A Multidisciplinary Research Journal - Devanga Arts College

Racism was at the heart of North American slavery and the overseas colonization and
empire-building activities of some western Europeans, especially in the 18th century. The idea of
race was invented to magnify the differences between people of European origin in the U.S. and
those of African descent whose ancestors had been brought against their will to function as
slaves in the American South. By viewing Africans and their descendants as lesser human
beings, the proponents of slavery attempted to justify and maintain this system of exploitation
while at the same time portraying the U.S. as a bastion and champion of human freedom, with
human rights, democratic institutions, unlimited opportunities, and equality. The contradiction
between slavery and the ideology of human equality, accompanying a philosophy of human
freedom and dignity, seemed to demand the dehumanization of those enslaved. By the 19th
century racism had matured and the idea spread around the world.
Racism differs from ethnocentrism in that that it is linked to physical and therefore
immutable differences among people. Ethnic identity is acquired, and ethnic features are learned
forms of behaviour. Race, on the other hand, is a form of identity that is perceived as innate and
unalterable. In the last half of the 20th century several conflicts around the world were
interpreted in racial terms even though their origins were in the ethnic hostilities that have long
characterized many human societies (e.g., Arabs and Jews, English and Irish). Racism reflects an
acceptance of the deepest forms and degrees of divisiveness and carries the implication that
differences among groups are so great that they cannot be transcended.
African Americans who form a significant part of the American population were
subjected to tremendous discrimination. The civil war fought in America was partly a movement
to stand up to this oppressive system. However, racism continued to cast a gloomy shadow over
the development of the American nation. Throughout the American history African American
have been discriminated against and subjected to racist attitudes. This experience inspired some
black writers, at least during the early years of African American Literature to prove that they
were the equals of white authors.
African American cause received great fill up during the American Civil Rights
Movement which culminated with the passage of civil rights of 1964 which banned
discrimination in employment, labour unions and public accommodations. It was at the threshold
of this movement; however, by refuting the claims of the dominant culture African American
writers were not simply proving their worth, they were also attempting to subvert the literary and