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At first, when I picked up Race by Marc Aronson I did not expect to be reading about histories of religion; however, later on, throughout the first chapter, it became clear to me that Aronson was using the history of religion to display the development of race over time. This was because Aronson believes that race and racism began around the time of the Greeks, rather than when most people think in the 1600s-1700s due to white settlers enslaving African Americans. He argues that race has always been present, it has just changed the way it presents itself over time.
In the introduction, Aronson talks about a personal experience and others' experiences with racism. He uses the experiences to reach the conclusion that race is how humans organize themselves and others into categories, based on four notions: physical appearance matters, the differences of our bodies we are classified by cannot change, our differences are inherent, and each group has different levels of intelligence and sophistication. The notions he chose are almost completely inherent. Our physical appearances and differences, along with our intelligence level are something that we receive genetically. While only a portion of intelligence is influenced by genetics, the other portion is influenced by our environment. Not only does our environment influence our intelligence but it also can influence our behavior or sophistication. All of the beliefs he suggests are not something that we can change without drastic measures because we are who we are.
In part one of Race, "Before Race: The Ancient World", Aronson talks about slaves, Hebrews, God, Greeks, Barbarians, and Jews. One of the main points he makes is that earlier in history, racism started as a product of social ranking. Racism was based on what your social status was, how much power you had, and how wealthy you were. Greeks enslaved other Greeks if they were of the lower class, their appearance did not matter. However, in today's society, as much as people may hate to admit it, there is still the occurrence of social ranking with race. People have schemas, which in psychology is the adjectives that come into mind when prompted with a noun, of people of each race. If you were given the description of a person who was financially unstable, prone to outburst of anger, and was in and out of jail, what type of person do you imagine? If you are imagining a person that is not African American, congratulations, you are not prone to racism. The attributes above are not always true, they are merely stereotypes of a race. However, this shows how racism has evolved from the first type of racism to today's racism.
In part two, "The Road to Race: The Christian Era", Aronson goes on to talk about how Christians brought racism closer to the degree we know today. This type of racism is due to someone being different from ourselves. He links it to the first part, talking about how Greeks thought those who were not Greek were inferior. The Christians then take it to another step, claiming that those who are different from them worship Satan and/or should be treated differently. Those condemned by their sins took on monstrous bodies which signified that they were sinners and possibly unable to be saved. The concept of monstrous bodies and those that are unable to reach salvation is the closest version to the racism of today that Aronson has mentioned so far. Discrimination because of looks and the connotation that comes with them.
So far, his claim of how race and racism developed has sound reasoning. Thinking about it from a psychological perspective, the process of racism begins to make more sense because you can see it through each step. In an evolutionary psychology sense, humans are prone to be scared, frightened, or vicious towards those who are different because they do not know if they are friend or foe. After the evolutionary processes when humans have a somewhat reliable and stable environment, they are then left with the instinct to be aware of humans who appear different. This then brings us to the notion that this instinct became part of the social nature of humans, which then explains how it continued through generations. While the ancestors that had a stable environment were no longer in need o the instinct, they still displayed these actions. In turn, their children saw these actions and began to model them. As time went on, these instincts evolved with the time of each generation becoming racism today.
In short, I agree with the argument Aronson makes, race is not a concept that developed because Americans enslaving African Americans. Race and racism is a concept that developed over time due to preexisting mindsets, schemas, and instincts.
At first, when I picked up Race by Marc Aronson I did not expect to be reading about histories of religion; however, later on, throughout the first chapter, it became clear to me that Aronson was using the history of religion to display the development of race over time. This was because Aronson believes that race and racism began around the time of the Greeks, rather than when most people think in the 1600s-1700s due to white settlers enslaving African Americans. He argues that race has always been present, it has just changed the way it presents itself over time.
In the introduction, Aronson talks about a personal experience and others' experiences with racism. He uses the experiences to reach the conclusion that race is how humans organize themselves and others into categories, based on four notions: physical appearance matters, the differences of our bodies we are classified by cannot change, our differences are inherent, and each group has different levels of intelligence and sophistication. The notions he chose are almost completely inherent. Our physical appearances and differences, along with our intelligence level are something that we receive genetically. While only a portion of intelligence is influenced by genetics, the other portion is influenced by our environment. Not only does our environment influence our intelligence but it also can influence our behavior or sophistication. All of the beliefs he suggests are not something that we can change without drastic measures because we are who we are.
In part one of Race, "Before Race: The Ancient World", Aronson talks about slaves, Hebrews, God, Greeks, Barbarians, and Jews. One of the main points he makes is that earlier in history, racism started as a product of social ranking. Racism was based on what your social status was, how much power you had, and how wealthy you were. Greeks enslaved other Greeks if they were of the lower class, their appearance did not matter. However, in today's society, as much as people may hate to admit it, there is still the occurrence of social ranking with race. People have schemas, which in psychology is the adjectives that come into mind when prompted with a noun, of people of each race. If you were given the description of a person who was financially unstable, prone to outburst of anger, and was in and out of jail, what type of person do you imagine? If you are imagining a person that is not African American, congratulations, you are not prone to racism. The attributes above are not always true, they are merely stereotypes of a race. However, this shows how racism has evolved from the first type of racism to today's racism.
In part two, "The Road to Race: The Christian Era", Aronson goes on to talk about how Christians brought racism closer to the degree we know today. This type of racism is due to someone being different from ourselves. He links it to the first part, talking about how Greeks thought those who were not Greek were inferior. The Christians then take it to another step, claiming that those who are different from them worship Satan and/or should be treated differently. Those condemned by their sins took on monstrous bodies which signified that they were sinners and possibly unable to be saved. The concept of monstrous bodies and those that are unable to reach salvation is the closest version to the racism of today that Aronson has mentioned so far. Discrimination because of looks and the connotation that comes with them.
So far, his claim of how race and racism developed has sound reasoning. Thinking about it from a psychological perspective, the process of racism begins to make more sense because you can see it through each step. In an evolutionary psychology sense, humans are prone to be scared, frightened, or vicious towards those who are different because they do not know if they are friend or foe. After the evolutionary processes when humans have a somewhat reliable and stable environment, they are then left with the instinct to be aware of humans who appear different. This then brings us to the notion that this instinct became part of the social nature of humans, which then explains how it continued through generations. While the ancestors that had a stable environment were no longer in need o the instinct, they still displayed these actions. In turn, their children saw these actions and began to model them. As time went on, these instincts evolved with the time of each generation becoming racism today.
In short, I agree with the argument Aronson makes, race is not a concept that developed because Americans enslaving African Americans. Race and racism is a concept that developed over time due to preexisting mindsets, schemas, and instincts.
Hi Ella, I really enjoyed reading your blog! I thought it was interesting how you thought about Aronson's argument from a psychological perspective. It was a new way of thinking that I hadn't thought about. Even tho we read the same book, I noticed that we choose to talk about different things and make different conclusions. It was cool to read someone else's perspective on this book and see similarities and differences within our writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks EB! I definitely like to think of things from a psychological perspective so you'll be seeing that a lot more if you comment on mine. I can agree that it is always interesting tp see other's opinions and conclusions of the same readings. I'll try to check out yours next time and see the differences and similarities.
DeleteHey Ella!! The way the author of this book interpreted the history of religion mad was really interesting. Growing up in a Christian family, I’ve heard and read about a lot of Christianity but this is a first. I have never encountered with the information about treating others differently as we think that they worship Satan. We are basically commanded to even love your enemy but this makes me want to research more on this!
ReplyDeleteAlso as a person who’s interested in psychology, it’s interesting to see how someone broke this down into psychological aspects. I’ve never thought of it that way. I’m excited to see what this book has for you!
Hi Grace! I think Christianity has definitely evolved since the beginning of its development. Especially because as you said, most churches that teach Christianity make sure you love everyone. I think the most current-day example of Christianity doing that is the acceptance of LGBTQ+ life styles in some churches.
DeleteBreaking concepts such as this, the development of race and racism, into psychological concepts helps me understand the development more because it gives me a direct way in which the concept could have traveled. I'm glad you find it interesting!
Ella, good job summarizing the main ideas of the reading so far, as well as the argument that Aronson is making. Your inclusion of psychological perspectives is a nice addition to the post and gives it a clear sense of voice. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mrs. LaClair! I appreciate the comment!
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