Racism in the Red White and Blue

Racism in the Red White and Blue

Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each others as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.

Since the beginning of colonization, America has been controlled by religiously and ethically diverse whites. The most profound cases of racism in the “United” States of America have been felt by Native Americans, Asians, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Muslims. Major racially structured institutions include; slavery, settlement, Indian reservations, segregation, residential schools, and internment camps (Racism in the U.S., 1). Racism has been felt and seen by many in housing, the educational system, places of employment, and the government. Discrimination was largely criminalized in the mid 20th century, and at the same time became socially unacceptable and morally repugnant (Racism in the U.S., 1). Although racism was

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beginning to be looked down upon, and considered immoral ways of thinking, the inequalities between races continued to linger.

Long before the white man set foot on American soil, the American Indians, or rather the Native Americans had been living in America. When the Europeans came here, there were probably about 10 million Indians populating America north of present-day Mexico (American Indians, 1). During the Colonial and independent eras, Europeans were accustomed to owning land, and claimed the natives property because they considered the “Indians” to be nomads or savages not capable of owning or treating their own land. The conflicts led to the Indian Wars, the Indian Removal Act empowered by President Andrew Jackson in 1830 (American Indians, 1). During these wars Indian tribes were the underdog due to their disadvantages in numbers, weapons, technology, and defense. This led to hundreds of natives being slaughtered, massacred, put into forced displacement, having a restriction to food rights, and impositions of treaties. After their land was taken many Native Americans faced tons of hardships. In the Declaration of Independence the Natives were brought out to be “merciless Indian savages”. Due to the belief of Manifest Destiny Native Americans were forced to leave and put into their own reservation camps.

Shortly after in colonial America, slavery began to mature. At first the legal status of Africans in America was poorly defined, and some, like European indentured servants, managed to become free after several years of service (Kolchin, 1), But this rarely occurred. Colonies began making laws that tightened up all slave relations. Laws were

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changed stating that all black slaves and children of black slave women would serve a term of service for life. By the 1770s, slaves constituted about 40 percent of the population of the Southern colonies, with the highest concentration in South Carolina, where more than half the people were slaves (Kolchin, 1). In 1808 slave imports were outlawed but yet the slave population in the United States continued to grow. During the next 50 years, the slave population of the United States more than tripled, from about 1.2 million to almost 4 million in 1860 (Kolchin, 1) In this period of time the opposition of slavery didn’t exist. Many owners continuously exploited and savagely beat members of the lower class. Since slaves were mostly agricultural workers planters would often resort to harsh treatment to get them to work harder and show who they were owned by. Many used whipping and branding to display this. What slaves hated most about slavery was not the hard work but their lack of freedom, the lack of control they had over their own lives. So away from their owners slaves often tried to go about their own way of life. They sang, played games, prayed, told stories and tried to make the best of their little but purposeful time.