Monday, March 14, 2011
Social Darwinism
What are your reactions to the concept of Social Darwinism as summarized by the article in class? Do you agree or disagree? How has your view(s) of American History changed now that you know that its past leaders held this opinion? Do you think Americans still hold on to this idea in some form?
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My reactions to Social Darwinism were very unexplainable. I do not agree with this concept just because it sounded very racial centered. Social Darwinism was trying to improve and mention that the "white" race had mostly all power and they could do anything they wanted. For me, I was not really surprised that the past leaders felt this way about this. They were always all for themselves and just about rich people, then when slavery started, it was all for the "white" race. I believe that some Americans do believe this. For example, the KKK; they think that they should be the best race and should be the rulers of everything. Personally, I think they are dumb, but that is my thought.
ReplyDeleteI was nauseated by the concepts of Social Darwinism. I disagree with those concepts because you do not need to have pure white blood in order to be a civilized person and the Anglo-Saxon are not the superior race just because they conquered territories moving west. Its disappointing to know that past leaders held the opinion that white race was the best. Also knowing what the leaders did to the people in order to obtain land and eliminate all other races. I think that some Americans still hold on to this idea in some form and its sad that people are racist because after all this land belonged to the Native Americans and we are all immigrants here.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the concept of social darwinism was that it was very offensive and kind of stupid. I did laugh at what we read in class because I thought it was stupid funny. I disagree with the concept of darwinism very much because it is very racist and it defends itself by saying that everything that the Anglo saxons did was for the good of the world. My views about American History have not changed at all. I kind of already knew this. I do think that some Americans still hold on to this idea in some form such as the KKK. They think that the Caucasian race is the best one. Also the fact that almost everyone in the government is Caucasian. It is still does happen today.
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ReplyDeleteI was like "say whaaa" when I read the concept of Social Darwinism. I disagree with the concept because I don't think that anyone has the right to think that they are better than anyone else when it comes to race. My opinions have changed since learning about this because us Americans all like to think that we're such a happy country and that we try to help people all the time when really we've been involved in some pretty intense situations that aren't so positive. I think there will always be people who think that their race is better, such as the KKK.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though the concept of Social Darwinism is absurd. It seems outrageous that people would think that only one race was to be the prime race for all of earth. It is impossible to be able to conclude that any type of race is the best in the world. People that believed in that concept back then would go crazy if they saw the anti-segregation society that we have now. People nowadays are involved in interracial marriages. The thing that made me the most upset was one of the laws which was "When the White race loses its Whiteness, civilization is lost." What kind of business is that? How inappropriate for all to read about. I hope everyone gets my point that I did not agree with Social Darwinism.
ReplyDeleteI'm not in agreement with the Social Darwinism topic. I feel that it is very racist and offensive to others. There are always events happening related to social darwinism like the acts of the KKK. I think everyone should be treated the same. It's sad to think that there is always going to be racists and groups that are promoting their beliefs and doing racist acts. Any group of different people think that their race is the best. However, none of us are the best and we should all be treated equally.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to Social Darwinism is that it is rather corrupt. I don’t agree with the article because there are many things that other nationalities besides whites have done for our country. I thought that it was interesting how our countries founders believed in white civilization. I thought that the three Laws of Civilization were also corrupt because they don’t give credit to other nationalities. When it stated that civilization would be lost if White races loses its Whiteness, it made me question our country's self-esteem. These ideas didn’t change the views of the past leaders because I think for the country to be founded it had to have a common belief and that belief was Social Darwinism. This made it possible for the beginning country to come together because they all had something they could relate on. However, I do think this was wrong. In some ways, I think the Americans still hold to this idea. For example, some believe that it was wrong for Obama to be elected because the whites are supposed to rule this civilization. However, laws have changed to equalize whites and other nationalities.
ReplyDeleteI would like to add to my last post. It doesn't really change my views over the past leaders, but at the same time it does only because I always thought people like Thomas Jefferson were intensely good people and would never be egocentric. There is also several people like the KKK who still believe about this today.
ReplyDeleteDiana,
ReplyDeleteI agree with pretty much everything you say. The article was very intense. I think that because all this has happened, thoughts will always be there.
Teresita,
I like the way you explain how everything in that article made you feel. It is pretty ridiculous and I guess I don't really understand how people could think that. But I agree with what you say.
Teresita,
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of your post. Of course theres white people who think the Caucasian race is the best but there are also those other groups who promote their own race like "Brown Pride" and others. It's not just the white people. Good Post!
Keyli,
I agree with your post. You used many big words that made it seem very well written :) haha Good Post!!!!!!!
Sally-- I agree with your post, I don't agree with the concept either. I agree that the KKK still agrees with Social Darwinism. Very good job!
ReplyDeleteTeresita-- I agree with most of your post but I don't agree that everyone believes the whites are the best race. Yes, the KKK may think this but there are whites in the government fighting for equality for all races and for bills for legalization of other nationalities. Good post though!
I was appalled at the concept of Social Darwinism. Those who believed in Social Darwinism were pretty much white supremacists. They thought that the white Aryan race was the best and that those who chose to mix their blood lines with those outside the Aryan race were inferior. The most extreme concept of their beliefs, I thought was their three Laws of Civilization. In my opinion it was pretty much a racist movement this can be seen in their third law which states that "When the White race loses its Whiteness, civilization is lost". My views on American History didn't change much as throughout history its always been the white race holding high political office positions. Yes, Americans still hold on to this idea because white supremacist groups such as the KKK still exist.
ReplyDeleteWell I feel that Social Darwinism can be a positive and also a negative. It depends on how the personage approaches the subject or the outlook. I think that there are some skeletons in the closet of America. Ha, (but what doesn’t) Well I thought that Teddy Roosevelt, did follow these ideas or of this supreme race. Cause he was not very involved into the African American Civil Rights movement. But rather settled with, that if with whites were happy so was the nation. The idea of a superior race I feel is really nonsense. Cause a human is a human, in the reading with the mumbo jumbo about this one guy who is like super smart and he is the reason that all these tribes or people thrived off his genius. But there are people that do hold to the ideas of the Superior Race like the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi’s or other hate groups. Are looked down upon because, they down grade other races and harm other races for their own benefit. But in the end you can’t change the people that do hold on too these types of ideas but rather turn the other cheek.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with Social Darwinism, because one race is not more pure than another. There are some societies that are more advanced, but no one race is better than another. My view of American History has stayed the same. Considering the popular and generally viewed beliefs back then, it only makes sense that some of our historic leaders entertained the thought of Social Darwinism. I believe that some American people still hold this belief, such as hate groups located in the south. However I don't believe that everyone thinks this way.
ReplyDeleteKeyli-- I liked the comment you made about people we thought were good, but were in reality egocentric. I think that that word, 'egocentric' is a great way to describe the way people viewed social darwinism.
ReplyDeleteMadi-- It's crazy to think about how we've always been taught good positive things about America, and then to find out all these skeletons that are kept in the closet.
My reactions while reading the article made me a bit mad. In my opinion the white race was as equal to any other race on the earth at that current time. The thing that upsets me the most are the three laws that were listed in the article. First, being that all other races was created by the superior white race. Today there are definitely people who believe in Social Darwinism. For example, the KKK.
ReplyDeleteIrma- I agree with your statement it is nauseating. Just because they are “white” they are superior. Its like their blood is so precious it can’t be mixed with any other race. Yet some whites knowing they are the “superior race” sleep with other races. Seems absurd too me.
ReplyDeleteDiana- I was also not surprised knowing some of the leaders of our country believed in this. Slavery was apart of our country for a great amount of time.
I was very bothered with the concept of Social Darwinism summarized in the article. I don't agree at all with this concept. In my opinion, all races of the world are created equal so no race is higher than another. My view of American History hasn't really changed at all. In a way, it's kind of understandable why the founding fathers believed in this concept, seeing as it's what they were taught in life and it's all they knew. I just find it interesting that many textbooks choose to leave this part of American History out because they only want us to learn about the good of our country. For the most part, I don't think Americans still hold on to this idea. The only people I can think of are white supremacy groups like the KKK, something many of my classmates have said.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was like WHOAH, but then I was like eh typical. My view changed though a lot from seeing the new perspective of American History, but seeing as how the United States is successful I really can't say that that was a dumb idea. Imagine if the United States didn't do that, how different would it be? Some Americans still hold true to this idea to this day. Most believe that this idea will keep our country running as usual.
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ReplyDeleteI think the Social Darwinism is stupid.I think it is stupid for multiple reasons. It states that it is the survival of the fittest. In the case of the reading supposedly the Aryan race was was the fittest. Another reason would be that certain ethnic groups have their own strength. One group of people is never more powerful. I think that my view of American History was kind of changed. Saying that some of our political leaders believed that the Aryan race was the most powerful. I think in a way during their times their was racism and segregation going on. I think that in some form social darwinism is still here today. For example in government the majority of the presidents have been white. Obama is the first president to break this barrier. Yet he still is half African American and half Caucasian. The vice president that is behind him white so the back up of the president is left is a Caucasian man. The KKK is another group that proves that social darwinism is still here today. There are still many white supremacist groups out there today
ReplyDeleteLaura: The article made me mad to when it stated stuff like they just tried to knock of the other races. I didn't like the three laws either. I think there are a lot of groups out there that still support this stuff.
ReplyDeleteTeresita: I think social Darwinism is stupid too. I disagree with social Darwinism completely. I also agree that there are still groups out there that support social Darwinism.
This is kind of an intense topic. In some ways it's surprising to learn that our leaders were such bigots, because of the sugar-coated version of history we've been taught all our lives, but at the same time, l haven't forgotten the treatment of the Native Americans and blacks (before and after the abolition of slavery). So it's a little surprising that those were the ideas our country was originally based off of, but at the same time, it probably shouldn't have been that shocking. I definitely disagree with social darwinism. It is absolutely stupid to say that the "aryan" race is better, or smarter, or stronger, etc. More privileged at times? Yes. But more intelligent? No. To be honest, I think that the idea of social darwinism does still exist--to an extent. A good example was all the hate and rumors that were spread among some of the more ignorant of conservatives about the apacolypse that was sure to happen of Obama was elected, or the fact that he is the anti-Christ. In my opinion, the new political part "the tea party" is centered around social darwinism.
ReplyDeleteOkay i hated this idea of Social Darwism. Its come crackhead stuff. Like really, people like that really piss me off. Its pretty much racist, which is not cool at all. When you talked about it being viewed differently in other towns i thought so too. Lexington has a rich diversity and we have several non gringo friends. So most of us were like this aint cool soon. My views kind of changed, but not dramatically. I mean we're over still a great country, so im proud to be American.
ReplyDeleteCarlos,
At first i also though WOAH. But in reality it is kind of typical
sometimes you know?
Stefani,
Youre right, i dont think we really follow that anymore. America is a lot more tolerable of other cultures and peoples and such. Its way better than it was back then.
The fact that our past leaders held this opinion doesn't really surprise me because of how they had slavery and all those unequal treatments to other races. I personally didn't like the article over Social Darwinism it had several parts I didn't like. The whole idea that the whites were better is something I have to disagree on. I don't think any race is better than another. I disagree that the Aryan was the "fittest". My view hasn't changed because as I said before during that time slavery was going on and so on. I think that some American's still hold this true but not all. For example, the KKK is one of the groups who still holds this idea.
ReplyDeleteDeep,
I agree with what you say. I didn't like the article either and think its stupid. I don't think that one group is better than another either or more powerful. Yes during there time racism and segregation was going on making this a thing that many believed in. White "supremacist" is still going on today.
Laura,
The article also made me a bit mad. I also think it was equal to any other race of the time but the people of the time didn't think that way they thought the white race was better. The three articles are what made me most mad too!
Well first off their are different levels of Social Darwinism. The first levels are mild and easy which simply are considered stupid and not even worth talking about. The kind of Social Darwinism that we are talking about is one of the most extreme kinds. My reaction from when I first read it was that this is crazy yet at the same time makes perfect sense in the way people perceive ideas. When it comes to me agreeing or disagreeing, I must say that I disagree with the idea but I agree with the system that it helped create. My views upon American History has not completely changed but in reality has been filled in completely with the missing information and ideas that I did not understand why they did those kind of things. It really was the building blocks for our nation. Well of course Americans still hold this idea in many different forms. It just seems a little bit difficult to discover it at first.
ReplyDeleteCarlos
ReplyDelete- Well you're right when you say that we don't know how different the U.S. would be. Maybe it would be worse today than it is. But maybe, it would be better, Maybe it wouldn't have taken over 200 years for the U.S. to see a non-white president. It's hard to say what would've happened, but it might not have been negative.
Alex
- I agree with a lot of what you said. However, I don't see in your post where you talk about the positive effects of social darwinism. Also, I wonder if you're confusing Teddy with Franklin Roosevelt, Although Franklin didn't really help out with the rights of African-Americans at first because he was afraid he would lose support from the (white) south, Eleanor Roosevelt helped persuade him to pass these rights. (Which ended up being positive for him since he gained the support from all the blacks. Teddy Roosevelt, however, did nothing whatsoever to help out the African-Americans.
I really didn't like the social darwinism ideas. Finding out that our founding fathers were, for the most part, bigots and racists was really uncool, even though I guess I knew they were prejudiced at least some what before. Determining the aryan race to be the best is just stupid and logically makes no sense. People are made up of the same exact materials, no matter what their skin pigment. It's ridiculous to think that they were smarter, or stronger, or anything different from anyone else. Social darwinism is unfortunately still alive and well, although not as prevalent as it used to be thankfully. Groups like the KKK and white supremists prove that Darwin's ideas still haven't died, even though they reeeaallly need to. My view of American History did change, just because I kind of feel like we should tell everyone in the world what our founding fathers would like. I guess I feel obligated to tell them that even though everyone thinks we're the greatest country and they want to live out the American Dream, I feel like it's fair warning to tell them the real reasons our country was founded.
ReplyDeleteRosie - I agree with us knowing to some extent that our founding fathers were prejudiced. Slavery was definitely proof, I guess I just never realized that they were that against others being equal. Really a downer.
ReplyDeletePez - I find it kind of ridiculous, too, that the books don't tell us this. I feel it's something they should make common knowledge. America is supposed to be all about having awesome education and rights to know things, yet they leave something as important as that out? Urgh.
Kelli B-- I agree with your post. Its crazy to learn that past presidents and political figures held the ideas of Social Darwinism to be true. Its pretty ironic that America is many times referred to as a "melting pot" where a bunch of different races and cultures come together while our founding fathers held these racist sort of beliefs.
ReplyDeleteSally-- I liked your post, wouldn't it be great is things actually were that way and prejudice and racism didn't exist. But unfortunately things aren't that way and white supremacist groups along with various others do exist.
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ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteI am going to have to agree with your post entirely. Of course the idea of extreme Social Darwinists are stupid but it does depend on the way of the beholder. Teddy was into the ideas of the Anglo-Saxon belief but he did not go around shooting people of other races. He took that idea and morphed it for his own benefits. The other hate groups took this idea and turned it negative. Great post.
Irma,
I see the approach you are attempting to take towards Social Darwinism. First of all yes it is somewhat not smiled upon the fact that our own leaders followed upon the ideas of the Anglo-Saxon belief but what if they were not to follow these ideas? This idea, I'm afraid to say, built the structural base for the United States of America. (Immigration please don't bring this up I here enough of this on the news already).
Everybody keeps posting that the reactions to this was awful, hate, offensive, or some other verb that goes along with these but our views upon American history has not changed? Of course it hasn't and this idea existed all the time but in reality we did not know what the idea was called and how it brought about the foundation of the United states. We found out when we read about this form of Social Darwinism. It makes me laugh. Thats all I have to say about the matter.
Social Darwinism as a whole is one of the worst examples of human arrogance, racism, and ignorance in history. The founders of this way of thinking, were clearly on some sort of ego trip. Their three laws which they lived by, were extremely bigoted. No one race is better than any other, I don’t care who you are; don’t use your race as an excuse or think that you are better because of your race. I can understand that they might have felt it their duty, or people followed it out of some misplaced sense of patriotism. Yet, what continues to astound me is that our founding fathers thought this way. When we were younger, history was very sugar coated. The founding fathers ceased to be human, the were made into an institution. They had no flaws or faults. I’d be lying to say that I had ever thought of them as otherwise. However, now that we know just what our founding fathers believed. I can truly say that this is why we have had so many problems in our history. The massacre of American Indians, slavery, and most recently the hatred of America by many countries. At one point I think America truly was ruled under Social Darwinism principles. Nonetheless, I think we are working towards a nation that believes that all man( all race, religion, sex, and culture) are created equal. Hopefully we will live to see the day when this is precisely the way America is ran.
ReplyDeleteHugo - I appreciate your honesty, I think you are right. This has been around for years. Yet, people rarely like the see that bad. Even when it is right under their nose.
ReplyDeleteJessica- I think you are right. Unfortunately the Aryan race is sometimes more privileged than other races.
ReplyDeleteKelli--
ReplyDeleteI really like your post because you had a very strong voice in it. I can just imagine you doing speeches about how we need peace in this world. Anyways, I do agree with your post how everyone is made up of the same material and stuff. Good job!
Rosie--
I agree with your post because we have some of the same ideas over Social Darwinism. It is true that the KKK still believe this concept.
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ReplyDeletei had a really lengthy and well written response typed out. buuuuut the deal with our google accounts made it so that i couldnt post my response aaand now its gone. i blame the tech department for screwing everything up. again. you know that feeling you get when you wanna hit something really hard? yea i'm getting that.
ReplyDeletewell, this is what youre getting.
Social Darwinism was explained very bluntly by the article we read in class. The article explained how it was perceived and even went as far to explain how those privileged thought themselves as the highest gifts from God. I personally disagree because I understand how a human is a human no matter what and groups of people and their territories should be respected (such as the Native Americans). My view of American History hasn't really changed. I knew that this was something present in the leaders of our government because of the way slavery was abused to begin with and later the mistreatment of the Native Americans. Social Darwinism had to be present in order for the mistreatment of these two groups to take place so, honestly, I wasn't shocked when I learned that Social Darwinism was used.
Zulema- I really liked your post because I agree with what you said. I also liked that you used big words like I did. yay us :)
ReplyDeleteStefani- I found it interesting and really made me think about you said that our textbook only include the good and leave something like this out. Good facts :)
I do not agree with social Darwinism. The idea of how the Aryan believed that they are the best race was just, well dumb. It's hard to believe that a group of people actually believed this. Considering that there are still many people around from a different race, who in fact are at the same level as them. Our history here in America with Social Darwinism is well, kind of expected. After reading this, I didn't really think of it much towards our own history here in America. It was expected and I think it still will for many years to come.
ReplyDeleteCarlos- I agree Carlos, at first when I read it, it was like woah!! This ain't right. But yea, now it's something that we should probably expect.
Sergio- Yeah, I agree, there a few towns where there really diversity.
Kevin- I agree with your post. I liked your use of words. Though maybe not all hate groups came from the south. Nice Job!
ReplyDeleteLaura- I agree with your post. It was nice and to the point. There could have been more details though. Overall nice Job!
Hugo, you did a great job of explaining you posts. I think all of us disagree with Social Darwinism. I did not know there were different levels of Social Darwinism, which I should have imagined since there are levels for everything, I guess.
ReplyDeleteLaura, thank you for agreeing with my statement. The article also made me mad and yes, if the Anglo Saxons wanted to keep their blood pure then they should not have slept with other races, grrr Im just going to post this and log off...
Laura
ReplyDelete- In your response to Irma's post you said that some whites slept with other races--knowing that their blood wasn't "pure." You have to remember that while people such as Thomas Jefferson broke the rules to the idea of Social Darwinism, not all whites believed in it. So when some whites "slept" with other races, they weren't breaking any rules, because they didn't necessarily agree with Social Darwinism in the first place.
I just want to say that a lot of people used the KKK as an example for who still believes in Social Darwinism. However, I think that there are a lot of other people out there--who may not seem like racists--but they have some of those Social Darwinism beliefs. The KKK is just an extreme example, but there are many people out there who may not say negative things against other races, but they still feel as though the aryan race is more capable of ruling than any others.
ReplyDeleteKatherine – I do have to admit that I pretty much agreed with everything you said. I do agree that Social Darwinism is one of the best examples of human arrogance, racism, and ignorance in human history. However, you have to keep in mind that this was all our founding fathers knew of. I am in no way condoning their way of thinking, but just letting you know. I’ve also always thought that no race is better than another; all races are created equal and we should treat each other as such. But, unfortunately that isn’t always the case. History has been very sugar coated. As American students, were taught from a young age that the United States is the land of freedom, but in a way the ideas of Social Darwinism contradict that lesson. I really loved your optimism at the end. I’d also like to think that the U.S. is striving towards regarding all men equal. Legit post.
ReplyDeleteJessica - I’m pretty much just going to start off by saying that I pretty much agree with your post entirely. Like I mentioned to Katherine, this topic really shows exactly how sugar coated the history of the U.S. has been. I think this topic is one of those things that you know it out there, or in this case has been out there (present), but you try your hardest to deny it because you don’t want to accept reality. I do agree that it’s absolutely stupid to say that the Aryan race is the best, smartest, strongest race. A group of people’s skin color should not be the cause of their success (in this case intelligence, strength, status). Good post, Cuz.