Reading #2: Chapters 7 - 12 (Part 3, 4, and 1/2 of 5)

Howdy Folks,
          Welcome back to another entry into my blog series revolving around Marc Aronson's "Race". In this post, I will be discussing my personal opinion on the reading alongside analyzing how Mr. Aronson continued to develop his argument that race as a concept is something that has developed since the beginning of human society and has always been rooted in the minds of society as a result. This second section (pages 93-175) once again was written in an excellent fashion. Without further ado, let's dive in.

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          The second section of reading in "Race" once again caught me off guard. I expected for things to become a repetitive influx of knowledge that I already knew as the book began to reach the Age of Exploration. I expected to hear simply about the slave trade across the Atlantic to the New World. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that Aronson did much more than that. He developed a much larger variety of ideas and examples in the time period. In my opinion, this was an excellent way for Aronson to continue to develop his argument. He provided the reader with more than what they expected or know already. This keeps the reader interested while also providing a large amount of evidence that may not have been expected to be tied to his argument. Because of this, the reader then can realize that this concept of race has been inside the mind of the humans for longer and more reasons in many more ways than the typical slave trade example.

          In fact, Aronson makes sure to provide a few reasons as to why white European men selling black African American men was not a basis for race ideologies to appear during this time period. Aronson mentions this to begin with due to the fact that "African slavers did not consider their human property to be similar to them just because of their skin color. African slavers saw themselves as completely different from the other Africans they conquered and sold" (Page 98). The author proves that slavery was originally never a matter of race. It was about prisoners of war being dominated by the powers above them. It eventually became recognized as a matter of race due to the underlying roots of race already built up over time, thus tying back to Aronson's main argument that race is an evolved institution engraved in the mind of humans rather than something that came out of slavery like many commonly see as a fact.

          Looking further down the timeline in history, Aronson points out that America was another large issue in creating the "slave=black" mentality and misconception that many seem to have. He does note that it is rather ironic that the nation that was created on the basis that "all men are created equal" and yet was a large supporting beam to the idea that race mattered and that those without white skin were inferior to the whites. This is in part due to the fact that many viewed slavery as a necessity for the American economy in the 16th and 17th century. But this "need" for slaves became so highly thought of as very important that it grew out of hand quickly. Due to the fact that slaves were primarily of African descent, it became known "in a law that bound 'African' and 'slave' together with iron logic: Blacks are slaves" (page 135). Because slaves were thought to be barbaric and non-human, Blacks began to become associated with these connotations. This furthers Aronson's argument due to the fact that this automatic response to immediately view those who are different as below you is pushed forwards more and allowed to be more open due to slavery. People can see that all these slaves are different than them, thus triggering that already existent instinct proven by Aronson to have evolved from the beginning of society and making whites believe they are better than all blacks, pushing race more into the light as an issue.

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          Another key factor Marc Aronson uses to develop his argument is religion. In fact, early in the reading, Aronson discusses the incorrect biblical excuse for race through Noah's story of Ham. Ham was one of Noah's sons who survived the flood. Noah became drunk and fell asleep naked. Ham looked upon his naked father and Noah found out. This caused Noah to curse Ham's son Canaan to be "a servant of servants...unto his brethren" (Page 100). The name Ham was misinterpreted by many as to mean dark brown or black, thus allowing for many to claim the bible supports the enslavement and lower treatment of blacks. Blacks were seen as the offspring of Canaan, thus making them cursed to servitude because of their skin color. However, a "diligent modern scholar who has studied this passage in great detail concluded that the original text does not connect Ham with being African or dark skinned" (Page 100). Aronson implies heavily when writing about religion that these reasons based on the bible are simply excuses to cover up the internal instinct to judge those who are different. Those who are judging just desire a form of justification for believing this natural instinct that has evolved since the beginning of society. 

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          Finally, Mr. Aronson makes a point to re-establish the idea that race is not just about skin color. It is also about those who are different than you. Aronson does so by giving an example in the Irish people in the mid 1800's. The Irish fled from Ireland to America due to the potato famine and in search of new opportunity. However, because these Irish were different from the average Americans, "[m]any Americans saw the Irish as 'savage', 'brutish', ape-like. To these protestants the Irish seemed to be clannish, given to drinking and fighting" (page 146). Once again, Aronson ties another important historical event to his argument. Race has become instilled into the mind of human society due to its evolution since the beginning of society as a whole. It began due to a fear and resentment of those who are not similar to us. This instinct to judge those who are different to us in any way, shape or form is shown to have stuck throughout the time passing through the American treatment of the Irish. The Irish were different, and thus earned hatred and prejudice. Aronson's argument is fully supported by this and shows that the concept of race has somehow managed to continue to evolve and yet the basis created in the earliest of humans is still melted into our minds without even realizing it: different is bad. 

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          In conclusion, Marc Aronson continues to provide insanely relevant historical examples to further develop his argument that race is an evolved institution engraved in the mind of human society since its formation in this section. I tried to focus more heavily on analyzing how Mr. Aronson developed his argument in this blog, thus making it a bit shorter than my previous blog. I think that blogging this in depth about his argumentative development helped me to realize the fact that this book has been strategically crafted with historical fact to bolster his argument very well and to an extent that I NEVER expected. It is extremely hard to argue with history. Especially when that history supports your argument.

                           -Charlie