An Essay On the Creation of Race and Racisim

Cornel West’s Essay, “A genealogy of modern racism,” discusses an overlying theme and reality that racism exists within modern society, as whites have dominated the social order throughout history. One of the key issues Cornel West highlights in his essay is the role of the Scientific Revolution and how it formed to establish the scientific paradigm or the norm for truth and objectivity through dominating power. Essentially, West says that this is what develops and takes the shape of racism, resulting in white supremacy. West suggests that the Scientific Methods are the norm for dominant power, but they cannot be absolute when dealing with human beings. Cornel West explains that the neglected variable in the modern discourse on race is how a modernistic world view was used to classify human beings in an order of a hierarchy, thus resulting in racism. West further discusses that the two dominant stages in the effective history of emergence of white supremacy are the stages of Scientific Methods and Natural History delving into taxonomy and classicism. Taxonomy refers to the classifying and putting things in different groups, as was done to different ethnicities in order to shape the racial forum. The documentary “Race the Power of an illusion” compliments Cornel West’s argument and helps one deconstruct the idea of how racism was created and what its authentic purpose was in America.
As explained in the documentary, “Race the Power of an illusion,” America created the story of race as a fundamental idea that there was a difference between human beings in order for whites to advance to social and economic prominence within society. Essentially, this was the reality of racism in America from the beginning, however the likes of Thomas Jefferson and other early American settlers would not admit to this veracity. Thomas Jefferson, one of the “Founding Fathers,” stressed the importance of human equality, backing up the Declaration of Independence which stated that “All men are created equal.” Quite contradictory, Jefferson was the proud owner of as many as 225 slaves. He argued that blacks were inferior to whites in body and mind, suggesting that inalienable rights only applies to certain people, meaning whites. This expressed the idea that those enslaved were not men, as blacks were said to be written out of the human family.
Meanwhile, there was an intense need for labor in the American Colonies from the time settlers first came over from Great Britain in the early 1600s. At this point in time wealth and religion were the distinct factors that classified people, as color did not yet play a role. The social power of hierarchies was a gradual process which emerged later on in history. For the first fifty years, European workers were servants on farms and plantations in the Colonies, only to be replaced with African slaves by means of the dominant African slave trade. Blacks were viewed as the ideal source of labor as they could be purchased for a fair price and could not blend in with Colonial America if they escaped from their owners. This was the first time that the term “white” appeared as the identifying factor, instead of one being classified by means of wealth and whether he/she was Christian. Whites also gained financially and egotistically through the ownership of slaves in America. Slavery eventually became identified with Africans, as a racial divide emerged. People saw existing power relationships as natural, this being a monumental mistake. As slavery became more widespread it seemed that slavery was the natural role of blacks in society.
While blacks were being targeted at this time, Jefferson, on the other hand, was arguing that Native American Indians were actually naturally white and had just turned brown because of exposure to the sun. Jefferson believed that Indians were savages, but that they could be civilized, while blacks could not. Native Americans fought to maintain there freedom and their land, as American settlers invaded Indian occupied territory. The American settlers wanted to Christianize the Indians, convert them from hunters and gathers into farmers, and force them to become settlers instead of nomads. Essentially, the goal of the colonists was to make the Indians “brown white men.” On the other hand, Jefferson did not see a way or have a desire to assimilate blacks into society, as was the approach with Indians. He stressed that blacks were physically and mentally different, which led to the suspicion that blacks were inferior to whites because of genetics. Jefferson also stated that society would not know or understand the differences between blacks and whites for sure until science tells why blacks are inferior.
Jefferson did know that expanding the nation’s territory was of great importance at this time so he acted accordingly by means of the Louisiana Purchase. This expansion of America allowed American colonists to pressure Indians even more for new lands that were necessary for developing more plantations. The Cherokees were one group of Indians that conformed in a sense to the American desire, as some of them become “civilized.” The Cherokees signed treaties that surrendered 90% of their land to the United States and in return of being civilized, they were taught Christianity and English. This Indian group was even led to develop a constitution based on that of the U.S. Certainly, one can see that white America accepted those who conformed to its desires, while those who did not such as the blacks and other Native Americans were treated and viewed as non human.
During this time America continued to become more democratic for white males, while racism kept becoming more prominent. Those who were accepted were people who looked the same and spoke the same language as the whites. Andrew Jackson justified the removal of the Indians from their lands by saying that they were refusing to conform to the character of the white man, this being reflective of their evil resistance to change. Furthermore, Jackson said that the Indians did not want to secede to the “Superior Race” and that by not embracing white culture they were wrong. It was in 1838 that the U.S. army forced the remaining non conformed Cherokees at gun point to leave there homes, resulting in the “Trail of Tears.” Mexicans were also viewed as an inferior race by the whites. The United States annexed one third of Mexico’s land after the war with their southern neighbor. This was again displaying the idea that America believed that the west belonged to the whites, this being justified as manifest destiny.
In the 19th Century science began to be used to justify white superiority. During 1840s as movements were being made to abolish racial slavery, some of the abolitionists believed that all people were from the same created order. Contrarily, Samuel Morten a well known scientist of his time later determined that by looking at the construction and the size of skulls that there was no doubt a hierarchy of races existed. Morten concluded that white skulls proved that they were the highest and most superior of the races, followed by Native Americans, and finally the lowest sect of society being the blacks. This “discovery” re-emphasized the idea that God created blacks as slaves. Nott, another scientist of the mid 1800s argued that blacks should be viewed as a completely different species. Nott wrote through prejudice language, gaining white America’s acceptance that his idea of separate species was scientific fact. Another key element which was stressed once again in the 19th Century was that the Declaration of Independence claim of “All men are created equal” did not scientifically include blacks either. For if blacks were considered a different species then it was legitimate in the eyes of whites to say that they were not people, and thus justify blacks as slaves.
It is evident that the power of the ideology of race can change the minds of people. A book published during the late 19th Century, entitled “Types of Mankind” argued that Africans, Asians, and Native Americans were all different species. The main point of this literature was that no two races could exist on the same terms, as one was meant to rule the others, the one in America being whites. Science continued to be used to justify racism, not the fact that American Colonists needed laborers to produce crops and survive economically. Instead of America telling the truth by saying that its white colonists wanted land, an economic/monetary dominance, and political control over society, it created an enormous problem by creating “racism.” A racial hierarchy was formed by saying that there was something fundamentally different about non whites.
In conclusion, the documentary “Race the Power of an illusion” along with Cornel West’s essay, “A genealogy of modern racism,” has unfolded the truths to how a racial hierarchy has been formed in society. Racism in the U.S. did not exist until the whites decided to use the physical differences of people as a means to gain what they desired in order to be the most prosperous and elite people in America. Unfortunately, as a result of this created hierarchy of race the scars and wounds of racism have not been fully healed as it still exists today. The human situation continues to be impacted by modern day slavery, as some historians believe that more forced labor (modern day slavery) occurs now than ever before. It is catastrophic that America has left out the reality of this messiness and bloodiness that has come about because of white America’s creation of racism and the racial hierarchy. By leaving the reality and the uncleanness out of the history books America has deceived the modern intellectual about how this monster named race authentically emerged within our society.