Post 3:

 In this post, I will analyze Aronson's arguments 

Context

  Hello again fellow readers! This week I have read the third quarter of Race, up to page 200. Since last time, Aronson has moved into more recent developments of racial prejudice, discrimination, and persecution. It follows through the 1800s and early 1900s to examine race specifically in America. In this period, many immigrants came to America. New York in particular had an incredibly diverse population as new people kept entering, and at first New Yorkers loved this diversity. In New York people didn't believe that Whites were superior to other races, but there was still the residual concept that whiteness equals freedom. This meant that all the new immigrants had to be classified as white, or not white. At this time, the ideas about what contributed to race were pretty conflicting. Sometimes it was purely a biological and scientific thing, based on skull measurements and things of that sort. Other times, even if you had all the scientific determinants of one race, you were classified as another which you looked more a part of. This confusion became widespread as more and more immigrants of undecided race entered America. This led to serious efforts in America to sort everybody out and establish who was truly "white", reopening the wounds of racial division. 

  He also discusses how these events led to new bills passed by Congress to restrict which immigrants could come into America and be granted citizenship. Very few immigrants were allowed in after this, and whites were encouraged to reproduce as much as possible with other whites only. Especially after Darwin's Ideas become popular, people believed that the weaker races would naturally die out and the strong superior ones would naturally live on. Earlier in the chapter, Aronson discusses how slavery was directly linked to black skin in America. The idea was that blacks are meant to be slaves, and nothing could change that. This led the way for America to strictly define who is white and who is not. They went on to separate Chinese, Indians, Irish, blacks, and Jews from whites and Christians. Overall this section follows the transition from mostly religion-based discrimination to more "science" based discrimination and the concept that weaker races will naturally die off, eventually leading to intense racial discrimination in America and other places as well.  

Aronson's arguments

   The Beginnings

   So far I've noticed that Aronson sets up his arguments in mostly a chronological order. I really enjoy following the history he sets up to understand how we got to where we are today. His first argument was that prejudice originated from a survival instinct. In the first quarter of the book, he discusses how our distant ancestors needed to be able to make judgment calls quickly to survive. I think this argument was really effective because of his historical approach. I like that he's not just using a bunch of statistics and facts, but he gives many relevant examples from the time period to support his ideas and then wraps it all up nicely in little package phrases. The ones I quote from the book were especially helpful and powerful contributors to his various arguments in my opinion. 

   In his first argument, he uses an example from tribal beings who separated themselves from others, the beginning of "us vs them". He says "This is prejudice in perfect form: We are human and you are not" (Pg. 11). He also uses an example from early city life, citing the Epic of Gilgamesh. He uses this example to show a transition from life or death judgment into a judgment of social ranking. "Instead they were making what must have seemed like a rational judgment: We are smart, while those who live outside of the walls are dumb, slow, and destined to serve us" (Pg. 15). He then moves on to a discussion of how religion began to play a role in this division. Instead of living inside or outside the city walls, it was a religious orientation that determined how one was judged in society. He also talked about how religion, specifically Christianity, became a way to justify hating people who were different. "But the belief in one god also laid open the road to thousands of years of new prejudice, war, and enslavement based on God's will" (Pg. 30). 

  I find it very effective the way he pulls together all the different examples he uses to solidify his ideas in the reader's mind. The quotes I used from the book were the ones I found most powerful in clarifying his arguments in my mind. I thought they were so effective in making me understand the main point of all the history I had just read, and helped me follow along with the chronological order of the development of race. I also found that the wide variety of information and examples convinced of his arguments without any statistical data or evidence. In addition, the way he writes sometimes as if he in the shoes of these people helps me understand why his views about the issue make sense because I realized I would probably feel the same way in that historical context. I agree with his ideas about the origins of hating different people coming from a survival instinct that was later developed into much more. 

   The middle

   In the second and third quarters of the book, Aronson moves to an argument regarding religion's role in creating a superior group. This starts with Christians in particular and the way their religion warped the view of different people. He focuses first on the way churches depicted Jews in their texts and pictures. They looked like monsters and this information was spread to everyone through the churches. Something similar happened with blacks due to a mistranslation of a bible text, causing Christians to believe that blacks were cursed by God to eternally inferior lives. "Stories of monstrous men helped to establish the idea that the physical appearance of different people mattered" (Pg. 81). He discusses further how Christians wanted to eliminate those who did not worship the same god as them. They sorted different people and found ways to make them distinguishable among Christians and whites. Europeans went crazy over making sure any non-Christian was identified as such. Aronson says, "As Europeans sailed around the world, they began to claim that there were inherited, unchangeable differences between who were physically different and could be ranked. They invented race." (Pg. 89). 

  His next argument is about the scientific contributions fanning the flames of racism. He examines different explanations for human differences that began to arise. Aristotle suggested that the climate in which one lived altered their appearance and personality in an unchangeable way. Blumenbach believed that there were four main races of people, which were genetic, and could be ranked from superior to inferior. Because of such theories, "The concept of race stands directly, uncomfortably, on the foundations of both modern science and ancient prejudices" (Pg. 127). 

  Finally, he gets to the part in history that I just read. This argument is about the spread of racist content which led to mass abuse and discrimination. Chinese, Jews, Indians, Hindus, and blacks were all discriminated against as immigrants of these races rushed into America. A key contributor to the widespread racism in America was the ability to spread information. French author Count Gobineau wrote a book essentially explaining why some races are inferior and that the Aryan race was the purest and dominant race. The effects of this were horrifying. "Steely-eyes leaders would try anything to make the lands racially pure" (Pg. 162). Soon laws were in place to strip blacks of their rights and ensure they were separated from whites. "The new laws were a way to bind free people as tightly as if they were slaves" (Pg. 167). Extreme hate crimes were committed against blacks, especially those who resisted the old ways of thinking in terms of slavery, and the definition of race continued to be warped by science and prejudice. 

  I know that was a lot of summarizing and a lot to read, but I think the quotes without context might not make sense. Each of these quotes built a step on the staircase towards my understanding of the history of race. After chapters of history and important events, his argument might get a little lost. But these key phrases really wrap everything up so much better and makes me understand how this all fits into the history of race. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the timeline setup of this book is incredibly effective. Each different stage builds upon the last in a way that makes you realize the importance of the last. His arguments about what led up to the modern concept of race all build off of each other so smoothly it's almost undeniable. The way Aronson builds his arguments starting at simple concepts to advanced and complicated ones really works for me because I don't have a great grasp on this subject. Overall, his arguments would probably go in one ear and right out the other if not for the clever timeline setup and powerful statements throughout the book. 

My Thoughts So Far

  Throughout this book, I have enjoyed becoming immersed in history which is often hard for me to do. I think it makes a huge difference the way Aronson arranges and develops his arguments with a smooth progression towards the end goal. The numerous examples he uses are great for painting a clear picture and he has some incredibly effective writing techniques. I'm really enjoying everything about the book so far and I'm very excited to see what the last section holds. I was honestly expecting this (or any of the books for that matter) to be dry, boring, or confusing. While this book can be a bit hard to follow just because of how many different events he references, I am pleasantly surprised by how intriguing and enlightening it is. See you once I've finished the book!

Works Cited:

Aronson, Marc. Race: A History Beyond Black and White. New York, Atheneum Books 

      for Young Readers, 2007.