Global Perspectives on Racism - Essay Example

Global Perspectives on Racism Today, the debate over the Confederate flag has taken the form of a battle. After nine African Americans were killed by a racist gunman in a historic Charleston church, there have risen a debate on whether the Confederate flag should be removed from the Capitol or not. These days national attention is focused on state politicians many of whom avoid taking a clear position on the flag and rather seek a compromise. The society has divided into two parts: those who support the removal of the flag as the symbol of racism and those who do not want the flag to be removed as they perceive it as the symbol of southern pride and their heritage. Overall, the issue is really complicated because on the one hand the Confederate flag is the part of the American history, and one the other hand it is not correct to have it on the Capitol due to the latest events. This debate being one of the pages of American history is greatly influenced by western imperial and colonial legacies. In fact, the legacy of western imperialism and colonialism is felt in many of today’s conflicts in regard to ethnic or religious questions, and the issue of the Confederate flag is one of them. The roots of this conflict go deep in history up to the times of slavery, and this is here that western imperialism and colonialism enter the problem. The matter is that the notion of racism, which gave birth to the current debate as well as numerous hate crimes and other issues similar to them, originates from western imperialism and colonialism, and mostly from westerner’s desire to expand the territories they had and to exploit free labor of slaves. In fact, the main reason why the notion of racism does take place in modern America is that it is imperialism and colonialism that set the boundaries between races and established the idea of differences between races and of submission of one race to another. Therefore, it is possible to say that western imperialism has given rise to animosity between people, which resulted in racism and, consequently, the issue under consideration as well. In addition to this, as it follows from Peter Frankopan’s article Go East, Young Knight, western imperialism is seen in the tendency of shifting focus when it comes to historical events. In particular, it appears that very often history is written in the way particular personalities want it to be. This is why the Confederate flag is the issue of discussion which needs clarification as there is no agreement on its meaning and role because of the differences in points of view caused by different perception and presentation of certain historical events. Those who oppose the flag and support the fact that it should be removed and even prohibited tend to base their position on liberal ideas that emerged out of the Enlightenment era. First of all, it is necessary to mention on how these people perceive the Confederate flag. In accordance with the recent polls, those who are against it (72% of African Americans and about 25% of whites) perceive the flag as a symbol of racism (Agiesta). Therefore, they demand that the flag as a symbol of racism is removed because it represents hatred and even supports racism on a state level. In this very case it appears that opponents of the Confederate flag base their arguments on the idea of the “political ideas of freedom and equality and the theory of their institutional realization” (Bristow). In other words, for them removal of the flag means the reestablishment of equality in the society they live in. What is more, the flag opponents’ arguments are based on the idea, which emerged from the Enlightenment era, that basic individual human rights should be respected and realized by the political system. From this point of view, flag removal would be perceived as a sign of respect of human rights. In addition to this, the “articulation and promotion of toleration” of diversity is one more basis the flag opponents’ are ruled by in this debate on the role of the Confederate flag in history of the United States as well as in the present day (Bristow). The fact that racial tensions still take place today can be perfectly explained from the global perspective. In accordance with Kimmelman, globalization allows the distribution of culture in a wide variety of ways due to the almost universal access to the Internet as well as people’s opportunity to define their own culture alongside with its characteristic features and peculiarities as well as spread it all over the society. In other words, these days it is a “democratizing process” that takes place (Kimmelman). At the same time, one should not forget about the consequences of this democratization. The matter is that just like positive ideas are easily spread due to the process of globalization, criminal and other types of pursuit of negative character are reinforced as well. In this regard, the author of the article mentions Neo-Nazis as an example; racism fits this context perfectly, too. The rise of social movements can be also understood and explained through the lens of global perspective. As it follows from Philip McCarty’s article on the issue, global perspective is the best way of explaining almost every notion that takes place currently in the society. More specifically, the rising movements as well as racist tensions are perfectly described as complex notions which originate from and should be analyzed “in the context of deep histories of colonialism and imperialism, and within the context of larger global governance issues such as human rights and global commons” (McCarty 33). In other words, global perspective appears to be the ideal framework which explains current notions from different points of view due to its multifacetedness and the ability to cover heterogeneous processes all at the same time, which means it reveals the greatest set of aspects and peculiarities of issues under analysis compared to other frameworks. Works Cited Agiesta, J. "Poll: Majority Sees Confederate Flag as Southern Pride Symbol, Not Racist." CNN Politics 2 July 2015, n. pag. Web. 4 Jul. 2015. . Bristow, W. "Enlightenment." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2011. . Frankopan, P. "Go East, Young Knight." New York Times18 February 2012, n. pag. Print. Kimmelman, M. "D.I.Y. Culture." New York Times 14 April 2010, n. pag. Print. McCarthy, P. "Communicating Global Perspectives." Global Europe - Basel Papers on Europe in a Global Perspective. 105. (2014): 27-37. Print. Read More