I wasn't aware of the historical foundations of building the case for "race." Of course, it makes complete sense that this would run hand-in-hand with an expansion of the use of slave labor from Africa. Clearly, the white men of that time, needed to assuage the guilt--conscious or subconscious--that they felt about subjugating a civilization so different from their own for their own profit, and one way to do that was to "discover" scientific evidence that made the case for the racial inferiority of their slaves. If they're less than human, "Hey, what's the big deal?"
The other part of Module 1 that surprised me was the surgical experimentation that was performed on Afr-Am slave women without anesthesia. Neither was I aware that the barbarism of the Nazis is rooted in this practice.
I agree! It seems every day I am finding out more and more historical happenings that I am shocked by. Even worse, every day I am learning of current happenings by which I am shocked and appalled. What can I do to stop this repeating of history?
It was actually quite sad that White men saw others less as humans. It is even sadder many of them still see other people that way.
So true! It makes me so sad when I learn of people that I went to school with that hold those beliefs. How could we have grown up in the same town and the same school and ended up with such different morals? How can I help heal the hate in their hearts?