recompense for its wrong doings to Japanese Canadians, both the government and the people of Canada should make an appropriate apology with right amount of compensation to cover all the damages caused.
...panese Canadian Interment and Racism During World War II." IMAGINATIONS. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
Neylan (2013) suggests that the Aboriginal women of Vancouver have perhaps experienced a similar and lingering attitude to those of the colonists. As well, it seems the Canadian justice system has also retained some of the same cruel and biased ideologies as its earlier colonialists. Neylan identifies a parallel here, explaining both colonists and the current justice system treat natives in a demeaning manner, disregarding the value of human life because of an indigenous lab...
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Do you know that despite Canada being called multicultural and accepting, Canada’s history reveals many secrets that contradicts this statement? Such an example are Canadian aboriginals, who have faced many struggles by Canadian society; losing their rights, freedoms and almost, their culture. However, Native people still made many contributions to Canadian society. Despite the efforts being made to recognize aboriginals in the present day; the attitudes of European Canadians, acts of discrimination from the government, and the effects caused by the past still seen today have proven that Canadians should not be proud of Canada’s history with respect to human rights since 1914.
Racism is the mistreatment of a group of people on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, place of origin, or ancestry. The term racism may also denote a blind and unreasoning hatred, envy, or prejudice (Dimensions of Racism). Racism has had a strong effect on society. Despite the many efforts made to alleviate racism, what is the future of African Americans' Racism's long history, important leaders, current status, and future outlook will be the main factors in determining how to combat racism. Racism is still present in many societies, although many people are doing their best to put an end to racism and its somewhat tragic ordeals.
According to conservative conflict theory, society is a struggle for dominance among competing social groups defined by class, race, and gender. Conflict occurs when groups compete over power and resources. (Tepperman, Albanese & Curtis 2012. pg. 167) The dominant group will exploit the minority by creating rules for success in their society, while denying the minority opportunities for such success, thereby ensuring that they continue to monopolize power and privilege. (Crossman.n.d) This paradigm was well presented throughout the film. The European settlers in Canada viewed the natives as obstacles in their quest of expansion by conquering resources and land. They feared that the aboriginal practices and beliefs will disrupt the cohesion of their own society. The Canadian government adopted the method of residential schools for aboriginal children for in an attempt to assimilate the future generations. The children were stripped of their native culture,...
Racism: a Short History George Fredrickson makes an argument ultimately against the dichotomy between civilization and savagery, specifically the resurgence of ethnoreligious bigotry that, according to him, replaces 20th century race theory in order to justify continued inequities and sociopolitical oppression worldwide in Racism: A Brief History. His book delineates the rise of modern race theory, beginning in Medieval Europe and synthesizing an explanation for the existence and success of the overtly racist regimes, the United States, South Africa, and Nazi Germany. Fredrickson cautions, however, that racism can easily become interchangeable with religious bigotry when facing corporatism that aims to alienate, marginalize, and devalue human beings as mere consumers with little agency or any collective sense of identity. Racism's ultimate goal, according to Fredrickson, is to establish a permanent hierarchal order that "has two components: difference and power." Fredrickson's analysis is probably one of the most direct and functional definitions of racism that I have run across in a while.
Race and gender have no biologically legitimacy. They are a social construction that has been determined by the culture surrounding Canada. Through this social construction, the concepts of whiteness and heteronormativity have evolved into becoming the social norm and anything straying from this path is deemed inferior or wrong. The hierarchy of race in Canada remains central to the daily interactions and the institutions that frame this country. The concept of white privilege is taught to not be recognized by the ‘white’ community. Schooling does not teach one to realize they are the oppressor or a participant in a damaged culture. What We All Long For investigates these issues that damage the culture of Canada. It shows the resistance of racialized minority groups in order to break down this corrupt structure.