Racism: A Short History by George M. Fredrickson
The book on Racism: A Short History by George M. Fredrickson looks into the brief advancement of racism from the middle ages. The main purpose of Fredrickson in putting pen to paper to this book was to find the ancient source of western racist beliefs and to offer a relative evaluation of some racism regimes: the Nazi in Germany, apartheid in South Africa and there is the Jim Crow period of the American South.
A significant variation that Fredrickson brings about is through intolerance, discrimination and partiality as well as racism. He notes two features which he considers to be quite vital for racism to be present: “My theory or conception of racism, therefore, has two components: difference and power……..from a mindset….. in ways that are permanent and unbridgeable. …. Motivate or rationale for using our power advantage” (Fredrickson 9). Fredrickson notes the source of racism in religious bias of late primitive Europe. Considering that he acknowledges the evidence signifying color-coded racism had not advanced in this time age, he accords major connotation on the progress of biasness brought about against the Jews. He similarly, he looks into the era of European annexation and how it resulted into the occurrence of the slave trade laterally with religious and cultural prejudice to several native people. A wide range of intolerance, detestation and fright similarly developed to be shown to the Jewish individuals through the mode of intense prejudice, beliefs and aggressive devastations. Fredrickson accords precise prominence on Spain in this point in time due to “its attitudes and practices…..between the religious intolerance… of the modern era” (Fredrickson 40).
Fredrickson similarly introduces the “naturalistic racism” which he has widely talked about in his book basis being laid on the ideological instance of Enlightenment period rationalism and racial Darwinism in line with the geo-political situation of creating a country and annexing it. This is noted as the time when racism was at its optimum and acquired its greatest egregious manifestation in the manner of obvious racist times. Fredrickson accords a large chunk of the book in making evaluations the precise instances, expressions, and results of some of the rules which are three which were stated earlier. The book ends with an assessment of racism as it looks in the start of the twenty-first century. He states that visibly racist eras have fallen, while we still continue to have “fallen short of achieving racial justice and equality” for the individuals who have gone on to be prejudiced against (Fredrickson 142). Consequently, Fredrickson speculates that religious and cultural affiliations to politics could have occupied the position in racial struggle in this emergent century. This argument reflects the principle which Samuel Huntington applied in 1996 in his book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, which argues that politics that took place after the Cold War would be highly characterized by violence in the six countries noted to be quite civilized, with a meeting of the Islam and the Western countries notes as highly dangerous and significant.
A significant subject in Fredrickson’s book is the instrumental affiliation between Christianity as well as racism. The main intention of discussing prevailing significance, I integrate racism with Fredrickson’s groupings of cultural and religious importance. Considering that Huntington and Fredrickson’s focus for the coming times, this subject is of major importance and appropriateness to the present twenty-first century realm, more so relating to the prevailing cultural and religious interferences between Muslims and the Western countries. Moreover, there is the thought of how fear shows a vital placing in religious and racism, as this is a significant aspect that is portrayed in this book.
Fredrickson brings into being a sense of fear being that major source of racism. As one looks into the Epilogue, he notes that, “The emotion to which it appeals is either contempt or fear” which is reliant upon if the major groups observe the others as being in charge and safely ‘in its place’ or possibly able to rival (p.148). The main importance of fear in religion is in the same way well-known. A major aspect which is applied and misused techniques of appealing to religious renovates is a call to fear of passing away and the life after that. Christianity and Islam brings into being fright, however Islam is congested with it.
Considering that Fredrickson has not stated openly of how fright is shown in religion and the manner it affects racism, there is a rigid correlation. In a whole sense, religious beliefs that are grounded on fear are obviously susceptible to passion and chauvinism. In the light of outside intimidations and pressures, passion and chauvinism may quite effortlessly change to important or even racial-base intellectual aspect in any but the identical communities. Moreover, Fredrickson states a study where Dickie-Clarke brings to view that, as opposed to primarily racial struggles, cultural struggles of a religious form are intensely integrated into the matrix of belief as well as other forms of control. Consequently, these aspects are bias-related and not “similarly open to logic and observation” (Fredrickson 147).
To interface with the Huntington’s view, there is an integration of religious intolerance, fright and prejudice based on color as relived in the western and Islamic countries. Huntington précises this major clash of civilization when he states that, “The underlying problem for the West is… Islam… The problem for Islam…is the West…..whose people are universally convinced of the universality if their culture……” (Fredrickson 217-218). When civilization is reliant on the several estimates of religious which includes in several manners the application of fright, these aspects have a rigid likelihood of merging which brings about hatred; biasness and racism; and aggression, enduring conflict.
The in-depth understanding that I have acquired in the part played by fright in both religion and racism has made one to acquire an understanding of the ability that these aspects have in social and political situations. I am able to acquire a better focus on to how varied religious groups are engaged in violence to safe guard their security. This has made it possible to assess the place taken by fright in one’s life and make transformations where my thoughts are reliant on fear as opposed to security of God’s love. In significance this has been the point where the religious groups have been failing, a failure that brought about the devastating eras of racist rulings in the twentieth century. In the new century, Christians take on this horrific trend and we are consequently included in this war. Several Christians are continued to apply this trend of fear-grounded bias-ness and prejudice which leads to racism. One would be able, using this information, to acquire the power based on the racist instances. Prior to this I had a naïve view that people were ignorant and just needed to be informed. Now I have known that it is because of fear.
Works Cited
Fredrickson, George M. Racism: A Short History By George M. Fredrickson. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2003.
