Jackie Robinson Would Be Proud: Attributing Everything to Race

So as we learned in class a few days ago, the imagery surrounding the princess and the sultan in The King of Tars has absolutely nothing to do with race and only has to do with religion. However, the religious differences between the princess and the sultan do manifest themselves in physical form, both in the Lump Child that is born between them and in the sultan’s miraculous turning white. In the second example, it just so happens that the sultan’s transformation looks kinda like he changed races. This is not, however, the only time that human beings have been confused about the difference between traits that are cultural (such as one’s religion) and traits that are genetic (such as skin color). People frequently try to explain differences between individuals with biology they don’t actually understand—like trying to say that someone got a better grade than you because their brain is literally bigger--and when it comes to individuals of different races, these differences get attributed to racial differences.

There may be a lot of reasons why a large majority of athletes in certain sports, such as basketball and football, are black. An athlete’s body is the biggest part of his/her success, so probably an individual’s height or length of arms or legs—something that is partly determined by DNA—could contribute. But it’s probably not true that African Americans are better athletes because their ancestors spent a lot of time “running from lions” on the savannah. There are probably cultural and societal reasons why black kids in the U.S. are more likely to be encouraged in sports while white (or Asian?) kids are more likely to be encouraged to academic pursuits. And while it may sound complementary to talk about black success in athletics, it smacks of racism (or jealously?) to downplay the role that hard work plays in an athlete’s career. “Why do Blacks dominate sports then?” one Internet user asks. “Because they just work harder? Nothing to do with them being taller, leaner, more muscle mass, longer limbs? It's all been proven SCIENTIFICALLY.” Also, how can we attribute it to centuries of selective breeding if the Onion is correct in saying that “African-Americans Go From Being No Good At Sports To Only Good At Sports”?

So there are a couple uncomfortable things going on here at once. First, a desirable ability—in this case, athleticism—is assumed to be based in racial differences, emphasizing a belief that people of other races are inherently “not like us” on a level that goes down to blood and bones. Second, this racial explanation of success is used to say that African Americans (in this case) are not successful because of their own hard work or gumption but because of some unfair advantage over whites.

Also, can we talk about the myth that Jewish people use their yarmulkes/their hair to hide the horns on their head? That’s messed up.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080315214538AAwxWpK

http://www.theonion.com/article/african-americans-go-from-being-no-good-at-sports--7018

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/2009/06/the-depths-of-ignorance/

For Narnia! A Comparison of Worlds and Races Between J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit And C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series

Personally, it is hard for me to read from Tolkien and not think about C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia series. After all, the two worlds, and the two men themselves, have a lot in common. Their stories both contain multitudes of different races in a fantastical medieval setting, as well as mythological references and a bit of the British lifestyle sprinkled in. Both men spent a lot of time at Oxford, were Christians of some denomination, and environmentalists. While these two agreed on many things, their stories are unique to them. It is obvious Tolkien took more interest in medieval history than Lewis, but Lewis delved into mythology more deeply than Tolkien did. One aspect of Tolkien and Lewis’s fantasy worlds that differ is their portrayal of the race of Dwarves.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is filled to the brim with multiple different races, including Hobbits, Men, Elves, Wizards, Orcs, Goblins, giant spiders, eagles, and many more in his continuing saga. These Middle Earth races are notably likened to races of people throughout real world history. In The Hobbit specifically, the race of Dwarves in Middle Earth is incredibly similar to the caricature view of the Jewish race. Their short stature, multi-colored hoods, bearded men and women, and their obsession with gold fall under the Jewish stereotypes, but Tolkien is not portraying all of these traits as antagonistic. Dwarves are actually part of the more heroic races in Middle Earth. The only difference the Dwarves have from the other protagonist races is that they are more flawed, more susceptible to greed.

One of the original illustrations from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Lewis’s take on Dwarfs (that’s how he spells it) and other races is similar to Tolkien’s but with some alterations. Narnia is filled with a broad variety of races. Many of these are talking animals; others are mythical in nature, like centaurs, fauns, Minotaurs, and even a Pegasus. There are also several races of humans in the world of Narnia, including the Telmarines and the Calormen. The Dwarf race in Narnia is interesting because, unlike Tolkien’s Dwarves, the race is split down the middle when it comes to heroics. Their description is similar to the Dwarves in Middle Earth, short, bearded, and with some type of head covering. At the beginning of the series there are two varieties of Dwarfs, Black and Red. Black Dwarfs have black, thick beards and tend to associate more with the villains of Narnia, while the Red Dwarfs ally themselves with Aslan, the ultimate source of good in Narnia. One other aspect of the Dwarfs that is unique to Lewis’s tale is the matter of Dwarf women. There is no evidence of any Dwarf women at all throughout the Narnia series; however, there are several part Dwarf characters roaming around (e.g. Cornelius, Prince Caspian’s tutor, is half Dwarf). There does not seem to be any division between Dwarfs and regular humans in Narnia as far as mating is concerned.

Both Lewis and Tolkien’s portrayal of Dwarves in their fictional worlds are blatantly similar to the stereotype of the Jewish people, short with more rugged features and some evil tendencies. This representation of Jews is inaccurate and would normally lean toward insulting; however, Lewis and Tolkien both depict their Dwarf characters as capable of both good and evil. While the stereotype is heavily present, the two authors show respect towards those characters by making the race more complex than the others.

Low Key Racial Biases

In the year 2015, it’s fair to say that the human race has become much more progressive on many social issues. However, it is important not to let ourselves believe that our progress is complete. While we have made great strides for human rights and equality, there is still more to be done. One such issue that has improved but has yet to become ideal is race. We have certainly come a long way from atrocities such as the Holocaust, slavery, and segregation, but race is still an issue that is still prominent today, albeit more subtle.

               For example, in his novel, The Hobbit, J.R.R Tolkien has admitted that he modeled the fantasy dwarf race after the Jewish race. At first glance this doesn’t seem to be much of an issue when reading about the dwarves. The dwarves are not depicted in a particularly negative way; they are portrayed as one of the heroic, good races. They also share the same historical misfortune of the Jewish race in that they are forced to wander and are lacking a true home. However, some of the other similarities they share are perhaps due to Tolkien’s racial biases and subconscious stereotyping. The dwarf race, despite being heroic, are also portrayed as being very greedy and overly fond of treasure, the same avarice that the Jewish race is stereotyped as having in modern times. Additionally, the dwarf race is depicted as small in stature with rugged, rough features. On the other hand, the Elven race, modeled after Aryans, are of normal height and depicted as being quite fair. It also says something that while the novel already had a race of men, the Jewish race was projected to the dwarf race rather than the standard race of man.

               While these are certainly not egregious issues, they serve to show that despite being the progress we have made on issues, there are still biases, assumptions, and stereotypes that are ingrained into people. It’s not always easy to recognize these issues, as they have become increasingly subtle, but it is important to try to realize that they are present so that we can continue to make progress for human rights and equality.

We Hated Jews Then and We Somewhat Still Do

The medieval English spite towards the Jews is evident in a multitude of ways seen in the blood libels, “The Prioress’s Tale”, stereotypes, murder of hundreds of Jews, and the ultimate expulsion of all Jews from England. The same stereotypes used hundreds of years ago can still be seen today, including the progeny of the original stereotypes from medieval England. These stereotypes are surrounded by incredible amounts of hypocrisy and are completely outlandish, and sometimes they can be initially rather comical due to nature of the claims being made. However, it is deeply troubling how deeply ingrained anti Jewish and anti-Semitic ideas are in today’s society.

In “The Prioress’s Tale”, the prioress describes the Jews as a race around whose hearts Satan had curled himself. In a time when the bible was taken very literally, it would take a massive amount of hypocrisy and hatred for a Christian to claim that “God’s chosen people” had been infected with the evil from Satan directly. Because the degradation of Jews was culturally upheld, this facilitated the development of legends designed to inspire more animosity to the Jewish population. An example of these stories is the blood libels following the discovery of murdered boys. The blood libels created the idea that the Jews would murder little Christian boys in a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ (but wasn’t Christ a Jew?) to capture the Christian blood so that the Jews could make matzos with the blood of the innocent.

Many people, myself included, initially find these fictitious defamations rather comical. It seems so far fetched that it is amusing; but these libels did result in hostility, many cases of which resulted in violence and murder, against the English Jews. Although the blood libels were nearly a millennium ago, the same thing happened to a community of Russian Jews only ten years ago. The same circumstances applied around the disappearance of these five boys, and the same exact belief that the Jews of the community were to blame for the evil that had transpired. To extend his modern blood libel, the author of the article which pinned members of another faith to the disappearance and implied murder of five children, Nazarov explains that Jews have been proven to murder people in rituals.

    Here we see the infallible logic that proves undoubtedly the guilt of all Jews in the conspiracy to murder people

Stemming from the tales of Jews staging mock crucifixions, there is the idea of Jews being monstrous creatures, who only answered the most basic of urges. They were also rumored to be cannibalistic at times. The Jewish faith was seen as one that could not or would not accept Christ, so therefore it was unsophisticated and all its adherents are savages and abominations. In many stories Jews are depicted as cannibals, and the idea of them eating or harvesting body parts has lingered in some cultures. In 2009 a Swedish tabloid called “Aftonbladet” published an article written by Donald Bostrom that claimed that Israelis had seized and detained Palestinians only to have their organs harvested from their bodies. The Israeli government immediately recognized this depiction of its government as a recurring anti-Semitic horror story. As it turns out, there was no evidence of any Israeli soldiers harvesting any organs from any Palestinian citizens (who would have guessed).

The cover of the published article that reads “Our sons are being plundered for their organs”

Far less frightening than the fashion of painting Jews as cannibalistic demons, but not any better, Jews were imagined to be conniving rapacious businessmen. Jews’ infamous reputation in medieval England came from the positions to which they were appointed after William the Conqueror acquired land in England. The Jews were the designated loaners of coin for the king because the Torah does not explicitly prohibit the practice of usury. The development of hate towards the Jews for placing a simple interest on a loan created a stereotype that has been more prevalent than any other. In todays society Jews are thought of as these insatiable businessmen who have control over Hollywood and Wall Street, people who won’t spend a penny more than they must... the list is long. This image does not only shadow the Jewish people in the western world, but it does also extend to other regions. This became evident upon South Korean corporation Samsung depicting a shareholder, Paul Singer, who is Jewish as a hawk with an axe asking for more money. Demeaning propaganda style cartoons were put up on the Samsung C&T website following Singer’s opposition of a business deal that, to me, seemed as a massive case of nepotism. This style of aggression towards Jewish people has existed for almost one thousand years because xenophobic debtors were angered by the fact that foreigners could make money in England.

This is one of the images Samsung released following the business meeting’s results. What a lighthearted jab at Mr. Singer

Wow! This is such a creative joke!

            A much more offensive depiction of Jews than the common stereotypes of Jews in today’s society, Sacha Baron Cohen’s character, Borat, combines all the stereotypes in his anti-Semitic dialogues and sketches. This character is met with responses that vary. Some people see nothing wrong with his depictions other than the physical dissimilarity, and others are outraged. However, there is actual value behind these racist depictions of both the Kazakh people and Jews These caricatures are used to highlight the resentment people have towards foreigners and people of foreign faith. The medieval English probably had similar levels of spite to the Jews that Borat displays. In the final video below, this mob-mentality justifies racism to the song’s participants. It seems probable that this type of mentality is what caused the deaths of hundreds and thousands of Jews in medieval England.

Borat's "Running of the Jew"

A false news report from Kazakhstan in Borat’s small village

Borat's "Jew Hunt"

Borat visits a ranch in Texas and has a very intellectual conversation with a very fair poacher, in which the ranch owner blames the German Jews for the Holocaust.

Borat's "Throw the Jew Down the Well"

Borat preforms a child friendly folk tune in a country bar- maybe in Texas. Possible connection to they myth that Jews had poisoned the water of a town in Medieval England. This may be coincidental, but it could also be intentional

The disposition that today’s society has towards Jews is a far deal less extreme than what was experienced by the Jewish people in medieval England, but that does not go to say that it is acceptable for these stereotypes to be perpetuated. No, Jews are not being murdered in large groups by angry Christian mobs, but all too often they are blamed for public misfortune and economic issues. These common beliefs are directly connected or very closely related to the rampant anti- Jew attitude present in medieval England.