Shaping the foundation of racial independence through social revolution - Assignment Example

Shaping the Foundations of Racial Independence through Social Revolution For hundreds of years, blacks and other minority races were considered as little more than speaking animals to the elite aristocracy, unable to be in the ranks of polite or civilized society, not allowed to seek education, and certainly not allowed to hold important or political offices. The racial inequality in this standardized caste system is such that it hinders social evolution as a whole by accepting as custom that people of a different skin color hold less value than those of white descent. With that said, a close look will be taken into the social revolution that sparked racial equality during the War of Independence between 1808 and 1824 in Spanish America to illustrate the role of minorities and the significant power they attained by refusing to further be defined by the color of their skin. There are at least three leading arguments proposed by George Reid Andrew, John Lynch, and Marixa Lasso that expound upon how the minority races took strides in shaping the revolutionary efforts for racial equality by abolishing the caste system as well as illustrating how the elite reacted to the activism and consequent construction of the newly defined nation-states. To begin with, George Reid Andrew’s Afro-Latin America entitled “Our New Citizens, the Blacks: The Politics of Freedom, 1810-1890,” notes that “at the same time that the slaves were using the openings created by the independence wars to pursue freedom and emancipation, free blacks and mulattoes were capitalizing on wartime conditions to strike down the colonial racial laws1.” Andrew makes an important distinction in his discourse of the minority groups as he defines the separation also felt by the slaves and the free blacks and mulattoes in that even in a minority situation where camaraderie would have ensured political success, still the priorities differed. Even though they shared an ethnicity and were similarly oppressed within the caste system, still they fought the same battle separately. Luckily, this dissention didn’t hinder the social revolution because as “nineteenth-century jurist Peridigao Malheiro described slavery [was] ‘a volcano…a bomb ready to explode with the first spark,’ and slave rebellion was most likely, he noted, during periods when the free population was divided by internal disputes and conflict2.” In this, the minorities held power they might not even have known to exist because the caste system was ready for collapse; it was only a matter of time. Essentially, the caste system in Spanish America was one dictated from birth and based purely upon the color of one’s skin. This meant that no one could ever move above their caste (unless they were a woman and lucky enough to marry a man of lighter skin tone), and that those in the elite levels held ultimate control over society because they were granted certain inalienable assets and power. In perhaps the most poignant definition of the inherent impact the caste system held over those in the lower castes, Andrew cites a satirical poem from a newspaper in Rio de Janeiro “about a planter’s efforts to hire newly freed libertos to work on his plantation3.” In the poem, “the writer leaves no doubt of the damage done to these former slaves by slavery: the liberto’s crippled condition, his shortness of breath4,” and finally, his refusal to be defined by the color of his skin when being directly referred to as ‘black.’ In comparison, in an excerpt from John Lynch’s The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826 entitled “Revolution in the Rio de la Plata,” Lynch highlights that, pressed by economic expansion and cracks within the current aristocratic mores, revolutionaries made decisive militant advances and found leadership under Pedro Domingo Murillo and Jose Antonio Medina. The minorities created an official announcement that “now [was] the time to organize a new system of government, founded upon the interests of our country which is downtrodden by the bastard policy of Madrid5.” Their demands concluded with a statement that “now [was] the time to raise the standard of liberty in these unfortunate colonies6.” However, no rebellion starts out perfectly and “social and racial issues split the movement…[into] two groups7.” Having two sides to the same rebellion made it easy, at least initially, for the elite to control uprisings and contain the flame of social revolution that threatened the caste system. But the rebellion was long lasting, breaking a span of almost twenty years, which meant that even though the spark of change flickered with dissent and lack of focus, the ultimate need for change from oppression wasn’t a mere nuisance, despite how consuming the elite believed their control to be. Demands were made, concessions were granted, war erupted, and the cycle started over again. In all, the “anarchy had a cathartic effect…it purged the past and forced men to think of a new future8.” After so many years “of violence and frustration, political independence was assured9.” And though it would take many more years of careful planning and construction of new nation-states, the spark that set off the social revolution in Spanish America was strong enough to bring racial equality to the forefront of the political agenda. And finally, in Marixa Lasso’s work entitled “Race War and nation in Caribbean Gran Colombia, Cartagena, 1810-1832,” Lasso pinpoints that “historians have tended to downplay the social importance [of the years during the War of Independence between 1808 and 1824], arguing that the new republican notions of citizenship provided an illusion of change while leaving social structures untouched10.” The control was such that “nationalist declarations of racial equality allowed the elite to maintain informal patterns of discrimination by impeding the formation of racially based political associations which were declared unnecessary, derisive, and unpatriotic11.” The aristocracy understood that to give up absolute power to the minority race was to bring an end to their core belief system—which they were literally unable to relinquish, even though societal mores were being rightfully challenged. And though that was a refusal, ultimately, to give up the formal confines of the caste system, in their minds they believed they were making extreme strides to placate the needs of the black contingent. And, at the time, the minorities were satisfied that their demands were being heard and that enough concessions had been made to allow true racial equality; despite the hushed undertones of their success. It was clever, really, and in many ways, this attitude of false compliance “derived in large part from the notion that racial equality was empty rhetoric that served the needs of elites to attract the black population to their side during the struggles12.” It was unthinkable to the aristocracy that the minorities, deserving of equality or not, could gain enough control over the power source in Spanish America to possibly achieve an overthrow of the entire caste system. While it definitely needed revamping and it was clear that things needed to change, the nation-states were not ready for a complete overhaul of the social structure. Change would happen, but it had to be gradual; and from the elite perspective, little adjustments would be enough to satisfy the populace as long as they believed they were being understood. Ultimately, the social revolution “challenged entrenched cultural traditions and hierarchies13” and the effect was powerful enough to “[push] the elites to acquiesce to radical measures they had not initially contemplated14.” Thus, while the social revolution was merely the spark in racial equality, it was the driving factor in ending the oppressive caste system of Spanish America that defined the roles of minorities within civilized society. The War of Independence was not the attainment of true racial equality, but it was the spark that led to the eventual destruction of the caste system and shift in aristocratic values that skin color was the ultimate defining factor in determining a person’s worth. Overall, equality for the races has always been an issue at the forefront of discussion because it has been such a struggle to attain. In fact, defining the limitations of racial equality was almost as difficult as the social revolution itself. Even when it was clear that equality was the next rational step in furthering societal mores, decisions were still made that gave the elites more privileges than the minority races. As George Reid Andrew, John Lynch, and Marixa Lasso illustrated, the minority races created an unshakeable foundation by inherently shaping the outcome of the War of Independence by enacting a social revolution that was powerful enough to shake the elites to their core and allowed for a consequent abolishment of the caste systems that separated mankind by the color of their skin. Works Cited. Andrew, George Reid. “Our New Citizens, the Blacks: The Politics of Freedom, 1810-1890.” Afro-Latin America, 1800-2000. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print. Lasso, Marixa. “Race War and nation in Caribbean Gran Colombia, Cartagena, 1810-1832.” The American Historical Review. 111.2. (2006): 336-361. Print. Lynch, John. “Revolution in the Rio de la Plata.” The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826. 2nd Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1986. Print. Read More