Racism and ethnic discrimination in the West have been core issues of concern since the slave trade era and the colonial era. There was a form of legally sanctioned racism. Colonial powers used legislative institutions instituted and controlled by them to impose racism on the societies they colonized. In the United States of Americas the European Americas, particularly the Anglo Americans had privileges over the natives in terms of voting rights, citizenship, literacy, immigration, criminal procedures and land acquisition for a period spanning from 17th Century to the 1960s. These privileges were felt by the Anglo Americans and Europeans all over the globe as they spread their ideologies through colonial rule caused great burden on the people they ruled. Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans and the African Americans were heavily burdened socially and economically. In addition to these groups, immigrants into Europe from the rest of the world suffered the same measure of racism. Italians, Poles, Irish people and the Jews suffered xenophobic exclusion in addition to other forms of discrimination both in the American society and Europe in the hands in the name of racism.
Centuries of racism and slavery of other ethnicities by the West created a mindset of superiority and a culture of pre-eminence. From anthropology and historical point of view, the West developed different philosophical perspectives on humanity based on their belief to be the best race with a divine mission to enlighten the world. Racism and a feeling of superiority developed a scope of philosophy in the ancient Western understanding that had intellectual endeavors. Although the Western culture had long subdued definite philosophical view on political groupings, religion and distinct traditions, its superiority notion expanded its quest for more knowledge in pure mathematics and natural sciences.
The Westerners had exuberant confidence in their ability to be the pioneers of every form of scientific advancement given their success in pinning down other races and ethnicities for centuries. This increased Westerners’ interest in studying Stoics and Physics. People’s interest in Stoics led to extensive exploration of logic and ethics. Thus, as the Western civilization labored to keep its place as the superior culture and keep stampeding over other races, it conceived and intensified the study of the natural world. These included the study and exploration of metaphysics and natural sciences. These defined the original classes of philosophy that were developed in the west. Contemporary studies and developments over the years have changed these schools of philosophy that were meant to keep the West ahead of other cultural sectors as Epistemology, Ethics, Metaphysics and Aesthetics. Although the spirit of exploration of the Westerners defined their place in perpetrating severe forms of brutality upon other races, desired need to further racism proved to be a driving force for intensified exploration culture.
As a result of the colonization efforts that were significantly affected by racial segregation, the Westerners developed inferior opinion of other races. In particular, the colonizers felt that the people of color had little intellectual capabilities. Racism that bent down on making the people of color under the thoughts of the colonizing powers yielded its desired results for a long time. Between 1500 and 1800, a larger portion of the world was under European rule. The rule was characterized with practices that emphasized the weakness of the colonies. Environment in which the Western Colonizing powers placed their colonies was oppressive and barred any possibility of adventures. For that reason, the people of color were generally perceived as lazy and intellectually inferior. The West used all manner of means, including enlightening their colonies in their ways and labeling the unenlightened in Western Civilization unintelligent, to make the people of color to view themselves through the colonizer’s eyes. For decades after the active colonization of various parts of the world by Western powers, there was a persistent view that Western culture is the superior culture, and all other cultures are uncivilized and backward.
According to Dependency Theorist, Andre Gunder Frank, racism experienced during colonization of the world by different Western Powers has an intricate interrelation with imperialism. The relationship between the colonizers and the colonized led to imbalanced economic outcomes. All the wealth created in the colonies was transferred to the colonizer’s motherlands, therefore, inhibiting balanced economic development. Racism and despising of the colonies by the West led to the development of their culture of greed; or rather one perpetuated the other. In as much as technologies and most ideas used in the production of goods and services in the colonies were intellectual properties of the colonizers, they did not have the decency to share wealth in equitable proportions with the countries that produced the raw materials. This has been cited as the reason for depleted natural resources in most parts of Africa. Considering the economic consequences of colonialism on the colonized, there is extremely little to pint out as positive. Colonizers gained all they wanted and left the colonized in the poorest state possible.
However, there is some positive impact of colonization of the West that was instigated by racial prejudice on development of economic systems. This does not counter the fact that the colonial powers were greedy and scheming in ensuring they depleted all resources in the colonized countries. As a result of colonization and widespread application of the philosophical schools of thought developed by the European culture of exploration, they were able to integrate technological advancements in production units in their colonies. As a result, industries such as glass manufacturing, textile industries, food processing and packaging among others developed. Service industries came up, widening economic sphere for the colonized populations. In a way, this provided a leeway for the destroyed traditional lifestyle settings that the people of color all around the world had before colonial inversions. Racism, which was the core cause of colonial exploration, led to complete transformation of economic lives of several societies’ right from the onset. To date, the effects have just widened, and almost all areas in the world have elements of Western economy.
Politically, the colonial administrators wielded a lot of power. They had all the authority to institute legislations that suited their needs with much disregard to the needs of the people they ruled. Colonial powers used legislative institutions instituted and controlled by them to impose racism on the societies they colonized. In the Americas, the European Americas, particularly the Anglo Americans had privileges over the natives in terms of voting rights, citizenship, literacy, immigration, criminal procedures and land acquisition for a period spanning from 17th Century to the 1960s. These privileges the of the Anglo Americans and Europeans all over the globe as they spread their ideologies through colonial rule caused great burden on the people they ruled. In a way, these ideologies of supremacy and staying above the law by rulers still affect young democracies. There is widespread misuse of office and impunity by the ruling class of some states who are affected by neocolonialism.
In conclusion, it is evident that racial capitalization and colonization has shaped the diasporic culture in a number of ways. The western culture which comes around to rule the world, including the former colonies, was a creation of racial view of the world and humanity. Therefore, racial capitalization and colonization affects all spheres of life ranging from economy, political and social aspects.
Work Cited
Innovation, Theories of Art, and Cultural Naratives. Innovation, Theories of Art, and Cultural Naratives. Chicago, 28 April 2000.
