Race and Identity

In the late 18th century to early 19th century there was a rigid social Hierarchy in colonial Latin America. There were distinct classes and places for people of every race or possible mixture of race, and people did not move from their class. People’s want to keep and maintain their power was the cause of these distinct classes. Having such distinct identities led to fighting between each other and having revolutions because of the treatments some social classes got while the others did not.

The first major revolt happened in Brazil. Prince Pedro was able to stop any bloodshed by agreeing with the revolutionaries and starting a constitutional monarchy. The only downside to the easy resolution of this uprising was that human slave rights were never brought up. In Mexico fighting was going on between races. The Creoles backed by Padre Hidalgo fought for the new leader of Mexico, Napoleon’s brother, against the Peninsulares. The only problem was that the Creoles and Peninsulares looked so similar that it was hard to tell who was who and many unnecessary lives were ended. There was another attempt at an uprising that Father Morales led, but the Creoles did not support it and it was quickly squashed. General Iturbide united the Creoles and Mestizos to get rid of the Peninsulares, declare Mexican independence, and become king of Mexico but was quickly dethroned and replaced by a republic. The only successful uprising was made by Simon Bolivar. Simon realized that if all of the races could join forces and have a common sense of South Americanness they could successfully free themselves from Spanish rule, which they did. Although some races might have resented each other and some may have been treated unfairly because of their race, the only way to progress their country was to join forces.

In recent events, the United States has shown that racial identities are still prominent today and still cause some uprisings. The New York Times released an “opinion page” titled In Fergeson, Issues of Race and Justice. The article consisted of different peoples thoughts and opinions that they sent in regarding the Fergeson trials. Kenneth Reich and George A. Caplin both raised the point that the court and prosecution was not thorough enough and the only reason Wilson  got away with no charges was because there was some inconsistencies from the eyewitnesses. Some people believe that if Wilson was black and Brown was white the court would have found Wilson guilty. Reich said, “African-Americans believes that there are two systems of justice in this country, one for whites, another for blacks” This different treatment in races caused riots similarly to how Creoles rioted because Peninsulares were getting unfair advantages. I agree with the people in this article completely that that if Wilson was black or Brown White the outcome of the trial would be different. On a wider scale, I disagree with how people handled the outcome of the trial. The outcome may have been wrong but doing things such as burn the American Flag does not help the situation. I think the only way we can progress America as a whole is to learn from the 19th century Mexicans and unite races, put past cases of unfairness behind us, and work together to achieve a common goal, equality.

Race and identity will always exist, but it is what is done in regards to people’s race that matters. In the 19th century unfair treatment between races caused fighting, and nothing could successfully be done for Mexico until it was realized that they would be more effective if races worked together. Today in cases such as the Ferguson trials, unfair treatment towards a certain race can still be seen. We must learn from our past to realize that we have to overcome our race and work together under a common cause to make positive change.

Reference article citation:

"In Ferguson, Issues of Race and Justice."The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.  <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/opini on/in-ferguson-issues-of-race-and-justice.h tml>.