Representation of ethnicity - introduction to colonialism

 Mandatory theory:

WHAT IS COLONIALISM?

Colonialism is an extension of a nations’ rule over territory beyond its borders, which means a population [country] is subjected to the political domination of another population [country].

• In other words, colonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is about the dominance of a strong nation over another weaker one. 

Task 

Match the following countries to the correct empire 

The basic assumptions in defense of colonial actions are:

• The colonized are savages in need of education and rehabilitation 
• The culture of the colonized is not up to the standard of the colonizer 
• The colonized nation is unable to manage and run itself properly, and thus it needs the wisdom and expertise of the colonizer. 
• The colonized nation embraces a set of religious beliefs incompatible with those of the colonizer 
• The colonized people pose dangerous threat to themselves and to the civilized world if left alone 

White Man’s Burden

The white man’s burden is the supposed duty and obligation of White people to “civilize” non-white and non-European people who were regarded as backwards through education and Western culture supported by through colonialism.

The Effect of Colonialism = Othering

The process of Othering creating negative identities, often in binary opposition to western ideals... 

• Savage 
• God-less 
• Stupid 
• Cultural lacking 
• No technology 
• Sexually easy 
• Exotic

Provide the potential binary opposition for the following:

Challenge 

   Which advert do you think is the most offensive? Justify your answer with examples from the text and relate it to the social context. 

I believe that the advert in the middle is the most offensive one as it shows young children who are having a bath together. This highlight how children, who are usually associated with innocence, were thought to be dirty and with fault even from very young. In addition, we see the young girl bathing the black boy and this suggest that white people should take the responsibility to make the nonwhite better, cleaner. This highlights the fact that the western society was thought to be superior and better, and it reinforces Paul Gilroy’s theory that civilizations constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness. It shows how discrimination was caused between the different raced, and this was largely influenced by the media. In addition, we see that after the boy has bathed he becomes white in the body, but still remains dracker in the face. This could suggest that white people can make nonwhite ones better, but they will never be able to complete “clean” them, and make them like they are.