Racism
Whilst reading the book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, we are exposed to a time that sees racism as non existant. It is not that society does not embrace racism, only it uses it as a method for control and is viewed as something completely normal for a functioning, prosperous society.
Racsim is defined in so many ways but to me it seems like it was and still is a tool used to offend people of different races and colours and a way to make them feel inferior. When looking back at the history of a nation, most likely you will find a struggle between two races for ruling power. In many instances racism was imployed as a tactic to justify why the imperial nation is taking over the already inhabited ’unchartered territory’. The natives were viewed as a lesser group and were but an obatcle in the path of the conquering nation.
In the novel, Jim, the black slave of an upstanding towns lady, refers to others of his race using the derogatory ’N’ word. This is something i cannot understand as to whether the word held the meaning it does today or was simply used to describe a black person. Jim does not appear to mind saying the word however other white men used it as a way to describe the inferiority of the black man in an offensive way.
I agree that racism is used as a way to make fell people inferior. But in todays world I notice that racism is also used as a way of blame. If a black person is laid off from a job today, he or she sometimes will claim the only reason they got laid was becuase of their color. Which is most likely not the case. I seem to think that in todays world there is not much racism, but because of the past mistakes of other whites, blacks may still feel that whites see them as inferior.
Posted December 13, 2006, 2:02 pmI was also confused at what the meaning of the N word was for Jim. I agree that racism is a way to offend people, but I also feel like it’s used somewhat as an excuse for not getting something. Not just race, but disabilities and gender as well. Sort of like what Anna said, people can blame something like not getting a job on race.
Posted December 13, 2006, 11:43 pmI think the N word had a very derogatory meaning back then as well as today. However, I don’t think it was as harsh, it was used frequently and was not uncommon to hear a white person call a black person that. There were also a few other terms that today would be considered racist, such as, colored, negroe and a few others.
Posted December 14, 2006, 8:35 pmIs it possible that racism isn’t just used to make people feel inferior, but to make those who aren’t in power feel less human than those who are? Is it possible that institutionalized racism is still in place for this reason? Look up phrases like “redlining” and “white flight” and think on that for a bit.
Posted January 7, 2007, 7:26 pm