Race in the 19th 20th century - Free Essay Example

Essay Question: Examine how ideas about race were elaborated in the second half of 19th century and the early 20th century. Race is a historically and culturally specific notion, embedded in a constellation of economic, political, and cultural discourses and uniquely linked to specific relations of power and authority (Hirschfield, 1998, p.34). It has been argued that race was an Enlightenment project that resulted from the desire to classify (Cohen, 1974, p.207). Racial thinking certainly existed before this period, but the modern concept of race is a more recent one that has developed from the encounter of more Europeans with other peoples (MacDonald, 1973, p.241). There is some disagreement as to when the construction of race took its current form. First, it has been suggested that the descriptions of race in ancient literature demonstrate that it originates in xenophobic beliefs (Hirschfield, 1998, p.34). The system of natural classification that developed in the Eighteenth Century is a lso seen as an important contribution (Hannaford, 1996, p.188). However, almost all studies agree that a distinctive development of racial thinking began to take place in the Nineteenth Century (Hirschfield, 1998, p.35). The Nineteenth Century saw the search for the historical and biological origins of race (Hannaford, 1996, p.235). It went beyond the simply classification of race and towards a more significant delineation of race into one that embodies characteristics, personalities and even mental abilities. Several key developments were relevant to this progression. These will be examined as follows: first the importance of the development of biological categories and the influence of power will be examined. Secondly, the development of scientific dialogue of Darwinism and Eugenics will be discussed. Thirdly, an examination will be made of the influence of nationalism and imperialism. Finally, the notion to which the discourse became self-serving will be considered in that as the connection between cultural features and racial stereotypes became ingrained, there was recourse to the scientific argument to justify the features of power. The urge to divide the human race into broad categories similar to the animal kingdom seems to be a starting point for many of the theorists in the Nineteenth Century (James, 1981, p.19). Kants On the Different Human Races is characteristic of this view: he draws analogy to how the animal species are divided to demonstrate a division in the human race. A natural division is based upon identifying lines of descent that divide according to our reproductive relations (Kant, 2000, p. 8). This description of racial characteristics holds a number of significant features of the developing views of race. It seeks to explain differences as accruing from environmental change (James, 1981, p.19). Despite attempting to read as a scientific study, it demonstrates some significant bias towards the North Europeans, describing those who live in the humid heat of a warm climate, which he states produces a thick, turned up nose and thick fatty lips (Kant, 2000, p.17). The skin needs to be oily to avoid the absorption of the foul, humid air (Kant, 2000, p.17). This thus demonstrates that the scientific foundation became the vector for the view of racial development and the perceived superiority of white. The foundation of the racial paradigm can therefore be discerned in the need to classify elements of the human race in a manner similar to the natural world (Lazarus, 2011, p.4). As has been seen, the development of classification resulted in a derogation of the non-European races. From one point of view, this can be seen as a natural progression, as those doing the classification may tend to regard themselves as the superior race, simply defining all alternatives as the other (James, 1981, p.19). However, this went much further than a simple scientific approach to considering all races to be infer ior in a general sense to a kind of opposition to other races (Bayly, 2004, p.227). The classification was extended not simply to demonstrate different racial characteristics to ones that included personalities, attitudes and associated capabilities. The urge to categorise therefore does not simply predetermine the unequal distribution of racial characteristics between different races (Cohen 1974, p.207). Darwinism can be seen as a significant academic contribution to the racism paradigm. The notion that some races had evolved to a more complete end than others dominated the discourse (Bayly, 2004, p.230). This represented a significant departure from the old notions of racism and pointed towards the solution: the other, more advanced races would attempt to educate the other races and complete their evolution. The triumph of Western Capitalism was seen as a self-evident manifestation of evolutions triumph in the Western Europeans, with the success of the ex-colonies such as the United States being seen as further proof of a racial superiority of white people (Duiker and Spielvogel, 2006, p.563). This was intertwined with the notion of social Darwinism, where the formation of societies were seen as corresponding to the same principles of evolutionary racism. This can be seen in the declaration by the German General Friedrich von Bernhardi in 1907: war is a biological necessity of the first importance†¦ since without it unhealthy development will follow, which excludes the advancement of the race, and therefore all real civilization (Duiker and Spielvogel, 2006, p.563). The development of Eugenics in the late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries represents the clearest manifestation of the racial characteristics. This can be described as the science of racial improvement (Duiker and Spielvogel, 2006, p.564). This characterises the racist paradigm at that time, whereupon differences had become interpreted as significant and strong manife stations of elements that are better or worse within a race (Benedict, 1983, p.45). Selective breeding was seen as a method by which the tendency of racial characteristics would tend towards an average could be modified. This provided further scientific rationale that justified racial stereotypes. Furthermore, it demonstrated that intermixing between the races could result in interbreeding, and thus pollute racial stocks (Duiker and Spielvogel, 2006, p.546). The formation of the British Society for Eugenics in the early Twentieth Century represented a significant development of the scientific rationale attempting a social cause, whereby some elements of society were encouraged to breed whereas others were discouraged. This, evidently reached its apogee in the Nazism of the 1930s and 1940s, but the principles were prevalent before this took a particularly strong manifestation. The Nuremberg laws in 1935 redefined German citizenship on racial grounds and ultimately this resulte d in sterilisation and genocide of undesirable elements in society. It was the extremes that this manifestation reached that contributed to its dramatic decline in popularity following the war (Benedict, 1983, p.46). Biological determinism offers one starting point for the justification of slavery in the mid-Nineteenth Century and therefore offered a starting point for the justification of racial oppression; in other words it provided the means of defining unequal power relationships (Cohen, 1974, p.209). The associated racial characteristics applied to other races by Europeans and their descendants can be seen in the manifestation of power (James, 1981, p.25). At a point where the anti-slavery movement was growing in importance across the old colonial powers, it seemed required that justification of the submissive state of such individuals in society was required (Gupta, 1983, p.27). Slavery in the USA became to be seen more as a paternalistic benevolence by slave owners to a race who, by their nature, were unable to thrive for themselves outside the framework of slavery (Bayly, 2004, p.277). It was widely held in the USA in the Nineteenth Century that black people were slow of learning and had little natural intelligence (Hannaford, 1996, p.188). The power relations that were involved in the suppression of one group by another therefore justified the characterisation of that race as limited in natural ability, and thus suggested the oppression of the race was of benefit to them rather than the exploitative relationship it was. This idea will be further explored in the development of nationalism and imperialism, but it is important to note the manifestation of power relationships in a wide range of contexts before the late-Nineteenth Century developments (Hannaford, 1996, p.189). The notion of racism also developed to encompass not only significant differences of race, but differences in nationality (Gupta, 1983, p.23). This racism without c olour requires attention owing to its growth in the period of the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries (Gupta, 1983, p.22). It has been argued that race and racism are inextricably linked but this is difficult to support (Morris, 1994, p.845). Although there is significant racial heterogeneity in the UK, there are strong arguments that suggest that a perceived racial homogeneity is a cultural construct (Gupta, 1983, p.23). The growth of nationalism can be seen as a significant contribution to the development of racist ideologies (Lazarus, 2011, p.3). According to a number of studies of nationalism, the notion became increasingly important in the Nineteenth Century resulting in the theme of nationalism that is present today (Brubaker, 2011, p.1785). The later Nineteenth Century was the period during which the theme of nationalism was very strong (Anderson, 2006, p.11). This, therefore, resulted in the development of racism to extend to national characteristics rather t han simply focusing on biological differences. A significant corollary of the development of nationalism was that it was founded on shared values and national characteristics (Ersanilli and Koopmans, 2010, p.773). This therefore provided the notion that other cultures and nations did not share such characteristics. This can be seen as part of the foundation of the notion of racism based upon essentially nationalistic characteristics. As Benedict (1983, p.128) states if Frenchman and Germans differed, by that token they were different races. A crucial element of a number of nationalisms was the notion that the population within the set geographical limitations were of the same race (Anderson, 2006, p.15). This intertwined the notion of race and national boundaries in a way that had not received such a complete notion before. However, in order for this developed to take place, the notions of racial-nationalism drew heavily upon the developing paradigm that suggests that there is a coincidence between the race of an individual or a group and other features, such as learning acumen, personality features, attitudes and so on (Ersanilli and Koopmans, 2010, p.775). The application of this idea to the set of national characteristics was relatively smooth: it simply posited that, in the same way the geography changed the racial characteristics of people in terms of physical features, it further had an effect on their personal characteristics (Kant, 2000, p.17). Therefore individuals living in a nation state that had a different geographical location would thus develop similar characteristics as each other and different ones from different states. This paradigm could only apply to a certain number of states and does not fully explain the existence of entrenched racism that occurred in other areas such as the USA, South Africa and Australia (Anderson, 2006, p.16). In such cases the notion of power represents the most significant explanatory variable. Ho wever, it is significant that there was an attempt to provide a strong adherence to a common set of values in late Nineteenth Century; particularly such values as might be deemed Anglo-Saxon, which reinforced the supremacy of the white make, the Protestant Church and the English Language (Bayly, 2004, p.229). This can be seen as perhaps resulting from the same factors that produced a racial conception of nationality. The later Nineteenth Century was a period during which imperialist theories were also legion (Bayly, 2004, p.227). In the historical context of creation, these views were intertwined with nationalism. However, within the context of the development of racial arguments, they have a significant role to play. This has been characterised as new imperialism, during which most of Africa was seized by Europeans (Bayly, 2004, p.228). These views are considered separately as it can illustrate the significance of the importance of nationalism in emphasising the racial char acteristics of nation states (Anderson, 2006, p.11). Imperialism, however, demonstrated the importance of power relations in the development of the racial discourse. In many senses, the racial discourse can be seen as developing from a concerted attempt to justify the unequal power relationship between the rulers and ruled. This can be seen in extent to which most Europeans gave humanitarian or religious justification for their actions, suggesting that the superiority of European civilization compelled them to impose it upon the primitive cultures (Bayly, 2004, p.229). Social Darwinism played a significant role in the development of imperialisms justified on academic racism, whereby the primitive aspects of the race were seen as justification in itself for the imperialist activities. Other motives for imperialism, such as the economic imperative, all drew on the racist paradigm to provide a less selfish justification for the new empires (Bayly, 2004, p.230). This therefore re sulted in an increase in the notion of race being a defining characteristic. Racial ideologies were not simply advanced by a conglomeration of nationalism, imperialism, Darwinism and Eugenics (Giroux, 1992, p.165). In the early Twentieth Century, there became evidence strands of simply cultural racism that can be seen as running alongside the biological determinism that was largely prevalent. From this perspective, individuals were suspicious or negative towards to other races not solely on the basis on racial differences, but because those differences represented a divergence in cultural values (Giroux, 1992, p.164). This can be seen in the number of miscegenation laws that prevailed in the USA in this period, which have been interpreted as founded on notions of biological mixing (Hirschfield, 1998, p.24). However, there was considered to be more at stake than simply the eroding of biological race: marriage resulted in social responsibility and constituted more than simply the biological element; it did not outlaw illicit sex but simply marriage. This therefore was an attempt to assert the supremacy of the white man over all other races (Giroux, p.165). However, during this period, challenges to miscegenation laws included the argument that the continual subdivision of racial categories made no sense in terms of an identification of race as a biological characteristic (Mason, 1994, p.845). Therefore, this period includes not only the development of the biological classification of racism in the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, but also the gradual eradication of this notion in the courtrooms of the USA and the continued definition on the grounds of power relationships (Bayly, 2004, p.231). The results of this investigation therefore demonstrate the following features of the definition of racism in the late Nineteenth Century and the early Twentieth Century (Jackson, 2004, p.4). First, the starting point was the biological definition of racism, which, coupled with unequal power relationships resulted in the definition of certain features as being undesirable, less advanced or primitive (Bayly, 2004, p.227). Second, the development of the sciences of evolutionary Darwinism and Eugenics provided further scientific validity to these views, justifying unequal power relationships either by pinpointing the inability of certain races to develop, or by suggesting the more advanced races had a personal benevolence to the others (Duiker and Spielvogel, 2006, p.563). Third, the growth in nationalism resulted in the extension of the racist paradigm to encompass characteristics defined by nationalism rather than identified by biological features (Anderson, 2006, p.11). Fourth, the growth in imperialism in this period drew upon evolutionary theory to define the colonised as less developed and therefore justifying their colonisation as a duty for the more evolved (Bayly, 2004, p.227). Finally, cultural separatism played a role, where the biological racial argument was used as a cover to simply perpetuate the inequalities in society (Giroux, 1992, p.165). During this period, racism went from a series of speculations to a firmly developed and justified academic discipline; different elements of the paradigm intertwined to justify unequal power relationships and vindicate oppression. References Anderson, B., 2006. Imagined Communities: reflections upon the origin and spread of nationalism, London: Verso. Bayly, C. A., 2004. The birth of the modern world, 1780-1914: global connections and comparisons, London: Wiley-Blackwell. Benedict, R., 1983. Race and Racism, London: Taylor and Francis. Brubaker, R., 2011. Nationalizing States Revisited: projects and processes of nationalization in post Soviet states, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34(11), pp.1785-1814. Cohen, W. B., 1974. Literature and Race: Nineteenth Century French Fiction, Blacks and Africa, 1800-1880, Race and Class, 16, pp. 207-213. Duiker, W. J. and Spielvogel, J. J., 2006. World History: from 1500, New York: Cengage Learning. Ersanilli, E. and Koopmans, R., 2010. Rewarding Integration? Citizenship Regulations and the Socio-Cultural Integration of Immigrants in the Netherlands, France and Germany, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(5), pp.773-791. Giroux, H. A., 1992. Border Crossings: Cultural Workers and the Politics of Education, London: Routledge. Gupta, D., 1983. Racism without colour: the Catholic ethic and ethnicity in Quebec, Race Class, 25(1), pp.23-44. Hannaford, I., 1996. Race: The History of an Idea in the West , Washington DC: Woodrow Wilson Center. Hirschfield, L. A., 1998. Race in the Making: Cognition, Culture and the childs construction of human kinds, Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press. Jackson, P., 2004. Introduction in P. Jackson (ed.) Race and Racism: Essays in Social Geography, London: Routledge, pp. 1-18. James, A., 1981. †Black†: an inquiry into the pejorative associations of an English word, New Community, 9(1), pp.19-30. Kant, I., 2000. On the Different Human Races in R. Benasconi (ed.) The Idea of Race, London: Hackett Publishing, pp.8-22. Lazarus, N., 2011. What postcolonial theory doesnt say, Race Class, 53(1), pp.3-27. Macdonald, I., 1973. The Capitalist Way to Curb Discrimination. Race Today,pp.241-2.

The Importance of Paying College Athletes - Free Essay Example

In discussions of compensation for college athletes, a point of disagreement has been weather or not college athletes should be paid for their heavy amount of hard work and dedication. Often, business analysts and sports writers argue that college athletes have no time to work and therefore should be paid, while others contend that college athletes already receive compensation by not having to pay for college tuition. This in fact is a false claim as most athltes do not receive a full ride scholarship or even a scholarship at all. College athletes should be paid because they work so hard but receive severe injuries instead of money, they train so hard each day, just so they can just struggle with maintain their GPA, and meanwhile NCAA continues to generate profit off a playerrs work. The importance of paying college athletes is simple, give credit where credit is due. So many times the media highlights these big Pac 12 schools, the most prestigious league in the NCAA. Always commemorated for their excellence in attendance and atmosphere but they never highlight who brings in the audience. Who makes the tickets sell? Who inspires younger individuals to strive and be just like them. Big schools like UCLA and Ohio State are not good just because of their name, but the players that are recruited in to the teams and even make the team as walk on. It does not matter if youre an enrolled athlete a community college or at an Ivy League like Standford. Every individual athlete puts in the same amount of work to get to the next level but often are held back by financial troubles, lack of educational resources, and the often mentioned lack of time. A common occurrence within college sports, specifically football, are injuries either suffered at practice, during games, or during training sessions. There are over 3.8 million sports related injuries that occur each year (McDevitt, 2011). Some of these injuries are concussions. Concussions are caused by an impactful hit to the head and it actually affects the brain in many ways including: balance problems, depression, and as far as permanent brain damage. Derek Sheely, an ex-college football player for Frostburg State University, sustained a bad concussion during a preseason practice drill. He was put on the restricted list and had to rehab the injury in attempt to make a comeback. In his return to the field he was aggressively ran into the ground during a drill which caused him to hit his head again and ended up dying six days later due to brain swelling. (Dresser,2016. Brain surgeon Jane McDevitt has stated previously Concussions in athletes account for 16.5 billion dollars or 4 4% of all hospitalization. In what world is it fair that a player is exposed to sustaining a life threatening and expensive injury while not making any money doing so? Concussions are serious issue and can possibly force athletes to forfeit their scholarship if they have one and eventually must drop out of school due to financial struggles. The common mistake that people often make is that most players on scholarship only accept because most of the finances are paid for, but nobody ever stops to think what would happen if it I stripped away? It is very simple, within a couple weeks they realize that the loan debt they are about to put themselves in is not worth the headache but instead transfer out to a less expensive college. In contrast, some people think athletes should not be paid. These people think this because athletes are already being given a free ride to college and they are not employees. William Berry III, a law professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law actually wrote an article on the debate of college athletes are considered employees and had very compelling arguments. The employee-athlete narrative takes the opposite approach and suggests that the only reason athletes come to campus is athletics. They perform their duties as a full-time job to generate revenue for the university and, in some cases, create the opportunity to play their sport professionally. (Berry, 2018) This is a very under the radar fact,as most athletes put in full time job like effort in order to play their sport professionally. According to the U.S department of labor in order for a job to be determined full time it has to be between 32-40 hours a week. Athletes alone put in over 45 hours a week just in p ractice, weight room sessions, physical therapy, and film time. Letrs not forget that these athletes are STUDENT-athletes, which means another 25-30 hours a week of dedication to school work like attending class, tutoring sessions, studying for quizzes and exams, and completing homework. All to be just compensated with sore muscles and a struggling GPA. Injuries to athletes often times lead to lack of focus in school and maintain a high grade point average becomes critically impossible, let alone a passing GPA. Trying to focus on a sport while having to make sure your grades are good enough so you keep your scholarship and your spot on the team creates a heavy amount of pressure on student athletes. The easy solution to this would be taking a day off but how could you take a day off without any money? College students have a reputation of being broke said one student from Oklahoma State University. Athletes have no time to obtain a part time job because they are either on the field, training for their respected sport, or in the classroom. Tell me how an individual is supposed to train their body to sustain going to school, training , and maintaining a job for a steady income. Exhaustion does exist in this world where individuals can push their bodies over the limit and over work themselves into complete exhaustion. The college sports industry generates $11 billion in annual revenues.Over two-hundred and fifty colleges report annual revenues that exceed $50 million. Meanwhile, sixty colleges report annual revenues that exceed $100 million. These revenues come from numerous sources, including ticket sales, sponsorship rights, and the sale of broadcast rights. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recently sold broadcast rights to its annual mens basketball tournament for upwards of $770 million per season. And the Big Ten Conference has launched its own television network that sells air time to sponsors during the broadcast of its football and mens basketball games. (Mitchell, 2013. Edelman, 2013) Case in point, the NCAA and Universities make more than enough money to afford to pay college athletes. Money is not the issue as therers evidence that they can afford to pay athletes yet NCAA rules and regulations do not allow athletes to receive any type of gifts or compensation without NCAA approval. The workers are supposed to be content with a scholarship that does not even cover the full cost of attending college. Any student athlete who accepts an unapproved, free hamburger from a coach, or even a fan, is in violation of N.C.A.A. rules. (Nocera, 2011) These athletes are not fooled by the NCAA. They know what their services bring to the table when they see the stands sold out and filled by fans from all over. They see their last names printed on the back of jerseys being sold around campus. It is no secret college athletes are what keep the athletic program funded by the millions of dollars they bring in. However, there has not been a lack of effort for trying to compensate athletes at least from some schools. Most recently, the University of Miami and Ohio State University. The revelation that a University of Miami booster, now in prison, convicted of running a Ponzi scheme that provided dozens of Miami football players with money, cars and even prostitutes. The Ohio State merchandise scandal that cost the coach, Jim Tressel, his job. The financial scandal at the Fiesta Bowl that led to the firing of its chief executive and the indictment of another top executive. (Nocera,2011) It hasnt been for lack of effort, but the NCAA quickly cracks down on anybody in violation of their regulations no matter their job title. The controversy surrounding the debate of college athletes getting paid or not has caught the attention of analyst even outside the sports industry. Andrew Zimbalist, a U.S economics expert wrote an article on why the college sports industry would take a huge downfall if they started paying their respected athletes. How can Division I colleges afford this expense when the median DI athletics program loses $11 million a year on an operating basis and much more when capital and indirect costs are included (Zimbalist,2013) Paying college athletes would dent the profit margins and capital of sports programs massively as there are over thousands of student athletes on all teams ranging from football to the chess team. This would cause an uproar from athletes as well. For example, football players who go out and put their body and health on the line would be compensated the same amount as a player of the math decathlon team. Two completely different sports with totally different stipulati ons but same pay because of labor disputes. In conclusion, the NCAA needs to reevaluate their compensation regulations to allow athletes to be paid for their tremendous efforts. By cutting the salaries of executives who oversee the business aspect the NCAA can make enough to compensate their respected athletes at the end of each participated semester. College athletes should be paid because they work so hard but sustain severe injuries instead of money considering concussions may not only be career ending, but life threatening. Student athletes train so hard each day, so they can play each game at his or her very best, while trying to attend class and get all the work done for each class yet often see their GPA struggling. The NCAA makes money off each student athlete while the athlete receives no compensation for his or her work but an exhausted body, and mind.