European Racism
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The problem of racism is not specifically an American problem. Racism occurs whenever there is a dominant racial group that uses its position to discriminate against a minority racial group on the basis of racial characteristics. Europe has also had its problems with racism. Imperialist policies of the various European governments were racially based and were justified with the idea that the non-white races were culturally inferior and never achieved the level of civilization of the white race. This idea made it seem that the white race was destined to be dominant and to oversee the development of these lesser peoples. In places like Africa, European imperialists claimed that natives were little more than savages before the coming of the white race and that they had never developed any lasting or important civilization of their own. However, as has been shown by archaeological evidence since that time, this was not the case. There were indeed important civilizations in Africa extending far back into history, including into the prehistory of Europe. Khapoya (1998) notes that the Africa of today is not as primitive as Europeans may believe, and he cites the fact that based on the diversity of the languages in the region, the African peoples have developed more than 800 distinctive cultures, some of which share common characteristics (Khapoya, 1998, 25). Khapoya also notes that most non-African scholars emphasize commonalities and so see African cultures as more alike
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as hopeful (Ramsay, 1997, 5-8).
Ramsay also notes that while the problems in Africa have increased since independence, so have the achievements of many countries. The list of achievements he gives suggests ways in which to increase the economic power of these countries further and of solving the situation in Africa in the future. Education has an important role, and Ramsay cites the fact that more people today can read and write in local languages and in English. There are more and more institutions of higher learning to improve the educational picture for the continent. Modern technology has also benefited professionals in a variety of areas. Improvements in health care are also cited, and certainly better sanitation and health maintenance would be a major benefit for developing the economy of the future. The fact that many countries are addressing the problems of women is also cited as an important step, and this means addressing working conditions, the role of women in agriculture and industry, and prenatal and post-natal care. Ramsay characterizes these changes in terms of what they have done for Africa so far and what they could do in the future: "The advances that have been made in Africa are important ones, but t
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Africans Internal, BC Iliffe, Morocco Tunisia, Africa Europe, Europe Khapoya, Tome Principe, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Kamuzu Banda, American Racism, Cape Verde, ramsay 1997, iliffe 1996, civil war, colonial powers, white race, central african, southern africa, notes africa, 1997 9 ramsay, elements civilization, west africa, civilization agriculture iron-working, central african republic, ramsay 1997 9, elements civilization agriculture,
Approximate Word count = 2653
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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