Colonialism as the Primary Cause of Spreading Racism

Essay Instructions:

3.5 Position Essay Assignment Sheet
Overview:
Argumentation may sound aggressive, but really, we label this style of writing for any time we need to present our views and/or persuade someone to see our perspective. Effective argumentation is essential to college writing, and you’ll encounter many assignments in many courses where you will need to apply this technique. For practice, you will write about establishing a position to demonstrate your view on a topic relevant to our society. You can also choose to explore an issue relevant to your own major of study or future career.
Assignment:
Write a 3.5-structured argumentative essay on a relevant (often debated) social issue. You will consult 3-5 academic sources to support the claims you establish. The final essay should be 4-5 pages.
• Your introduction (1st section) should include a clear thesis & “scope” (3 support points, briefly stated) so the reader knows what your arguable stance is on the topic and how you plan to support your opinion in the body of your paper. Remember, the thesis location is the end of the intro.
• Your (minimum) 3 body paragraphs should be detailed and well-developed—and each body paragraph should focus on 1 of the 3 major scope points that support your thesis. Since this is an argumentation essay, you should also address and refute the possible counterarguments to each of your points within the relevant body paragraph.
• Your conclusion (final section) should restate your thesis & scope. Try to end with a forward-looking statement, a call for action, or a thought-provoking statement.
• Here is a sample outline template for this essay: *The blue words are direct links to a great website with tips on argumentative writing!
*Introduction/Thesis-Claim
*Body Paragraph 1: Present your first point and it's supporting evidence, which also refutes one of your opposition's claims.
*Body Paragraph 2: Present your second point and it's supporting evidence, which also refutes a second opposition claim.
*Body Paragraph 3: Present your third point and it's supporting evidence, which also refutes a third opposition claim.
*Conclusion/Restate Thesis
Special Notes / Reminders:
• Try to select a topic that interests you. The topic should be socially relevant, either in general or to your major/career. Some example topics: technology in our culture (etiquette, children, education, etc.), higher education standards or issues, employment laws, taxation, economy, advertising ethics (i.e. “sex sells” or subliminal messages), “green” issues (i.e. alternative energy sources or global warming), social security benefits, health care, etc.
• Support your thesis with sound logical reasoning, hypothetical situations, common knowledge, analogies, cause & effect relationships and/or relevant examples.
• You must include at least ONE direct quotation, summary, and paraphrase throughout the essay.
• Research sources that can help support your claims as well. At least ONE of your sources should be in print medium (book, magazine, newspaper, published journal, etc.). The rest of your sources can be electronic, so long as they are credible. Seek scholarly journal articles and/or credible websites that will offer details to add depth to your claims, like statistics, historical relevance, effects on society, etc.
Grading Criteria:
1. 3.5 Essay Structure (three-point thesis statement, minimum of five paragraphs)
2. Topic (arguable social issue/related to your major in some way)
3. Thesis (clear, concise, bold, arguable, in introductory paragraph)
4. Scope (3 support relevant support points briefly stated in first paragraph)
5. Topic sentences (appropriate for each paragraph/follow guidelines for 3.5 essays)
6. Credible sources & Correct MLA formatting (in-text citation and Works Cited page entries)
7. Organization/Development (unity/coherence/length)
8. Basics (punctuation/grammar, clear/complete sentences/no fragments, comma splices, fused sentences

Essay Sample Content Preview:

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Colonialism as the Primary Cause of Spreading Racism
Racism is a universally known phenomenon impacting people’s social, political, and economic spheres, mostly unconsciously. The deep-rooted racism is connected to many historical events like wars, migrations, and, above all, European colonialism. From the fifteenth to twentieth century, European colonialism in different continents like Asia, Africa, and America socially, politically, and economically. Racism was one of the significant cultural damages caused by the settlers, which historians overlook as a product of European colonialism. The actual central events like the Atlantic slave trade, the killing of native people for their racial identity, and impertinence for their civilization begot solid and long-term racism that continued throughout and after the colonialism in the occupied territories. Many historians regard the slave trade as rising from the observable primitivism of black people. Likewise, genocide is regarded as an economic and political phenomenon of colonialism rather than a cause of racism. Also, historians mostly accentuate the positivity of new civilization in the occupied content, neglecting the social negativity it spread through racism. European colonialism, through the slave trade, genocide, and cultural conflict, primarily founded long-penetrating racism worldwide, although historians connected slavery with barbarism, genocide with economic and political concerns of the settlers, and cultural conflict as a beginning of honorable civilization with social and financial benefits.
The Atlantic Slave trade during European colonization spread systematic and institutionalized racism, which is mainly considered as stemming from Africans’ natural gullibility and backwardness. The slave trade, as a politically significant and socially inevitable phenomenon during British imperialism of different territories, was a notable cause of spreading racial bias. Edward Long, the son of a planter owner running his father’s business, asserts in his book that the study of slavery during colonialism has legacy concerns of the systems at its center that transferred to the Caribbean and enslaved Americans and their offspring. He also highlights the pro-slavery ideals regarding the primitivism of the black people that founded the institution of slavery and racial discrimination. According to him, the way the historians regard Africans as barbaric is not true as he comprehended their vitality, wit, and humanity closely by observing them from generation to generation as a master. “To call them inferior to what they are would be the highest affront” (Long 332). The European generalization of black people initiated the ‘inevitable’ era of slavery for the political and economic growth of the colonies. They successfully attempted to make financial progress through a labor force of people they barely considered ‘human,’ which was a wrong moral idealism and the cause of institutionalized and systematic racial prejudice (Long 270 & Mahmud 4). Hence, the ‘inevitably necessary’ slave trade law by European colonialists spread racism based on an ethically wron...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Colonialism as the Primary Cause of Spreading Racism

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