Race, Empire and Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Race, Empire and Education - Essay Example century, confusion marred the classification of races where the Jews, Irish, and the Italians were considered as â€Å"black.† During the mid-nineteenth century, there was a lot of activity that saw the European nations move out of their continent to explore other regions. This was so intense that they had to compete amongst themselves. Slave trade gained roots due to the need for labor for the industries and farms during the industrial revolution. This made it possible for the Europeans to capitalize on the uncivilized races. In addition, there was a view of superiority among the Europeans who considered other races especially Africans as inferior and primitive. The mid nineteenth century being at the peak of the industrial revolution became the turning point in racial attitudes. Racial differences became explosive at the mid years of nineteenth century and were catalyzed by development of theories on racism. There are a number of theories that emerged that were used to explain various aspects of human variations. One of these differences was established to be the innate racial characteristics of individuals. In his work, published in 1850, Robert Knox points out that â€Å"race is everything: literature, science, art, in a word, civilization depends on it.† (Knox 1850, pg 7). With such a view, it is evident that there was a perception that the most important thing that determined the person’s worth was the race from which a person comes from. This theory further provided various conflicting propositions, for example, it establishes that the different races are different species. The mindset created among the whites created an impression of uniqueness superiority and intelligent. Another theory is that put forth by Count Arthur de Gobineau, a F renchman who composed an essay entitled â€Å"Essay on the Inequality of Human Races.† In this piece of work, Arthur amplifies the concept of race as one of the most important aspects that a person can be categorized, he