colonization and orientalism
The basic idea of colonization and orientalism started after Europeans discovered other people except themselves. These people existed in different geographical regions that were coincidentally not as developed as them. Colonization is the act of settling in a new land and taking control of all activities in the area. Orientalism is viewing black and Asian cultures as either backward, uncivilized or inferior in respect to European culture. Orientalism continues to widen the western and eastern boundary and is an irreversible practice. The only thing left is to wish the two traditions had not started in the beginning.
Colonialism and orientalism are different in that despite seeing other cultures as backward, colonialism goes ahead to take control of people’s way of life, forcing them to do activities forcefully and reaps them off their identity. Orientalism does not infringe on a peoples’ culture. Nonetheless, orientalism has made people from the orient communities want to leave their customs and want to be part of the more developed European group. The primary intent of colonialism is that it originates from activities that occurred decades ago and any reference to it evokes the history of several generations. As explained by Fanon, he only wished that he was not likened to any of his ancestors that were enslaved many years ago (113). Orientalism does not depend on past events but views a community as backward despite many changes over the years.
Fanon’s work Black Skin, White Masks explains the plight of the black man who is trying so hard to co-exist in a European context. Despite speaking their language and acting like them. The black man is still viewed as a black man even before viewed as a man. The effects of colonization still linger in the minds of many, and due to that; the black man is still inferior to the white. Additionally, Fanon shows how white predominance is always present to date despite many efforts to foster equality among races. In the end, Fanon asserts that blacks should be proud of who they are and quit trying to be more like whites; since that is a catalyst for the inferiority.
Said’s work, The Scope of Orientalism explains how orientalism started and how it has been used to show the difference between the east and the west. Said explains how Europeans used orientalism to define themselves. Anything that the Orients were not then the Europeans were. These paradigms have been used to describe the cultures and religions of orients but mostly because they were new to them, and they could not understand them. The author states orientalism as a dividing culture that is not about to end, and only wishes it had not started in the very beginning.
Racialization has affected the image of the black man as well as the Arab. The Black man, as well as the Arab, have been severally judged concerning past occurrences. The black man is still viewed concerning his ancestor slaves who were inferior to the whites. Therefore, despite any efforts to become like the white man, racialization always stops the black man from ever gaining full superiority. Arabs, on the other hand, are viewed as terrorists due to the various attacks on different countries. Any attempts by Arabs to lead a healthy life is stopped by the frequent discrimination to be terrorists. Racialization has sharply divided different groups and has been used as a concept to judge persons from inferior groups without knowing them despite efforts by the black man and the Arab to live normally like any other race. Racialization continues to group them by race and makes their efforts ever difficult. Though colonialism was a practice done decades ago, the aftermath is still present today. Orientalism will continue to affect inferior communities as long as their origins are known and their past is told to future generations. It is time that all racial groups work together to view each other as equal humans while forgetting the past.