Beginning "Race"
Hello readers, and thank you for stopping by my blog! Join me as I read Marc Aronson’s Race to better understand the complex beginnings of race-based discrimination and its origins.
The journey of how racism got its modern definition is lengthy and complicated. We all know that racism is morally wrong, but many of us lack an understanding of how racism became an issue in the first place. Aronson communicates to his readers the history of race from early prejudice to modern race relations, as well as his own periods of introspection about this controversial topic.
Introduction
Aronson begins his book with his first experience with stereotyping a racial group. He explains what he was thinking as he witnessed a black kid get accused of stealing, his first thought being he did it because he is black. It is a very personal beginning to a mostly non-fiction book, but an effective one at that. It is there to prompt the reader to think about their own prejudicial thoughts, furthering their curiosity as to why they were inclined to think a certain way. This passage also allows Aronson to appeal to ethos, as he proves that he recognizes his own faults when confronted with racial issues. We see later in the book that Aronson desires to warn us of the dangers of putting oneself on a pedestal.
Aronson continues his introduction by discussing his idea of the four pillars of race, which includes physical appearance, our inability to change certain characteristics, inheritance, and the ranking of groups. This serves him well, for these pillars can be built upon and analyzed thoroughly throughout the book as he answers the question “Why are we prejudice?”
To answer this question, Aronson begins not at the creation of race, but the creation of prejudice. Prejudice through the mind, the tribe, and within city walls. His analysis of the very early origins of each issue makes him successful in having a strong appeal to logos. For instance, he explains that primitive prejudice was essential for survival. It only begins to have different motives when the ancient and stand-alone city of Uruk had an us-versus-the-outside-world mentality: a key way of thinking that allows him to begin explaining how race came to be.
Before Race
Aronson begins every chapter with a reference to modern-day prejudice that ties into the chapter’s topic. He begins chapter one with a passage from the book Sold by Patricia McCormick, which describes one story of modern-day human trafficking, or “modern-day slaves,” (Page 22). Relating each topic to issues that still occur in present-day opened my eyes to many horrific practices that I might not have been aware of. It was effective at appealing to my emotions as well as informing me that the topics Aronson writes about are not ancient and depleted from our society.
Aronson first focuses on the different types of slavery in different cultures, showing what types of prejudice were formed before racism even began to be an issue. He discusses the nature of owning a slave (in this era, the slaves being jews) and how slaves were not seen as human beings because of something that made them different. He describes the position of a slave owner, saying that “he must convince himself that the living beings he owns- who cry, bleed, sing, laugh, just like himself- are not like him at all. But if he succeeds in not caring for them, how human is he?” (Page 24). This challenges the mindset of ancient slave owners who had to put certain morals aside in order to cater to their sense of superiority. Aronson effectively shows the hypocrisy of those who look down on others for being different, which is a recurring theme through each early civilization discussed in the book.
Aronson then transitions from the idea of slavery based on religion to slavery based on social class. The Greeks had a society that held the philosophy that “men are the measure of all things” (Page 33). He provides proof of this by including pictures of ancient vases that emphasized the differences between black and white people, both of which were accepted by society. The trade-off in this democratic country was that the citizens could never change their social rank, leaving slaves to be slaves for life. He introduces famous Greek philosopher Aristotle’s ideas that slavery was justified because “a winner who assumes a great victory proved his people were superior,” (Page 40). It is important for Aristotle to be introduced, as his philosophy was used as a source for many different acts of enslavement throughout early history.
Next Aronson explains that prejudice against low social rankings was found in ancient Rome as well, despite how Rome was so tolerant of all races, sexual orientations, and immigration. However, the fall of Rome and the time that Constantine ruled was significant in bringing Christianity into Europe.
The Road to Race
Aronson begins to narrate one of the most significant cultural shifts when leading to the invention of race: Christianity. Its significance stems from how its main message of love and acceptance would drive its followers to have immense hate for any non-Christians. He proves this intolerance through the Holy War in which Christians sought to drive out non-believers. It is important that this is written into the book because it illustrates the hypocrisy of early Christians and how the gospel of love causes hate.
The next chapter on the road to race encourages us to know our enemy. Who is our enemy and why? What characteristics do our enemies have that makes them different from us? In the middle ages, the enemy was made clear. Aronson writes about the concept of “monstrous men”: a depiction of impure men who were originally descendants of Cain, a man who killed his brother out of jealousy and was condemned by God. This is how the first pillar of race came to be. Once monstrous men were feared throughout Europe, the physical appearance of people began to matter more. With the Christians continuing their distaste for Jews and the people of Europe seeing Ethiopians (Africans from any area) as demonic because of their dark skin.
Finally, Aronson brings us to the area of Europe where the modern definition of race was created: Spain. For context, Europe was a Christian continent where all people who were seen as different were punished for it. What stood out to me the most is how people began to be segregated. Jews and Muslims were forced to wear clothing that identified their religion, Jews lived in ghettos, and homosexuality was worthy of the death sentence. All of these things are true for Nazi Germany as well. Although he does not identify this similarity to the audience, we can infer that he is showing one example of how history repeats itself and prejudice towards one group cannot become extinct from humanity.
In his chapter on the cultural shift of Spain, Aronson explains that Christianity’s reign in the 1400s was life-threatening for Jews. Jews would be forced to practice in secret and possibly face death or exile. In order to identify the true Christians from any Jews in hiding, the term “purebloods” have Christian-born people a higher social rank. However, when indigenous peoples were “discovered” by Christopher Columbus in what would become The U.S, Spaniards were forced to make a decision that they were superior because of a defining feature: their skin tone. “They invented race” (Page 89). It was surprising to me that the idea of race was created by this event in history, on a day that is on every calendar in America. It was fascinating to see how centuries of human civilization interpreted different characteristics as worthy of slavery or punishment before race was an idea in their minds. I am looking forward to sharing with you the upcoming historical events in Race.
The journey of how racism got its modern definition is lengthy and complicated. We all know that racism is morally wrong, but many of us lack an understanding of how racism became an issue in the first place. Aronson communicates to his readers the history of race from early prejudice to modern race relations, as well as his own periods of introspection about this controversial topic.
Introduction
Aronson begins his book with his first experience with stereotyping a racial group. He explains what he was thinking as he witnessed a black kid get accused of stealing, his first thought being he did it because he is black. It is a very personal beginning to a mostly non-fiction book, but an effective one at that. It is there to prompt the reader to think about their own prejudicial thoughts, furthering their curiosity as to why they were inclined to think a certain way. This passage also allows Aronson to appeal to ethos, as he proves that he recognizes his own faults when confronted with racial issues. We see later in the book that Aronson desires to warn us of the dangers of putting oneself on a pedestal.
Aronson continues his introduction by discussing his idea of the four pillars of race, which includes physical appearance, our inability to change certain characteristics, inheritance, and the ranking of groups. This serves him well, for these pillars can be built upon and analyzed thoroughly throughout the book as he answers the question “Why are we prejudice?”
To answer this question, Aronson begins not at the creation of race, but the creation of prejudice. Prejudice through the mind, the tribe, and within city walls. His analysis of the very early origins of each issue makes him successful in having a strong appeal to logos. For instance, he explains that primitive prejudice was essential for survival. It only begins to have different motives when the ancient and stand-alone city of Uruk had an us-versus-the-outside-world mentality: a key way of thinking that allows him to begin explaining how race came to be.
Before Race
Aronson begins every chapter with a reference to modern-day prejudice that ties into the chapter’s topic. He begins chapter one with a passage from the book Sold by Patricia McCormick, which describes one story of modern-day human trafficking, or “modern-day slaves,” (Page 22). Relating each topic to issues that still occur in present-day opened my eyes to many horrific practices that I might not have been aware of. It was effective at appealing to my emotions as well as informing me that the topics Aronson writes about are not ancient and depleted from our society.
Aronson first focuses on the different types of slavery in different cultures, showing what types of prejudice were formed before racism even began to be an issue. He discusses the nature of owning a slave (in this era, the slaves being jews) and how slaves were not seen as human beings because of something that made them different. He describes the position of a slave owner, saying that “he must convince himself that the living beings he owns- who cry, bleed, sing, laugh, just like himself- are not like him at all. But if he succeeds in not caring for them, how human is he?” (Page 24). This challenges the mindset of ancient slave owners who had to put certain morals aside in order to cater to their sense of superiority. Aronson effectively shows the hypocrisy of those who look down on others for being different, which is a recurring theme through each early civilization discussed in the book.
Aronson then transitions from the idea of slavery based on religion to slavery based on social class. The Greeks had a society that held the philosophy that “men are the measure of all things” (Page 33). He provides proof of this by including pictures of ancient vases that emphasized the differences between black and white people, both of which were accepted by society. The trade-off in this democratic country was that the citizens could never change their social rank, leaving slaves to be slaves for life. He introduces famous Greek philosopher Aristotle’s ideas that slavery was justified because “a winner who assumes a great victory proved his people were superior,” (Page 40). It is important for Aristotle to be introduced, as his philosophy was used as a source for many different acts of enslavement throughout early history.
Next Aronson explains that prejudice against low social rankings was found in ancient Rome as well, despite how Rome was so tolerant of all races, sexual orientations, and immigration. However, the fall of Rome and the time that Constantine ruled was significant in bringing Christianity into Europe.
The Road to Race
Aronson begins to narrate one of the most significant cultural shifts when leading to the invention of race: Christianity. Its significance stems from how its main message of love and acceptance would drive its followers to have immense hate for any non-Christians. He proves this intolerance through the Holy War in which Christians sought to drive out non-believers. It is important that this is written into the book because it illustrates the hypocrisy of early Christians and how the gospel of love causes hate.
The next chapter on the road to race encourages us to know our enemy. Who is our enemy and why? What characteristics do our enemies have that makes them different from us? In the middle ages, the enemy was made clear. Aronson writes about the concept of “monstrous men”: a depiction of impure men who were originally descendants of Cain, a man who killed his brother out of jealousy and was condemned by God. This is how the first pillar of race came to be. Once monstrous men were feared throughout Europe, the physical appearance of people began to matter more. With the Christians continuing their distaste for Jews and the people of Europe seeing Ethiopians (Africans from any area) as demonic because of their dark skin.
Finally, Aronson brings us to the area of Europe where the modern definition of race was created: Spain. For context, Europe was a Christian continent where all people who were seen as different were punished for it. What stood out to me the most is how people began to be segregated. Jews and Muslims were forced to wear clothing that identified their religion, Jews lived in ghettos, and homosexuality was worthy of the death sentence. All of these things are true for Nazi Germany as well. Although he does not identify this similarity to the audience, we can infer that he is showing one example of how history repeats itself and prejudice towards one group cannot become extinct from humanity.
In his chapter on the cultural shift of Spain, Aronson explains that Christianity’s reign in the 1400s was life-threatening for Jews. Jews would be forced to practice in secret and possibly face death or exile. In order to identify the true Christians from any Jews in hiding, the term “purebloods” have Christian-born people a higher social rank. However, when indigenous peoples were “discovered” by Christopher Columbus in what would become The U.S, Spaniards were forced to make a decision that they were superior because of a defining feature: their skin tone. “They invented race” (Page 89). It was surprising to me that the idea of race was created by this event in history, on a day that is on every calendar in America. It was fascinating to see how centuries of human civilization interpreted different characteristics as worthy of slavery or punishment before race was an idea in their minds. I am looking forward to sharing with you the upcoming historical events in Race.
I can definitely agree that the link to modern-day slavery was very powerful. It 100% brought your attention to the fact that even though African American enslavement has ended, there are still other types of slavery occurring today… almost a more modern type of slavery as disgusting as that sounds.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned how Aronson opens his chapters with modern-day topics that link with his topic of the chapter, did you like that?
Yes, I think this is one of his most successful literary techniques in the book. Many people tend to think that racism is not a prominent issue due to their lack of experiences with it. I think that the way that Aronson adds stories of racism from all different cultures can give his readers a better sense of how this is still a serious and global issue.
DeleteHey Brianna, what an excellent first post to your blog! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your explanations for the prejudice amongst older and historical civilizations. How the author started out the novel with personal experience is very thought provoking, for it was surprising to see that was the introduction for a primarily history-based novel. However, what really sparked my interest in your post was how you mentioned the inference made of how "history repeats itself" regarding Europe's history of segregation. By doing a quick search into Google, I found that 2007 had a spike of racism, which was the same year this book was released. By referencing and explaining in-depth the history of racism in different contexts, do you think that "history repeats itself" could be one of the main themes or argument of Aronson, or the reason why he wrote this book?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Lily! I didn't even know about the spike of racism when the book was released. It definitely adds to the author's incentive to write the book. Yes, I definitely do think that "history repeating itself" is a key message in the book, as many of the types of racism that have happened in recent history have stemmed from early civilization and the fear of things that are different.
Delete