Summary: Racism has never been a unique term to anyone, it has been around for so long. It is mentioned that the whites believe to have a supremacy upon other colored races, in the fears of yellow Asia, and the belief of pure from the contamination of Negro blood. Race in Germany served as a means of restoring their self-respect after the national humiliation of Versailles. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 declared racism as an official policy. World War II had brought German racial enemy, before the U.S. had became part of the war. There is a difference between racial and religious hatred. Racism remains in the hands of history, based on religious bigotry and on physical characteristics, dating well back to their ancestry.
The U.S. tried giving the African Americans a better deal, setting them free. However, the social conditions kept them impoverished and ignorant. The Holocaust provided a great amount of history on antisemitism, dealing with religious roots. In the 1960's historians produced plenty of works on racism, labeling it as a belief system, theory, or ideology. This was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, and the decolonization of Africa. There still exists the belief that differences between ethnic groups involved are permanent. There can be intolerance towards religious or culture, but not racism.
Quote: "Such group-centeredness may engender prejudice and discrimination against those outside the group, but two additional elements would seem to be required before the categorization of racism is justified" (Fredrickson 169).
Reaction: This quote refers to culture, and if culture can actually be a factor for racism. It may cover the pride and loyalty that may result from a strong sense of ethnic identity. This quote reminds me of a conversation in Spanish class, on the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It is being said that the Dominicans are racist, because they have been kicking out all Haitians from D.R. no matter how long they have been living in the D.R. they are still being kicked out. Similar to the immigration problems in the United States, and the way once blacks were treated in the U.S. Meaning there is always going to be a problem with different ethnic groups depending on the wealth status of a country, their laws, and ethnic group differences, not racism. Unless, one group is trying to dominate or eliminate the other.
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