Race: The Power of An Illusion (Episode 2) Ex. Credit

In episode 2 of, Race: The Power of An Illusion titled “The Story We Tell,” Americans are said to have created a story of race based on skin color.

It all started when Europeans came to America and forced Indians off their own land, and took Indians as prisoners. From then on America has created a story of race based on skin color. Meanings are assigned to individuals just on how they look, or what is on the outside. Race is actually an idea that is socially constructed, but it is an enduring idea. The third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, wrote that “all men are created equal.” This same man also viewed blacks as inferior. Are blacks not men? Are they not human? Religion and wealth previously identified people and placed them into groups. However, race based on skin color soon changed that. Blacks and whites were laborers together, but fear led to the creation and institution of permanent slavery for blacks. Lower class whites were also given higher positions in order to be content and create a unified “white” group that was “against” the black group. The Indians were identified as being similar to the whites, just being exposed more to the sun, and they could be civilized. Blacks were considered different and they could not be civilized and assimilated. Indians were put in the racial spotlight just due to land issues. One such incident was with the Cherokee in the “Trail of Tears.” This group was forced to move west and several died before reaching their destination. Mexicans were viewed as inferior too. The whites acquired western lands at the expense of others because they believed in Manifest Destiny and their “racial superiority.” A citizen of the United States was once defined as any white male, not including blacks or women. In the Dred Scott Case, blacks were declared as not citizens and therefore did not enjoy the rights of the whites. Whites were persuaded by media productions and through social construction race based on skin color has endured.

Did Thomas Jefferson contradict himself? Yes he did, but I am not certain if he knew he did. If, at that time, blacks were identified as not human but scientifically placed in another group, then technically blacks are not included in “all men.” Jefferson also says that God made blacks to be slaves. By this thinking Jefferson may have even believed that blacks were created equal, just for a different role in society. Blacks may have been inferior to him just based on job or position they hold. He may have truly felt they deserve equal rights and treatment, but we will never know what he truly felt.

Racism is a horrible thing isn’t it? If everyone would be the same color everything would be different? Not necessarily. As the video shows, race is an idea and it is socially constructed. People were identified based on their physical appearance, or skin color. Skin color in itself says nothing about a person. Our society has defined what certain colors of skin represent, which are really false assumptions. Even if everyone had the exact same skin color, then there would probably be another external feature to categorize and define people by.