文章基本信息

标题：Naturalization of Slavery and Discrimination in the United States: An Analysis of the Roles of Protestantism, Capitalism and Social Darwinism in the Formation of Demeaning Black Stereotypes
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作者：Maryam Soltan Beyad ; Farshid Nowrouzi Roshnavand
期刊名称：Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences
电子版ISSN：2039-2117
出版年度：2012
卷号：3
期号：11
DOI：10.5901/mjss.2012.v3n11p133
出版社：Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research (MCSER)
摘要：After the first encounter between the Occident and the non-white, non-Christian subjects in the fifteenth century, the Western mind began to Otherize blacks through a deliberate exaggeration of their physical and sociocultural differences. This process of Otherization and inferiorization was reinforced by the West’s employment of a stereotypical representational strategy which depicted the Negroid either as a noble child of nature or a demonic savage. In the pre-emancipation United States where the slave trade had turned into one of the most lucrative businesses of the day, these objectifying stereotypes were so preponderant that they battered down and almost vanished the real black presence. By demoting blacks to a subhuman status and portraying them as brutish, heathen and depraved, the dominant white society could easily justify the atrocious deeds perpetrated against blacks during the slavery era. Even after the emancipation, the extant demeaning stereotypes served as powerful instruments in the hands of white dominators to impose discrimination and segregation on the subalternized blacks. This paper analyzes the roles of Protestantism, Capitalism and Social Darwinism in the formation and perpetuation of demeaning black stereotypes, and tries to demonstrate how these major religious, economic and scientific trends of the day naturalized the institution of slavery and the pervasive discrimination against blacks.
关键词：Stereotype; Slavery; Discrimination; Protestantism; Capitalism; Social Darwinism