Paper Topic:

nature of racism

Racism , though long deemed to have been eradicated in modern society , is unfortunately more ingrained than once thought . It is not only centralized in America , where slavery was once a dominant issue , but it has roots everywhere in the world that humans have reached . As George Orwell recounts in his narrative , Shooting an Elephant ' racism feeds upon numerous psychological factors . These are the same psychological factors that Memmi also outlines in his essay , Racism and Oppression ' The intersection of their works , which is seen through tracing the psychological foundations of racism , provides

a framework in which to examine this universal condition

The first point of intersection between the two works is in Memmi 's declaration that to be big , all the racist need do is climb on someone else 's back ' This someone else is the most obvious victim of racism the poor , the weak , and the unfortunate . The racist does not try to oppress those who are known to be strong ' as they know they cannot step on these people on their way to perceived superiority . Instead they turn their attention to those who are already defeated , to the people who have all but given up fighting . These were the people who were the perpetual victims , never the victors . Hence , they focus all their racist attention on the people who , with very little effort acquiesce to them , as they have already been shown to be defeated time and again in the annals of history

And indeed , this is how the British came about to conquer the Burmese When the elephant began ravaging the town , Orwell was called to restrain the animal , as the Burmese population had no weapons and were quite helpless against it ' If the people had no weapons to protect themselves from a creature they were in daily contact with and one that they knew could very well erupt in a rage anytime , then hopes for any sort of sophisticated weaponry to ward off their invaders is dim

Furthermore , these people were very poor , living in a labyrinth of squalid bamboo huts , thatched with palmleaf ' Contrast this with the homes of the Europeans back in their own country , which utilized advanced architectural technologies and materials . With the flimsy materials the Burmese used to build their houses , the Europeans knew that they were a backward people , one that history left behind in the past . As such , they realized that it would be easy to conquer and subjugate the Burmese

However , Memmi 's point is refuted in Orwell 's realization of the real nature of imperialism [and] the real motives for which despotic governments act ' as he sets out to shoot the elephant .[The crowd was] watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick . They did not like me , but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching . And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all . The people expected it of me and I...

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