• Welcome to the Internet Infidels Discussion Board.

History of Interracial Harmony

 
 
 
I

ideologyhunter

Contributor
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
Messages
7,587
Location
Port Clinton, Ohio
Basic Beliefs
atheism/beatnikism
I've read quite a bit on the Jim Crow era -- there's a morbid fascination to those times. At some point most authors will try to encapsulate the subject with a reference to 'America's tragic civil rights history' (or similar.) Or they will point out the anxiety felt by Presidents and state department figures in the 50s and 60s when they were trying to promote Americanism over Communism but knew that our own society was in turmoil over race. This is the point at which I wonder if there are examples in history of true interracial harmony and coexistence. Where are the societies that never had one race subjugate, enslave, or discriminate against another? Or is it simply a matter of which societies took the initiative earlier than others, to root out racism?
 
The answer is: I can't think of any. I have a fairly extensive knowledge of history. There are plenty of examples of races coming into contact, and then eventually merging so there's no longer any perceptible difference, but few cases of groups in contact in the same polity, maintaining separation but with complete equality.

However, this is one of those cases where, despite the lack of examples, there is no reason to think it is impossible. Racism continues to exist because some people, powerful people, benefit from it. That has been the case for all time. Indeed, probably when historically, racism ceased to be profitable when the groups had merged enough, it came to an end, and then the merging proceeded rapidly until the differences were no longer notable.
 
I opened this thread expecting to see a blank page.. .as in, there is no history of harmony between persons of dissimilar appearance.
 
There's some evidence that the later Roman Empire was disinterested in race, and instead discriminated on the basis of legally defined social standing; There were Roman Citizens from all parts of the empire (and even from surrounding regions not part of the empire); just as there were slaves and barbarians of all races. How much people cared whether a citizen was a black man from Nubia, a pale red-head from northern Britannia, or an olive complexioned Greek or Italian is not entirely clear - but it is clear that social standing, and not race, was the point of difference that got mentioned and recorded.

I could speculate that this is inevitable when a large empire is founded by a very small city state and then endures for several centuries - particularly when that empire has a deliberate policy of drawing troops from remote areas for their garrisons (the idea being that potential deserters would be less likely to do a runner if the locals were total strangers), but that would be pure speculation - If anyone else here knows more about Roman attitudes to race, I would be interested to hear it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom