ANTHRCUL 101 Lecture 1: Anthro 101: Lecture- RACE (movie too)

• School: U of M
• Department: Anthropology, Cultural
• Course: ANTHRCUL 101
• Professor: Holly Peters- Golden

Document Summary

Race: the power of an illusion; the story we tell. About how people assign meaning to your looks. Back then, whites were more likely to discriminate against christians and heathens than color; they also discriminated against social status rather than color. When slavery emerged, people started favoring referring to themselves as white vs. color rather than christian vs. heathen. Using science to build the case of difference. Answered a question geared to proving that blacks were inferior. Am (indians) were on the same level as white people. Thought they were savages (due to culture); believed in assimilation. Civilization policy included christians; agriculture; whites take their land. Nationalism and race: as nation expanded, so did idea of race. Indians owned land where white people wanted to grow tobacco. Cherokees fought against removal from their land. Many cherokees died in camp or along trail of tears. Many whites believed the west was for the whites and for whites alone.