Racism And History Essay Example

Racism started early in the sixteenth century with many Africans falling victim to the menace due to the economic situation in Africa. The documentary, A History of Racism (BBC) analyzes the colonial developments in the world from various perspectives. The main idea in the documentary tackles racism and themes about racism. Most victims in the documentary hailed from Africa and Asia, but Africans took a larger share. The documentary utilizes scholarly sources to show the evolution of racism in the past 500 years and the changing relationship between Africa, Europe, and America. Furthermore, the documentary review racial discrimination consistently showing major themes in racial discrimination like colonialism and scientific racism. This paper analyzes the main theme in the documentary about racism and attempts to compare the racial situation to the case in the United States of America.
The documentary explores colonial activities and other thematic occurrences that stemmed from the slave trade from the early sixteenth century. Enslavement of people from Africa comes out as the main cause of their racial discrimination and colonialism. Most of the slave deals happened due to economic situations in the other parts of the world as the Americans and Europeans took advantage of the situation to get cheap labor. Eventually, the Europeans invaded Africa and colonized most of the countries, promoting racial discrimination and draining resources from the continent. However, the documentary shows that many leaders did not start slave trade because of racism. Most people ventured in the business for selfish gains with the view of getting economic favors from the European and masters.
Racism coexisted with many other vices in the society with the minority people suffering most. Racial discrimination first meant that the people faced brutality, mistreatment, segregation, and physical abuse as belonged to a different race. This led to resistance from a group of people in the areas where the Americans and Europeans benefitted from the triangular trade (trade involving United States of America, Africa, and Europe). Persistent reactions led the main players in the triangular trade (the Europeans) to apply force especially in Africa and colonize the continent.
Racism led the whites in believing that black people held no other value apart from cheap laborers. The aftermath of this perception became visible with the Europeans colonizing Africa and Asia in search of cheap labor and raw materials. Colonialism caused massive effects to Africa as people lost their lands, lives, and economic resources to the colonial rule. In some areas, racism led to genocide and mass killing of people. As the Europeans fought to colonize the black continent, they did not care whether the Africans died or survived during the war. Genocide in Northern parts of Africa and execution of some Africans outside the continent triggered emotions among human right groups as it deprived people of their basic rights. The notion of a race deprived many people of movement freedoms, as they could not access some facilities by virtue of hailing from different or ‘inferior’ races.
Ideological effects of racism affected many Africans who lived in foreign countries like United States of America. Most of the policies and ideologies formed in such countries segregated the Africans and Asians due to their racial alienations thus; they could not access basic services like health attention. Moreover, racial discrimination led to scientific racism across the world. Theories of origin pointed to racial elements with all bad things having their origin in Africa and Asia while the good things originated from Europe and America. The theory of evolution of human beings, for example, pointed Africa as the home for apelike creatures while the advanced forms of man lived in Europe and America.
The racism stance in most cases resembles the occurrences in the United States of America. Racial discrimination in using public utilities also occurred in the United States of America. Murder and careless killing based on racial differences occurred in the United States of America even though the Americans concealed most information about such killings. The cases resemble America because of neocolonial factors prevalent in the United States of America. In the early 21st century, some streets in America could not allow Africans and Asians to use them. Some hospitals treated only white people.
However, the case differs from amerce because the racial trend in America does not go beyond mass human rights. Genocide and mass killings because of racial alienation in America do not suffice due to strict regulations. Racism in the United States of America happens on personal ground. However, antiracism laws exist in America unlike the colonial times when no one cared about the other race including the governments.
In conclusion, the documentary A History of Racism (BBC), explores racism from a strategic viewpoint. The mistreatments that people underwent due to their races spread across many spheres of their lives. Racism led to colonialism in many parts of the world, genocide in some parts, deprivation of basic rights, and scientific racism. The racial discrimination cases possess many similarities and differences with the case in America although regulations limit the extent of racism in America.