Week 2: Colonialism & "American" Ideals

1/30/2015

The colonial roots of the United States have marked this countries political culture for better or for worse. The ideals of the colonial period were written to include liberty, opportunity, democracy, equality, and rights. In this week's blog you are asked to answer the following questions as it relates to our lecture on the founding of America and the readings below.

How are these American political values expressed in history and in today's culture? What were the contradictions (name three) from the colonial era as it relates to two of the ideals expressed above? How do we see communities across the country expressing their views using these ideals? What issues relate to the colonial ideals above?

1. Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress
2. Drawing the Color Line

Blog Requirements
Post one original post each week along with a response to one student. Your original post should be at least 200 words, your response should be no less than 50 words.

Post your original post by midnight (11:59 p.m.) on Wednesday of each week and respond by midnight on Friday of each week (11:59 p.m.).

73 Comments

Jorge Ferrer

1/31/2015 04:09:39 am

Well as I was reading both the chapters we had to read, I noticed that the culture from back then (Indians) lived more freely than when Columbus took over them. It’s surprisingly to me that the Indians did no live off judges, laws, etc. I mean they had their own rules for example they had consequences for people that stole but it was nothing close to what the Englishmen did. Even women from their tribe had an equal saying just as the men did. I feel like todays culture people are greedy, racism has been going on for so many years that it still happens and I feel like the Indians had more heart. When Columbus first arrived to their land the Indians welcomed them with respect and gave them stuff. I feel like today people care about their self’s more just how Columbus did. Columbus never thought of how the Indians felt been a victim and causing them pain. What bothers me the most is that after the Indians, they decided to have black slaves because it was easier for Englishmen to capture. They picked on the weak people. I’m not saying that black people are weak but I mean it in the way of them not having enough power to defend themselves. Englishmen had guns and blacks didn’t. I wish we can all live in a world where everyone is equal just how the Iroquois ran their society.

Emerson Lovato

2/5/2015 04:29:09 pm

I agree with you, they had their own rules and beliefs they had to follow but once Columbus arrived it all changed because they were forced to obey the new rules. Racism has pretty much shaped everything in the U.S. since day one because just like you said Europeans decided to capture African slaves to make them their work force because of how inoffensive they were and Europeans had gun power so they knew it would be easy for them to capture slaves. And even at that time, the barrier between whites and blacks was already strong because when I read the text, I found a couple sentences explaining that white servants were treated differently than black servants. This barrier will continue to prevent us from being "one" and not white or black because we are human beings, color shouldn't determine anything in our lives

LENA COLETTO

2/6/2015 12:44:25 pm

I completely see what you're saying about the Native Americans. Their way of life was very maternal. Women were highly valued and viewed as equals. When you say "the indians had more heart", i think you touch on the heart of the matter. The Native Americans were generally pure or innocent; the reason why they possessed this innocence is because they were untainted by the greed of profit. They were much more at one with the universe, they had respect for all living things because they felt a connection to them. They saw themselves in the earth, animals, crops and each other so they treated everything with love and care.

Michael Waller

2/6/2015 12:54:54 pm

I just want to point out that many of the European countries that transported slaves to the Americas bought those slaves from Western African countries, mostly I believe the Republic of Congo. It was not Europeans who picked on the weak, but rather it was the Europeans taking advantage of cultures they could not understand. Although, yes the Europeans had guns and others didn't, the cultures that were abused were very strong and valuable cultures. What really allowed Europeans to do what they did was an abuse of the generosity of these cultures as well as a desire to be wealthy and stronger. There was slavery in Africa before the Europeans bought slaves, but it was a slavery that was a slavery was much more respectful. To my knowledge it was not a slavery that dehumanized people; but West Africans saw a way to gain wealth, and become stronger, and I wonder if maybe they had no clue that the Europeans would abuse the Africans like they did. Lastly, I just wanted to note how the generosity of cultures like the native Americans was abused by the Europeans. These strong powerful cultures and societies allowed Europeans in because they were a people that was open to peace before war, if the natives wanted to destroy the European settlers they easy could have done so, at the least due to the long trips and weakened states of the people coming off the boats.

Heidi R

2/6/2015 01:22:09 pm

I agree with you when you say that we as individuals can be like Columbus without having to admit it. He committed dehumanizing acts against the Indians in his time, not thinking about anyone's life but his own. Likewise today people suffer in different parts of the world while most of the people of the U.S are better off. In part we could make life better for those people. Yet we are so focused on our own lives and our our progress that we do not think about those things. Our world is not perfect with the on going class issues and racism, but forgetting about those problems here in the United States we become aware of how "good we have it" compared to the other countries in the outside peripheries outside of the core.

Shameim Lowther

4/6/2015 01:45:06 pm

Europeans were savages and used religion all throughout time to justify their actions, and to force white ideologies upon all people through Christianity. They went to everyone’s country. Killed the men, raped the women, destroyed their history, and put up their own beliefs, armies, and politics to wipe out and recreate the European society. Divide and conquer. The Europeans believed themselves to be civilized and looked at people’s spirituality, generosity, and ways as naive and savage. They believed that all people were underdeveloped and animals.

Hang Nguyen

4/30/2015 12:34:18 pm

I agreed with you. The Columbus probably thought that be cause they were more well-armed, with their guns and knowledge, they gave themselves the right to look down on other people because the Indians were not like them. Just of the lack of education, they treated the Idians as if they were not human, but some source of living slave to serve them. The Columbus had mistaken pure and sincerity with the thing that they considered "low-level-human".

A.J. Roderos

2/3/2015 09:00:03 am

In history, these American political values are expressed in the Declaration of Independence and in the Preamble and the rest of the U.S. Constitution. In today’s culture, only certain groups or certain people enjoy certain liberties of life as well as opportunity and equality. Some people claim that the U.S. expresses a sense of democracy, but our nation is actually a constitutional federal republic where our representatives come to power by a democratic process. In a way, the ideals from the colonial period contradict each other. For example, the contradictions of liberty and rights are expressed through the history of African-Americans. The 13th Amendment abolishes slavery and gives freedom to African-Americans, but it does not free them from the discrimination they face in the following century. Most importantly, Jim Crow laws enacted racial segregation and discrimination after having the freedom from slavery. Thus, African-Americans did not gain a sense of rights until the Civil Rights movement in the 60’s. Across the country, communities still see a sense of racism and discrimination. In the contemporary world, the shootings of Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown still demonstrate the contradictions in our nation’s sense of equality and rights. As of January 2015, 14 of our states even ban same-sex marriages. The issue of African-American men and the LGBT being targeted in our country relates to the colonial ideals above.

Nafi Watson

2/4/2015 12:11:31 am

A.J this was very informational. I agree with your statement, it is kind of funny how our history is starting to repeat itself. Meaning the racism has not stopped, how African American our promise a better future and equal rights but due to the color of their skin there is still a strong solid black line that separates them.

Shameim Lowther

2/5/2015 02:29:05 pm

History will always repeat itself thats why we have distractions (parties/holidays/celebrations/fashion/music/food) to keep us uninformed and distracted from real issues that affects our present and future lives.
As long as we have a system we will never have equality because the system is designed for a certain group to succeed. very few minorities make it through and when they do people are flabberghasted like hunh? how did that happen…
The issues relating to these articles show since technology, and science gave people the control to expose injustice.

huimin huang

2/5/2015 04:08:38 pm

i agree. even abolishes slavery and gives freedom to african americans, racism is still the problem for them. today, racism is happen around more races now in america.

Jacob Bandel

2/5/2015 06:59:57 pm

I also found this to be eye opening. History is going to repeat itself if there is to be no fight for it, no fight for true freedom and equality for the races.

Adham Awa

2/23/2015 05:37:47 pm

This was a solid example given by you to point out just how contradictory the claims of our foundation are and still remain. African Americans have never been given close to equal rights and even now that they do have the same rights by law they face many sorts of other discrimination, especially police brutality. And until the LGBT community remains without the right to marry and are discriminated against, our ideals will remain contradictory.

Nafi Watson

2/4/2015 12:30:58 am

Reading these passages made me realize that a lot has not changed over the years in history. Our country has a great way of sugar coating the truth about what really happened in the past. What upset me the most was how Columbus came in and took over the Indians land. The Indians were so welcoming that they didn’t realize what was going to happen to them. This connects us to the current gentrification going on in our communities. The upper class people are coming into the lower class communities to buy up and fix our homes, saying it’s going to benefit us but in all reality they are taking over and moving us out. With this happing makes me question happened to our rights as a community to fight for what is right and not allow them to take over. Columbus and the upper class is taking away the equality in our lives, they see the lower class as not equal. The lower class is basically nothing to them because in their eyes we do not amount to anything. What is also kind of upsetting is how people of color is still getting discriminated against to this day.

liang zhang

2/4/2015 12:46:39 pm

i agree with u.one think never change is people are never gonna be equal. in upper class eyes, lower class just worth nothing. the only thing lower class can do for the upper class is making money for them, just like an animal for a slave. they are rich, they think they are above the rulls. they will never care about us.

jorge ferrer

2/6/2015 09:55:30 am

yes i strongly agree with you, it pisses me off how in elementary school they made columbus this great person just by discovering america but they never even care to teach us the whole completely truth. they never taught us how the indians felt over other people taking over their territories or killing them. the only question i ask myself is why hide the truth and only show people what they want people to know.

Qin Chen

2/6/2015 02:00:07 pm

I have same feeling with you when I discover the Indian treats Columbus so enthusiastic. Before I just know Columbus kills lots of Indians, in that time I think the reason that he kills them is because the Indian is evil. Right now, I cannot understand why Columbus does this and even feels the Indian is stupid.

Rayvonne Evans

4/30/2015 12:55:42 pm

Nothing has ever changed and sometimes I believe things never will. The Europeans came and took over everything in everyone's country. The masses of the people will never matter to the people who hold the wealth and power. They will continue to oppress everyone for their capitol gain. Equality, opportunity, justice, or liberty were never really in mind when this country was founded. I almost feel that in order for us to achieve these ideals we need to tear down and rebuild the entire country.

Tory Burleson

2/4/2015 01:09:12 pm

The American political values are based on who has what. The more you have in things and money tends to affect how much political influence you have. The colonials started this country with ideals such as equality.... but equality with exceptions because the only people considered equal were those with white skin who had wealth. If you were not white then by default you had no rights and therefore there was little to no chance of having an opportunity of education. I see that today in our community today, the lack of guidance and opportunity to get a good education is why so many of the young people in poor areas don't have the ability to make it out of poverty that they have known their whole life. The people who are in power in the political world literally take advantage of the fact that many do not know how to change their circumstance. Many times the circumstance that a person is in is not their own fault but maybe from hundreds of years of an enslaved and oppressed heritage and with no way of learning their own history and not just the history the people in power tell them they need to know

Dongho Kim

2/5/2015 05:48:04 pm

I think how you used education as an example of equality in our community today was interesting. I believe that education system in poor areas are improving but compare to areas where wealthy people live, it needs much more development. Young people in anywhere definitely should get much chance of having an opportunity of education.

Harin Yoon

2/4/2015 01:52:58 pm

In history, all the political values only applied to the Europeans. Only the Europeans, or whites, had the equal rights and justice since the African Americans and Native Americans were in slavery and treated unfairly. Even though the slavery was abolished and passed the desegregation law, we still experience racism across the country. If the the ideas of the past included rights, equality, and opportunity, how did Colombus lie about seeing the land first and receiving the stipend as an award when one of his crew member was the one who saw it first? Just because Colombus was the leader and had more hierarchy than one of his sailors, Colombus was able to easily lie and steal the award. This proves that the unfair hierarchy existed in the history even among the whites. When Colombus and his troops arrived at the new found land, he and his crew did not show respect to the Natives instead, they threatened to kill and force them into labor with weapons. Again, these actions are against equality. Now that the laws are passed and gave more freedom to the minorities, they have more opportunities and liberty. For example, the African Americans having the right to vote. I think the ideas of giving fair opportunities to everyone who deserves are growing bigger and bigger as the country is slowly passing more and more equal rights related laws.

Lin Chen

2/5/2015 03:14:00 pm

I agree with you said about there are still some discrimination in the country, and also I agree the ideal when you talked about Columbus. It seems because Columbus was the first person discovered the Land. In the past,every one recognized he was a hero and choose to forget what he done to the Indians.

Michael Waller

2/4/2015 03:39:53 pm

The political values of liberty, opportunity, democracy, equality, and rights have been and are used in today’s culture as just words and nothing more. I see this use of words without their meaning often in our current society as well as back then. All of these words don’t represent a specific group or race; they don’t only pertain to a hierarchy of people yet here in America they have and in many ways still do. We use words every day, in fact we talk a lot with no knowledge of the true meaning of our words and without the understanding of the consequences of these words. Words like opportunity and liberty are we America is famous for a place of tolerance and acceptance, and they are why many people want to and do migrate here; instead they are over run by capitalism and power. During the first reading and the second reading there is a huge contradiction when speaking of the word equality. The first intentions of the Europeans where to exploit the generosity of the Indians. In the second reading Edmund Morgan again talks about the superiority of the colonist, which of course makes no sense in a society filled with equality. Also, slaves who were actual human being never possessed any rights and even after slavery had be abolished still those human beings were not treated with the same rights that others had. I see a trend in our communities today that take these ideals and use them in any way they can to put a group at an advantage. The idea of capitalism and competition has complete undermined the ideas that this country was supposed to be built upon. The rich now use democracy, rights, liberty and opportunity as excuses to hold billions of earnings at the top without allowing any of the 99% that same opportunity. But because the rich see these ideals how they want to see them and not through their actual meanings they feel that what they do is justified; no different than Columbus, the missionaries and the slave owners. The history of this country is built on using these ideals to justify what we do, whether if morally is right or wrong.

Erik Hoffmann

2/5/2015 03:08:37 pm

I agree with your statement. It seems that today, words are often used almost metaphorically to be taken by their face value and only technically refer to what they meant. This tactic is a favorite of politicians and advertising execs, who love saying things like "sugar free" and "net neutrality" to confuse people.

Dongho Kim

2/4/2015 05:43:29 pm

I would say that back in history, American political values were characterized by race since there was slavery and only white men had power and rights in America. In today’s culture, political values are characterized by class, social group, race, and etc. When the Declaration of Independence was created, Thomas Jefferson used the quotation “All men are created equal” to give people liberty and equality in America. But there has been slavery in America until the 13th amendment abolished slavery in 1800s. There was no liberty, equality, and rights given to race other than whites. Even when slavery ended, there was racism in America. African Americans had to go through so much hardships to gain their rights. Through education and different communities fighting for their rights, racism has declined but has not disappeared completely. There are many other types of inequality issues in America today, such as gay rights, religion, and immigration. All these issues relates to the ideals of equality since people from each groups desires the equal opportunities and rights without getting discriminated by other social groups. There always has been different kinds of extremists who are trying to take those equality and rights from minority groups, which I believe is very tragic.

Bolortsetseg Jargalsaikhan

2/5/2015 07:49:52 am

HI, Dongho
I agree on those subjects about not only the slavery, and African-Americans have been the target on racism. Nowadays there are many who believe they are being discriminated because of their beliefs, such as religion, race (America has many people who come from all over the world-Asia, India) and their choices-Gay. As many will say America is melting pot with more diverse population than any other country, yet there are tons of times/incidents that show that they are not being treated equally because they are from somewhere else. Besides, I wasn't born here, so I understand that things people say about me offends me in ways they won't understand which brings out the differences between cultures and idea of discrimination as well.

Angela Tam

2/5/2015 01:55:25 pm

I absolutely agree, and not to mention the Indians who were pushed out of their own lands or completely wiped out, were granted nothing and pushed out. Still until today Indians have to fight for what had been stolen from their ancestors. Our nation is still struggling to face our past and right our wrongs.

Bolortsetseg Jargalsaikhan

2/5/2015 07:42:23 am

In history according to the 2 articles I read, the values, such as opportunities, liberty, democracy, rights, and equality were shown as if they are opposite of what it means today. The articles mentions how the Englishmen/European soldiers were massacring whenever there is an opportunity, most likely because they felt superior to them with their technology (colonies), yet they weren’t able to get out of anything from the place (gold, corns) like Indians were able to. As if they felt threatened by the power Indians might have, their hospitality, and the ability to grow corns and live off the land, they felt so much jealous of them and started genocide according to the articles. By doing so, they contradicted the ideas of liberty, rights and equality. They started taking the Indians as slaves preventing them to have their rights, their liberty, equality to whites, and their right to democracy. The ways they violated their idea of all those political values still have effect on today’s culture. There are many who feel racism at some level nowadays which is violating their right to equality. Another contradiction would be the gap between the rich and poor/higher class and lower class people. The voices of population are supposed to be heard when the decision is made which indicates democracy (government by people). But earlier in history, probably still nowadays if you are in higher class/rich, your value/opinion matters more than someone who is in lower class which contradict the idea of democracy. If someone calls up someone who is rich to give them their opinion nowadays, you have be known/famous, or needs to rich to be heard. All those issues of gap between rich and poor and the racism which violates human rights, liberty have been going on for long time since Colonial era when the Europeans started taking advantages of Indians and forcing them to be slaves for long time. That brings down the chances of opportunities that are offered to African-Americans vs. Americans/Europeans who have higher chances of opportunities.

Harin Yoon

2/5/2015 09:32:04 am

I agree with you on the history influenced the culture now.I really hope that this country really does become the democratic country where it gives rights and equality for everyone...

Fode Cheick Toure

2/5/2015 10:32:46 pm

I also agree with you. I don't feel like there is democracy in this country. But if there is any, only one group of people enjoy it. People just look around you. What do you really see? racism, the lack of opportunities for some group of people, our rights and privacy have been violated. We are experiencing the militarization of the police. They crackdown on protesters whenever they take the street to voice their concerns. innocent people die almost every day at the hands of the police officers, but they always get away with murder. They just have to state that they fear for their lives. Most of their victims are mostly minorities.

We are seeing an extreme injustice in this country. If you considered as a lower class person, you will never get justice. They laws that protect each one of us are just written on paper, but in reality, not being applied the same way to everyone.

Fode Cheick Toure

2/5/2015 09:58:56 am

USA, the Super power, the greatest nation on the earth that preaches democracy, liberty and humain rights to countries throughout the world, telling them to treat their people equally, to let them express themselves and to stop killing them because of their political views. But in reality, these American political values written in the Constitution that amended 27 times to remove some of the racial discriminating laws that had targeted people of color had not been exercised in a good way.

Even though there was change in the Constitution, in today's culture, racial divide and discrimination, injustice ,human rights violation, The lack of opportunities for all are still visible.

Now days, some foreign governments don't even listen to the us government anymore.

They are saying that the us houldn't be telling them how democracy works and how to treat their people.

Their argument they are making is that in the us, laws have been introduced in certain states to stop some people from voting. And not everyone is treated the same way under the same laws.

For instance, same sex couples are not allowed to marry in some states and that is unconstitutional. But does the Constitution work for everyone? Not at all. Innocent people die at the hands of the police officers. But they always get away with murder. The lack of opportunities for the minorities are crystal clear. Not everyone is allowed to clam the ladder.

In today's culture, we are seeing the history repeating itself. Slavery is still around. We and our government have been taken hostage by big corporations. They pretty much define what we do. How we live our lives, how much we get paid for at our job, and how, what, and when holidays should be celebrated. They tell our elected officials what they want because they are the ones who finance their campaign. Then, our representatives pass legislations in their favor in order for them to make more money.

Look what is happening in our communities, gentrifiers are coming in to destroy our values and social fabrics. People are being pushed out of their homes, incumbent residents are being evicted by their landlords because they can't no longer effort their rent.

I think that gentrification is linked to what the English men did to the Indians. They used to live peaceful life, but, then, the english men came to their territory, and then decided to took over them and their land. They destroy their communities, and everything they had with them, and killed most of them.

Angela Tam

2/5/2015 01:52:12 pm

Thank you for bringing gentrification to light. I couldn't agree more with your analogy. I've lived in the bay area up until I was 23. From 23-28 I lived in North Carolina and Maryland. When in Maryland I saw how, through property tax increases and cost of living increases, the middle class and lower class population were pushed out of the DC area into the southern maryland area. Now these people had to commute over an hour to get to their place of work in DC because they could no longer afford to work and live in DC. I fear that is the case with Alameda right now and certainly with San Francisco. As each community has big name stores roll through and cost of living increases these people are pushed out of communities they've been living in.

liang zhang

2/5/2015 01:13:58 pm

in the past , whoever get stronger military, who is the ruler. its like columbus , they come to this land, force indians work for them. they made them as slaves. even indans give them food, water, and gifts. but indians dont have weapon. thats why englishman can bully indians. even right now. americans still think they are the best of the world. cause they know they get strongest militiary. thats why they have so many bases in others counties. i should so all over the world. racism is the biggest problem. they bought african to us as slaves. even right now they are free. but in the text book. we still keep learning blacks were the whites slaves. i know it is history . but it is just make me so sad everytime i see it. for me, i think they should not teach the children black was the slaves. look, if children start to learn blacks are the slaves in the past, what they the feel as a child. black child may feel they are not as good as the white. white child may think they are better than black. cause black just the slave. (sry about my word, no defense). columbus they take over the land, cause they wanna more gold. right now, if you are rich , you can find job easier, you can make money easier. lower class people just working for the upper class . lower class people just a tool for making money for the upper class people.

Patrianna Douglas

3/10/2015 09:43:09 am

I found many interesting points in your article. The use of weapons and wealth definilty had a huge impact on who conquered who, if it was the other way around I wonder if the Native Americans would have conquered other parts of the world. Also your thought of if the history of slavery is no longer taught people would grow up with less bias or sadness surrounding the facts, unfortunatly history must be learned to not be repeated but I think it would have a positive impact.

Angela Tam

2/5/2015 01:46:15 pm

Today the American political values of Liberty, Democracy, Equality, and Rights are expressed in many forms. I feel that, for the most part, we have general control over our lives and the paths they lead. We have the right to vote and have the opportunity to be involved in the democracy. I certainly believe that there are areas in the USA that are stuck in the past, but there are areas that strive for Equality. We also have rights and we have lawyers that help protect those rights.
I find it hard to believe that these values were set in place with the history that the USA has early on. Liberty wasn’t guaranteed because if you weren’t helping to find Gold or fight the Indians, you essential died. Democracy wasn’t something that was even in place because they would kill the Indians without even batting an eye and they would kill anyone who joined the Indians because they had food. There was no equality because they saw the Indians as less than and they saw the African slaves as less than them. Rights were only given to those that were granted them and even once the Slaves were granted freedom they weren’t truly free.
The first contradiction from the colonial era was, there wasn’t Equality. As noted in “Drawing the Color Line”, early black slaves were listed as servants but were treated differently than the white servants. They were treated as slaves and slaves didn’t have the glory of having “Rights”. Second contradiction, there was certainly no Democracy because laws were passed that the people had no say in. For example, there was a law put in place that forbids whites to intermingle with black slaves. English servants weren’t equal either and had no say in their own rights about fraternizing with black slaves. Third contradiction was Liberty, because the black slaves that were brought to the US were not granted liberty. The relationship between master and slave was completely contradictory to liberty. The master has to “break” the slave and ruled over the slave completely. The slave had zero liberty.
Right now there is the “All lives matter” movement. People are tired of law enforcement being above the law. We want our police to be accountable for their actions just as we have to be for ours. We are in a heated debate on the right to bear arms and if taking that right away would be unconstitutional. The LGBT community is still fighting for equality and equal rights. We are still contradicting ourselves as a nation but I think we are fighting back more now.

Erkhes Bat-erdene

2/5/2015 07:03:56 pm

I very much agree with you, Angela. A big portion of our country is stuck in the past, but the fight for equality is indeed spreading through the land like an inferno. I hope that this continues and we can finally start seeing malleable change. These values were said and told in the colonial era, but were really never used to the extent by how they are defined today.

Anqi Sun

2/5/2015 02:14:29 pm

I have to say, by reading these two articles really took me a very long time to finish it. It was not because English is my second language, but it was because that these two articles reminded me of many things I learned in the history class. First of all, let us take a look at the equality. I would like to say, the definition in the dictionary almost doesn’t change, but the problem about the equality still existed. If we read the newspaper, one thing that we cannot ignore is the problem of racism, it won’t be a hard job to see reports that have something to do with racism. Many aliens feel themselves are not treated as one part of the society. This feeling is also very obvious when I am living with the people who are from the same country, sometimes I can also feel the discrimination when I am talking to the people around me. But, if we also take a look at the right and liberty, I think that is the biggest change that happened in the United States. If you have learned those dark history before the America is created. You will recognize how cruel that the colonists treated the other races they have conquered, especially to their slaves and the Native Americans. Many slaves and indentured servants were forced to work for whole day without getting any salary. They were forced to work to death like a robot, rather than a person. From my point of view, the right of African Americans and Native Americans were remain ignored even after the Civil War was over. The federal government had no power to deal with the problems about racism, but now the situation is totally different. Under the protection of the constitution, almost everyone have the right of joining the discussion of politics. Even aliens could have a chance to join a campaign, the government is trying its best to protect the rights of every citizen. But even the American society has changed so much, it doesn’t mean that the opportunity we have was completely the same. This problem can be seen if you are trying to take part in the campaign. You may have the right to join the campaign and say whatever you would like about the politics. But if you are trying to be a senator or mayor, you may never get such an opportunity because you don’t have money to get support or nobody agree with your ideal. These are the possibilities that could stop you from becoming what you want to be.

Shameim Lwothetr

2/5/2015 02:22:51 pm

Racism has never declined. It's a tough topic to discuss having to belong to a specific group that experiences it (in some shape or form) on a daily basis.-but to also be desynsatized to the point that racism becomes a natural way of life. You live to expect people to behave, react in a certain manner and when it doesn’t you sit back at the end of the day and say hey today was a good day……
Slavery was a business and it created a system where it could remain. Modern day slavery is an institution and the pawns are still the same. Rather than hanging they kill with a badge. To exterminate a race in order to have a culture… replacing idealogies of fear on immigrants to pin ethnics against one another by putting us in the same demographics. As for Christopher Columbus he traveled to Africa-lived, and studied with the Africans and sailed long before history was written….

So racisim is still prevalent and history is just as twisted. Liberty, opportunity democracy, equality, and right were made for white men.

As far as systems… Civil rights created a platform for women’s rights, and gay rights, and education rights…
That was purposely done to break up the black families..

Tory Burleson

2/6/2015 05:47:19 am

I agree with you. Until everyone realizes that racism is prevalent and does exist everywhere then only then we will know how to tackle it and speak about it. Children need to be learning their own history not just the ones created by white men. History is all about perspective and we need to take in to account the fact that African Americans, Native Americans... ect haven't been learning their history.

Tonivi Truong

2/6/2015 05:52:08 pm

Yes, it is indeed true that slavery is cruel and a horrible thing that also made America's economy of today. And Tory is also correct that children need to learn their own history and not just the ones created by the white men. I also think that it is important to not bring up the past historical events into the life of the present, but to keep it in the past. When I say that, I mean that it is best to accept the fact that it has happen and it has made America and its people, who were are today. Many parts of the government actually don't even have a badge, yet they are allow to kill by the government, undercover or not.

Lena Coletto

2/5/2015 02:49:39 pm

The articles reveal a different side to history then we have learned as children. We were taught about Columbus and Cortez as being pioneers and great explorers. They were truly ruthless tyrants with one goal of profit. They benefited off of the suffering of other human beings. This is the founding philosophy of what America has been built on. America's foundation is bloodshed; one group of people who place there worth more then others. There was an paternal hierarchy that was enforced through intimidation, fear and violence. The whole purpose and reason for the violence, torture and suffering was for profit, a cash value. The value of Money was placed higher then the value of human beings. That is the structure of capitalism. Money is viewed as the highest value in our society, many work hard to get by while few reap the benefits of others toil. The words liberty, opportunity, democracy and equality have meaning but they are more of an abstract idea then what is actually practiced in America.

Erik Hoffmann

2/5/2015 02:55:45 pm

It is quite apparent that the "golden rule" has been the general political strategy since even before the United States conception; "He who has the gold, Makes the rules". Today's culture hasn't strayed as far from its roots as people think. State sponsored murder is still happening, and the new form of colonization has been narrowed down to a form of debt enslavement. The constitution might have had some little piece that implied freedom, liberty, democracy, and equality for all, but in reality, "All men are created equal" meant all European men. Equality was for all those that applied, meaning anyone not white wasn't even considered and labeled a savage. Freedom now means freedom to choose, which entices people to take out loans and ironically become enslaved by the debt. Nowadays, the music directed towards the lower class demographic emphasizes making money and pushes the greedy, individualistic mindset that helped enslave their ancestors,and has affected communities by removing the sense of togetherness and encouraging individualism. All the new distractions and commodities available to us are just toys for us to tinker with while we blindly give consent to anything and everything the government does. They're trying to keep us as distracted, busy, and scared as possible so as to produce drones to make the corporations rich and to generate tax revenue to fund their shady operations overseas.

Lin Chen

2/5/2015 03:00:28 pm

In the past, the government of the Spanish seemed like monarchy which queen or king ruled the whole country. Nowaday, the president in the United States is voted by citizens, and the United States is abolitionism. However as many people mention, Columbus forced Indians to become a slave, and it was a beginning for black slave exist. It took a long time for people to change the policy, after Martin Luther King stated “I have a dream”, and after Rosa Parks said not to protect her right. The civil right movement became significant and government could not ignore. Because the hardship of many black leaders worked, the United States becomes nowaday.
The first contradiction from the colonial era was punishment for both whites and blacks is different.Because of the racial discrimination, black slaves had a hard life than white slaves’ life. The second contradiction was slave owners wanted black slaves kept working every day, but also fear them had extra energy to revolt. Thus, slave owners established many law to limit black slaves.The third contradiction was the idea of white supremacy. Nowaday, the idea of white supremacy was conflict with the statement “ All people are created equal in right”.

huimin huang

2/5/2015 03:58:15 pm

these American political values expressed throught out history and in today's society, the upper class today are playing the role just like the spanish and columbus back in the days. also, racism that happend in history is still going on today, same as equality in america today. rights, liberty and equality from the colonial era are relates to the ideals expressed above. the issues relate to the colonial ideals above are rights, liberty and equality are the things that lower class really have to have them, not just hearing from the upper class saying that the lower class already have them.

Emerson Lovato

2/5/2015 04:16:57 pm

After reading these articles, I have come to the understanding that nothing has changed. The "color line" has had a massive impact on our society since the beginning and yet we have not found a solution to the racism barrier that holds us back and doesn't allow us to be a united country. The United States has a history in which racism takes control of the future and how it's citizens will behave because inequality has sparked a reaction from people of color. According to the article, Drawing the Color Line "Some historians think those first blacks in Virginia were considered as servants, like the white indentured servants brought from Europe. But the strong probability is that, even if they were listed as "servants" (a more familiar category to the English), they were viewed as being different from white servants, were treated differently, and in fact were slaves." proving that racism has shaped the structure of the United States for a long time. The barrier between whites and blacks will always be there because cheap labor requires racism and only one group will be held back to make sure cheap labor sustains those who belong to high income groups. Typically, whites are the ones running those businesses and people of color have to work hard for cheap wages until they die and the cycle continues with their offspring. The cycle of slavery has continued since it all began, but most of us won't see it because just like the natives were promised things to blind them from reality, the same thing has happened to us. Communities all over the U.S.are fighting inequality and lack of opportunities to live in better life conditions every day because racism has not disappeared. Many people are fighting for gay rights, immigration, and higher wages because they feel like they are being oppressed and have not been given anything to change their lifestyles.

Qin Chen

2/5/2015 04:29:38 pm

In the history of American political values, I do not see liberty, opportunity, democracy, equality, and rights. in lots of place. There is no liberty for slave. Lots of them even was catch illegal. And there is not equality between the white and black. Even if between the slave, the white slaves still have high society level than the black. There is not right for slave. They need do whatever the owner asked them to do, even if they cannot. Lots of them die because in cruel environment, because nobody respect them as common people. A lot of slaves kill themselves just because they cannot bear terrible environment. And a large number of slaves tried to run away from their owners, even if they would have dreadful punishment if they failed. And from the punishment of the white slaves and the black, we also can see there is no equality. The black will get a harder punishment than white. However, today’s culture we do have this values. A large number of people realize that everybody is equal. And they do try to eliminate the unequal treatment. The stories about Columbus in the textbook also show the step forward, the textbook does not tell the children the happy ending between Columbus and Indian anymore.

Maurice Ainsworth

2/5/2015 05:22:29 pm

Both of these readings are examples of the same white superiority. There was no regard for anything, except the development of the Virginia Company. The first reading explained how the Indians of South America were exterminated. The second reading explained how the Native Americans were exterminated, and Africans were enslaved. There would be no equality for either party. The only equality that existed, was in favor of those who were anglo saxon. White Superiority was the theme in both readings; there is no equality within White Superiority.
Democracy is non-existent for anyone except the anglo saxon as well. The rules set forth then, are the same as now. Democracy is for the governing body. We citizens are busying ourselves trying to maintain our places, that were established for us by the color line. We are forever governed by the minority.
The rights that are spoken of, had to do with establishing Americas independence from England, not for citizens of the new land, and definitely not the Indian or the African. Those who came to the Americas were free to do as they deemed necessary. All in the name of Gold, Slaves, Spices, and the establishment of a new business/country.

Jazmyn Brown

2/6/2015 07:06:57 am

Maurice, thank you so much for bringing up how the the theme of white superiorty was so previlent in both of the readings. I feel like all throughout history, until modern day times the white race was the only race who these American political values appplied to. No where in either of the reading did it illustrate how these values pertained to any one else but the whites because quite bluntly they did not.

Luna Flores

2/5/2015 05:49:25 pm

Going through the reading and seeing how the Europeans worked within themselves and not taking into account what they did to people of color, the Europeans sought out opportunity for better and richer life for themselves. With this they wanted to leave and government ran by kings and queens looking for a way to have their own voices heard. Taking into account all the harm and damage they did to various cultures in order to follow their desires they over looked that the natives al ready had and respected these values. Natives treated both men and women with the same respect and considered each other equal. The Europeans contradicted their values when considering the natives savages with no morals, treating Africans as animals, and not giving them the right to participate in politics.in many communities today you can find programs that tech young people to treat and view one another as equals. This then gives people the opportunity to express their opinions freely with out punishment. One issue that are similar to the colonial ideas is the long time that the government believed it was okay to call people aliens or illegal because they do no have a piece of paper that allows them to be on certain land. This is dehumanizing and unjust to refer to a human being in that manor. This is similar to when the Europeans felt the native American did not belong on that land.

Jacob Bandel

2/5/2015 06:55:34 pm

The values of democracy, liberty, opportunity, and equality, used today as just meaningless words and nothing more. I see this all the time in our current society more, and more in fact as the years go by. All of these words don’t represent a specific group yet here in the U.S.A they do to extremes.We talk alot with zero knowledge of the actual meaning of the words we spit out, and without the knowledge of the repercussions of our speech. Words like opportunity and liberty are why the United States are so famous, and they also bring about a thought that we are a place of tolerance and acceptance. They are why tens of thousands of people want to migrate here instead they are over run by single minded capitalist. During the first reading and through the second there is contradiction when speaking of these heavy words. The first intentions of the Europeans where to rob the Indians of all their natural resources using their trusting nature to their advantage. In the reading Edmund Morgan talks about the vast superiority of the Europeans, which makes zero sense in a society full of equality and peace. I'm witnessing a trend in many communities in my area today that take these ideals and use them in ways they can to put a one group at an advantage or disadvantage another. The idea and practice of capitalism has completely sabotages the concepts that this country was built upon! The rich now use all of these now meaningless words as excuses to hold billions of earnings at the top without allowing any of the working class people that very same opportunity.The rich see these ideals as rules meant to be twisted and turned to bleed this country dry while they remain blind to their actual meanings. The history of the Europeans and even this whole country honestly is built on using these ideals to cloak themselves and trick people into thinking they're fair and just.

Erkhes Bat-erdene

2/5/2015 06:57:29 pm

The political values of liberty, opportunity, democracy, equality, and rights are ideals that can never be realized to the full extent. Equality, liberty, and rights are ideals that are built on the foundation
or basis that everyone is equal and everyone can be treated as such. Race, ethnicity, background, economic class are the most common separators in these ideals. To have equality and complete liberty,
everyone has to be the same, because difference is what causes inequality. Sexuality, race, ethnicity are the most common barriers in equality and inequality, because the fact is that everyone is not
the same, and that everyone is different. The minority groups get bashed on by the majority because they are different from the majority, and that is, apparently, upsetting. Rights are hard to establish
for everyone because some people feel as if they are entitled to more and that certain right's of someone can also obstruct the rights of a different individual. During the colonial era, liberty and equality were
probably the two values that were contradicted the most. Liberty of the Indians were restricted; they were killed by the diseases that the Europeans brought over, and then the survivors were forced
into areas that were specially designated to keep them away from the new colonials. The colonists completely shattered the indians and destroyed their culture and them. Equality and liberty
go hand-in-hand in this case, because the so called equality was only for the colonists. The indians were treated terribly, and the African-Americans were later on also treated like animals. The
LGBT community faces the hardships of these values so often. The LGBT community has fought tooth-and-nail for equality among the heterosexual society that seeks to ostracize them. There were several
news reports across the nation of people beating or even killing people simply because they were gay. And although there are laws to prevent employers from hiring people who are gay, it is still
a major problems, reducing the opportunies these people have. America is not changed very much in the few hundred years since colonization. We are still indifferent to those who are different
from society's norm and even seek to harm them.

Sierra MacIntyre

4/7/2015 03:29:22 pm

I agree with your interpretation on these issues. Rights are hard to establish because everyone thinks they are better than someone else whether its by race, gender, age, pretty much anything. Society has done a great job of coming up with ways to put ourselves before others. It seems that every issue it related. its a domino effect really. We are incredibly judgmental to those who do not fit in our social norm.

RiChara Glenn

2/5/2015 11:29:05 pm

When comparing political values that were expressed in history and modern times, there are two sides of the fence. According to history during the colonial era, political values were somewhat implemented by people who possessed a common interest in economic wealth and agriculture, other ideals were sub issues that often undermines the big picture “freedom”. The Europeans act on what they believe will put “their” own country in better shape economically, white people during the slavery days did the same. In order to accomplish what was needed to be accomplished, force must be intended. Even today our political values are expressed upon using force. There are laws, security systems, and people. But here’s is where the contradictions take place. In terms of both opportunity and democracy, we are granted opportunities at almost everything life has to offer. But when the constitution was written in 1719 which is based on a list of opportunities for all of us, African Americans then and now still doesn't have equal opportunities that will maximize their self-interests. For example, during the colonial times they couldn't vote till years later in 1965 when the Voting Right Act passed. Democracy in America originated in the 1700’s. Democracy is a government by the people, but not everyone had the chance to be apart of the government and still struggles to be apart today. There were racial segregation between 1849-1950, the democrats did not turn to the racial outcry at the start or midst of incidences and had continued to pamper groups non-other than blacks and excluded them from political events and messages. Same thing for the Europeans, in the text it said that the Europeans in Europe did not know what was going on in other countries and Columbus kept the horrible aspect of everything private or most of it.

Quantavis Gissentanner

2/6/2015 12:28:09 am

In todays society I dont feel like everyones free. To me history is making 360 with all the unnecessary shooting that have been going on in the pass months. I feel like we're still slaves but to the society and to our culture. We dont have a lot of opportunities for some people. Like job wise the unemployment rate is 5,6% today. I feel that people can't get the opportunities because of there education or back ground as in race. The voting system is all messed up because if you dont vote they vote for you. Its unfair because when people who dont vote always complain about the acts that are getting passed by. Its because they dont vote to make a change so they go out a protest to get what they want. Equality is the last thing people are worried about most of the people that live in the u.s. care about themselves. In the words of Thomas Jefferson "all me are created equal" is really not true because if it was society wouldn't be how it is today. Most people rights are violated is some type of way. The sad part is that the majority of the population are clueless about their rights. I fell that it should be mandatory to learn your rights.

Roy Christopher

2/6/2015 04:31:29 am

After doing some of the readings and thinking about this topic I think the meaning of liberty has changed the most. Liberty back in colonial times feels as if it mainly was about free from cruel governments and oppressive rules, but really general. Good enough for groups, individuals, or cults to get away with stuff. It was like there was a usual norm and standard that was just said and not really expressed. Liberty really simply is you own your own life and property. Also liberty was only given to certain ethnicities. Blacks, Indians, Aztecs and many others weren’t given liberty mor it wasn’t respected. The europeans took black peoples lives away, their liberty, which is slavery. They took over the indians belongings, land, and resources. They stole and controlled their property. All men and women are supposed to be equal and born free, but when slaves had babies the masters had instant ownerships of newborns. In todays time the meaning of liberty is a lot more expressive and many people have personal meanings of what liberty means to them. The main thing you could probably say though in todays time fighting for liberty and the meaning of it is unity and justice for all. In other countries today I feel it means the same thing but a lot more towards political freedom. As for people of the U.S.A it includes a lot more individualism as well. A lot of other countries fight their government for political freedom and the things being imposed on them like for example North Korea. People their have no freedom of speech, freedom of movement, no religious freedom and the list can go on. I feel all people from other countries definition of liberty points the same direction but they have differents routes of fighting for it and going on about it as well.

Jazmyn Brown

2/6/2015 07:00:04 am

The differences in how the America’s political values of liberty, opportunity, democracy and equality are expressed today as opposed to colonial and slavery times are substantial. For starters, in present day America, it is morally ethical for people of all races and nationalities to be treated equally and for no one race to be afforded any more or any less opportunity than another. In one way, opportunity and equality are shown through the disclaimer all employers must now give stating it is illegal to discriminate against any one person based on ethnicity, gender, religious belief or disability. I feel like throughout history up until more recent times, these values were not afforded to anyone in America outside of the white race.
Columbus and his men directly contradicted these values when they forcefully took away the Native Americans rights and forced them and their people to become slaves and stripped them of their way of life. Any liberty or opportunity the Native Americans already had- or that could have been made possible living in unity with the settlers- was obliterated with the massive genocide of their people inflicted by Columbus and his men. And then again, we see these values being contradicted in history through the enslavement of African American men and women- Being stripped of their rights and freedom and being made to look at as the lowest of all races, less than human. More and more we are seeing people advocate for their rights to be treated equal in this country, people of all sexualities, gay and straight fighting to legalize gay marriage. To validate the value of equality and prove that no matter whom you love, it should not prevent you from having the same rights as everyone else .

Maurice Ainsworth

2/6/2015 02:53:22 pm

Thanks for the illustration of systematic racism. It is no longer carried out solely by the gov't, it is society that keeps it going, If they have to tell us that they are going to be fair, we have to question to what extent. It seems as though discrimination laws are a disclaimer, and a prelude to discrimination. Why is my color, or religious beliefs or non beliefs relevant.

Heidi Ramirez

2/6/2015 01:15:37 pm

As I read these two chapters written by Howard Zinn, I kept thinking in the way in which history is only repeating itself through different forms as time passes. The way in which we live now is evidently different than the way in which people lived during the times of the conquest of men like Columbus, Cortez, and Pizarro. Men like these still exist today. The way in which they present themselves is much different than the way in which the men of our history of years would.
American political values of then and now remain somewhat similar and are said to be "valued" with some sort of hypocrisy. Religion is one example. Columbus and men like him would use verses from the Bible to excuse his dehumanizing acts, and the people who would benefit from his acts could only agree and ignorantly believe that is what God would want. Even now countries use religion to excuse the harm they do to their own people, because those beliefs form a big part of their own government. Wealth has always, and will always be another value. Money is what makes this world function in most societies, unlike the society in which many Indians lived in. We can see this through the desperate acts Columbus took to find gold and bring it back to his masters in order to keep getting funded. Columbus was only going to be entitled to 10% of the profit, but he was still willing to commit genocide, enslave people, all for wealth. Then and now the military is essential for the United states to remain as the core country.
Then and now we as people of the United states hold on to the same hunger for "human progress" and consciously or unconsciously consent this history to keep repeating itself in different forms, only because we believe it will shape a better world for ourselves as individuals. In a way we are all like Columbus because we only think about how WE are benefitting from living in the U.S and having a strong army. We do not think or we may think about people being sacrificed at the expense of our freedom or wealth. At the same time we disregard everything that is really important.

Stephanie Linford

2/7/2015 11:56:13 am

I agree with you HISTORY is just repeating itself. Over time people are still like Columbus but learned it this society they can't show their true colors like Columbus. Americas Political values do remain the same they just cover it up with different vocabulary, and tactics. A lot of "MEN" like Columbus used Christianity to enforce slavery upon other races besides white. Money, and wealth do make the world rotate. Columbus was a fine example and he even laughed at the Indians for being "nivave" . When they weren't that far from it just good people, that wanted to help, and give. Columbus was going to get 10,000 a year for spotting land he didn't spot. He didnt just step on the Indians but his own friend Rodrigo. He was greedy from the start no amount of money was going to stop him. He was lazy he didn't want to search for gold on his own. Millions of people died for the hunt of gold. The U.S is repeating Columbus actions based on the same value GREED.

Tonivi Truong

2/6/2015 05:45:59 pm

It seems as if the lower and middle class are only looked down upon, from before and even now. We are looked down upon, with guns pointed at us one way or another, for not just being criminals, but also having what others don't have, just like how United states had pointed guns at the Iridians and how the Indians were being 'exterminated' by the English. This is a contradiction to equality and liberty already. It is agreed that if slavery didn't exist, America would not be where it is today. Slavery is a tragic thing and has presented us with the truth of racism's birth, but it has capitalized America's economy to become wealthier than most countries out there. Even slavery itself is a contradictory in both democracy and rights, being that white supremacy is involved.

Stephanie Linford

2/7/2015 12:16:01 pm

The American Political values are expressed in history throughout the years and repeats itself in today's culture!!! Columbus arrived in the Indies, he took some natives by force so they could "LEARN" and give him information of whatever is located in the Indies. GOLD was becoming the new wealth. Spain financed the trip. A man named Rodrigo spotted land (the first man to spot land would be granted a pension of 10,000 a year till death) Rodrigo never got it. Columbus said he sighted a light the night before. COLUMBUS WAS GREEDY FROM THE START!!!! The Indians were GOOD people, and had their own civilization. WHITE HISTORY over the years try to make us believe the Indians didn't know how to live life. ANOTHER WAY TO DRAW THE COLOR LINE. The Indians swam out to the ships, getting a better look at the "Visitors". Greeting Columbus and his whole crew. The CHIEF even presented Columbus with a GOLD MASK causing his greedy scale to go off! He took Indians aboard his ship forcing them into prison. Columbus built a fort, first military base in Western Hemisphere called Natividad (Christmas) Then sailing back to Spain to go LIE to the King/Queen funding this GENOCIDE.
The Indians treated the women as EQUAL, SAME OPPORTUNITY, RIGHTS, and a real society of democracy then I've seen in AMERICA. These issues relate to the Colonial Era because the Colonists had no connection to these IDEALS.
The Issues relate to CHAPTER TWO HOWARD ZINN and how they had white servants and black servants treated opposite. NOT EQUAL and they were both "Servants".
Communities across the country express their views using their RIGHTS, OPPORTUNITY, LIBERTY, DEMOCRACY, AND EQUALITY by standing against what they don't believe. Using our "RIGHTS" of freedom of Speech.
Issues that relate to Colonial Ideals are Slavery, Gay-Marriages, Immigrants, Prison System, Hidden Racism, Social Pay Scale. Everything that keeps one group in HIGHER POWER and oppresses another group.

Patrianna Douglas

2/20/2015 04:09:14 pm

When America was first settled they came on the principals of liberty, opportunity, democracy, equality and rights for all, however the amounts of contradictions made then and still currently have made the declared principals a false statement. Throughout American history we have had many instances were basic rights were violated starting from the beginning with the enslavement and slaughter of Native Americans. As a people coming to settle a new land due to the injustice of their current home countries they failed to regard their new neighbors with the same respect and slowly over the period of 150 years stripped them of all rights and land, condemning them to slavery, poverty and the destruction of their habitations. The settlers never once embraced the religion and ideals of the current residents on the American continent but instead judged them and pushed their own ideals, an act that in their home country was reason enough to travel treacherous waters in search of a new life. The Native Americans were never given the opportunity to defend themselves and are still fighting to reclaim American and gain recognition as the first culture.
Fast forwarding to the last century, many different races have had to fight for the basic founding principals. African Americans have had to fight for equality, liberty and opportunity; the opportunity for better education, better housing, and things as simple as equal seating on public transportation. Many African Americans still feel that they have not gained the same equality as the majority and will argue that they still suffer fewer liberties than their neighbors of other races.
Currently in California and many other communities around the US we are seeing the current fight for Mexican immigrants and gay rights. When settlers first came they had it much easier entering the country than Mexican Americans who are our neighbors. They currently are having liberties taken from them and suffering deportation, profiling and have essentially no rights or opportunities once coming to US soil. Gay rights are another huge issue with the right to marry. When settlers first arrived they were fleeing persecution of freedom to practice religion and we as Americans by not allowing gay marriage are pushing our religious ideals on a large group of people. Until we can accept Mexican Americans and the right for Gay marriage we will never be fully achieving the original ideals presented by the early settlers.

Adham Awa

2/23/2015 05:08:52 am

Throughout history we have always seen our own Americans struggling and fighting for these so called American ideals. I don’t think there was ever a time in our history where everyone was fairly receiving the same rights and liberties. There has always been one group if not more, of minorities, that have had to deal with discrimination of some sort. Whether that be the right to vote, the right to speak, the right to assemble, or simply living with absolutely none of these equal rights us minorities in America have always struggled. During the colonization of America these were all ideals that should have been followed but we see now that democracy wasn’t upheld, liberty wasn’t truly given to all, and opportunities were far from equal. Since the beginning, not everyone had a say in what the future of our country would hold whether or not they were the original inhabitants of this land (Native Americans). We still do not see an equal sense of liberty given to all as gays are still fighting for their right to marry and our justice system continues to favor the majorities cause rather than the minorities.. continuing to give police the right to do whatever they want without justice and continuing to hold the minority community down, especially African Americans. Opportunity today is far from equal today as the majority of us cannot even afford to put ourselves through college without digging and ever hole of debt. All across America we see people fighting still for these issues to be resolved, one key community being that of Ferguson, Missouri and their continues fight for justice due to police brutality. This issue and mostly all that we face today relate to the ideals of the Colonial Era and they continue to serve as an embarrassing contradiction of what we supposedly stand for.

Guadalupe Hernandez

4/4/2015 03:30:55 pm

Yes, I completely agree with your way of thinking. We like to preach all these things that sound nice, but in the end we lack to actually go through with them. With the rights we should have to freely marry whomever we please, to stay in a country where our families have been for years, or not that long, if we wish to have a better life we should be welcomed not taken away from our families. We like to say these ideals are for our citizens, but we fail to guarantee them to them too.

Guadalupe Hernandez

4/4/2015 03:20:46 pm

The country has always been big for holding on to the ideals of liberty, opportunity, democracy, equality, and rights for all. Honestly, we have held firmly to these ideals when it is best convenient for us, and have tucked them under the rug when we believed it was necessary, a bit hypocritical if you ask me. In history we see conquerors doing whatever it takes to achieve something drastic, as did Columbus with the Natives. He brutally killed them by hundreds to conquer land, disregarding those peoples rights to their land, without giving them an opportunity for survival, capturing them, and denying them their liberty, and now we have a day celebrating what this man "achieved." Yet, we are firm on liberty opportunity, democracy, equality, and rights. Just the same way we believed that enslaving African Americans would be beneficial. We've separated people from their families, enslaved them, killed them, rapped them, and all for what trade, labor? We as a country have done some horrible things in history, but we deny to see this at the time. Just as we do now. We deny people the rights to marry whomever they please, whether female with female, or male with male. We don't allow these types of marriages because of old thought, religions. Or the big issue with immigration. We detain Mexican-American deport them out of the country, not caring the amount of years they have been here, or whose depending on them. We have stripped people away from their families all for what, a much bigger cause? So it makes it okay to do this to people, families, kids? We in this country love to be "known" for all these ideals, that sound good in a speech, but we don't fully practice them. We like to honor these ideals only when it is beneficial, or when it doesn't cause an issue. But as soon as these things aren't meet, we throw our "ideal" out the window.

Zane Samuel

4/5/2015 08:16:19 pm

After reading through the passages I came to realize that within our countries fairly young history, not much has changed. In fact, our history seems to be more pleasant than what it actually is as our textbooks and records don’t exactly match up with our living primary sources or logs directly from them. Similarly to how Columbus conquered the early United States from the welcoming Native Americans, today’s society has many similar issues or struggles. Gentrification is a major issue in my local community, as individuals in lower class neighborhoods are being offered a low, lump sum of money to move to rural areas while higher class citizens or businesses take over the neighborhoods and communities which once belonged to lower class citizens. These actions make it clear that lower class citizens are not viewed as equal citizens when compared to the middle or upper class. Their treatment is as if they’re worth less than the average citizen or are almost half a man, similarly to the way slaves or Native Americans were viewed during their periods of colonization. Given the fact that lower class minority citizens are treated unequally it is also a given fact that many are not offered the same opportunities. By looking at the educational institutions or schools of lower class neighborhoods in comparison to upper class neighborhoods, you can clearly see that lower class citizens and minorities are not offered the same opportunities or amenities of upper class citizens.

Shameim Lowther

4/6/2015 01:30:11 pm

On the contrary based off of the passage Christopher Columbus never welcomed the native Islanders (Bahamas/Cuba), upon arrival he was violent after seeing their gold earring-although they were a peaceful people-it gave the Spain yards the leverage to enslave, rape, torture, and kill them. Same with every people on the planet earth from the east to the west. They come, they trade, they steal, they kill, they remove/destroy artifacts and history, and implement religion to excuse their savage ways.

Sierra MacIntyre

4/7/2015 03:17:30 pm

The idea of opportunity had been completely morphed into something new. The biggest “advertisement” for opportunity was the American Dream. Though today the American dream seems to mean something completely different. The American dream use to mean promise of new land, better lives, and better opportunity. Though now when we think of the word opportunity we don’t think of a better life but rather a life that is better than someone else’s. We are constantly trying to beat out people and be better than the next. This is obviously something that has marked political culture for the worse rather than the better. As much as we like to think we have rights it’s very sad to think about all the rights we took away from people before we finally reached where we are today. We stripped Indians of their rights, African Americans, and even women. The only type of people who have done well all throughout history are white men. That leads to the evolution of equality. It’s sad that racism is so big in our country. Equality is something that we still haven’t completely grasped. It leads back to opportunity. Racism gives people the opportunity to put themselves in a higher pedestal.

Samone Anthony

4/30/2015 04:18:41 am

The beauty of cultures we have lost, now we have issues in equality, racism, and displacement. i always thought american was called "american the beautiful"? that we accept everyone of there race and color. i was wrong we are so judgement and racism is such a bad problem in american. no one is treated equally and with the respect anymore. we don't accept the different cultures that chose to live here and be american too. which isn't right in our society and we shouldn't push people to lose there culture. that only displaces people and doesn't make us american the beautiful.

Rayvonne Evans

4/30/2015 12:40:59 pm

Liberty, equality, opportunity, and rights are supposedly what this country was built on but that will never actually be a reality for anyone in the world right now let alone in the Americas. To have rights is to acknowledge that no one takes precedent over anyone else. To be equal would mean that everyone has to acknowledge that we are all one race. We are the human race. It does not matter how tall, short, black, white, dark hair, light hair, male, or female we are all the exact same. To be equal would mean no one person or race is better than or should have more than another. In my opinion these ideals were never expressed in colonial period and they definitely are not being expressed in today's world. No one who isn't apart of the first founding families does not have an opportunity to be equal or to have liberty. No one under the rule of the facade of democracy that were currently under. This isn't a democracy its a dictatorship with the false pretense that were free. We are not free. We are told what to do and how to do it in every faction of life.

Hang Nguyen

4/30/2015 12:49:38 pm

Reading these article makes me feel so bad, especially about the Columbus took over the Idians. I have noticed that racism has been started ever since the beginning day. The Columbus, or the European, or the white, gave themselves the right to treat Native American and Black people as "filthy" just because the color of their skin and their were not as strong as the white. They saw the people who were actual "people", were the people who look and think like them. They took the Native Indians innocent, hospitality and sincerity and considered it "ignorant", just because they didn't see the "gold" and profit like they did. So that they treated the Indians as slave, took their land, their home, an most of all, their freedom and human rights_the one that you have got ever since you were born, and actually felt ok with it. When the truth was, the white action was stealing and violation human rights. And though we have gone through thousands of years, but racism is still every where, there are still some people consider theirselves as "human" and others are not because of something outside other than the true beauty inside.

Michael Le

5/4/2015 07:35:28 am

I agree with you when you say that racism is everywhere. I believe the white supremacy and superiority mindset was around way before the Europeans came to Native American land. I believe that this mindset played a major role in their decision to take over land that wasn’t theirs. The European settlers probably thought that they were doing Native Americans a favor by conquering them.

Michael Le

5/4/2015 07:31:51 am

In our history, the American political values of life, liberty, equality, rights, opportunity, and democracy was written in our constitution. Although this document was written very carefully and clearly, it was also very vague. It didn’t talk about the equal rights of women, gay and lesbian people, and minorities. Also I believe that these American political values really contradict the act of the Europeans taking over Native American land. The Native Americans trusted the European settlers to come in and be shown around their land but ended up getting robbed over greed and money. Where is the equality in that? Also, these political values contradict the way that African Americans were treated, even after slavery was abolished. One example is how the Jim Crow laws legalized racial discrimination and separation.

Week 2: Colonialism & "American" Ideals

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Week 2: Colonialism & "American" Ideals

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POSCI 1 students

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THE BEAUTYOF BLACKCREATION

ABOUT USJOURNALS​​SUBMISSIONS

THE BEAUTY

OF BLACK

CREATION

ABOUT US

JOURNALS

SUBMISSIONS