Verified Document

Bloodlines And Race Essay

Bloodlines and Race Moslem communities and Moslem slave-holders in particular, have often been conceived as color-blind. Lewis claims this is not so, why? What evidence can he bring to bear?

Bernard Lewis is a renowned historian scholar, with many great, detailed researches on his record. As a born Jew, Lewis's obvious interest was towards the Middle East civilization and its history, thus he did his PhD in the history of Islam and has a series of highly acclaimed academic works upon the Ottoman Empire. Amongst his several other books, there is Race and Slavery in the Middle East: a Historical Enquiry, which was written in 1990. In this book, Lewis provided a detailed research upon the concept and practice of slavery in Islam, since its innovation till its abolition. He has noted several facts which were never mentioned before, and used Islamic writings and pictorial representations as basis. He quoted several Muslim scholars to prove his analysis that although, Islam as a religion greatly condemned the practice of slavery, yet this command of the Holy Quran is not much followed by the Muslims of later times. It was just that the free Muslims...

Muslims traded slaves for a long time and it included every race or color, like white Turks or black Negros, but like other similar concepts, Muslims too preferred whites over blacks and treated them more humbly. Whites were of high cost as compare to blacks, and it was a common belief that blacks have no intelligence and thus are destined for slavery. Lewis quoted Jahiz and Ibrahim al Mawsili that white females were more expensive as they were considered brighter. Also, white slaves were assigned light domestic work while the blacks carried heavy burdens. Those slaves who were imported from east Africa lived a miserable life, they had very less to eat and a lot of work to do. Hence overall, the view that Muslim slave holders do not account for color for their slaves is not a fact, instead Muslims considered color and skin while trading the slaves and used white slaves as their entertainment while blacks as nothing but a two hand animal to do work for them (Lewis 1990).
Discuss Andrews and…

Sources used in this document:
WORKS CITED

Andrews, George Reid. 2004. Afro-Latin America, 1800-2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lewis, Bernard. 1990. Race and slavery in the Middle East: an historical enquiry. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Bloodlines and Race
Words: 790 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Bloodlines and Race George Zimmerman allegedly killed Trayvon Martin, an African-American teenager, in self-defense. The case has gotten national attention partly because of the issue of racial profiling. Many people believe that Zimmerman is biased against African-Americans and that he held a stereotypical view of Trayvon: a black teenager, face half-hidden under a hoodie, does not belong in a white neighborhood and is looking for trouble. Another dimension to the case

Bloodlines and Racism
Words: 639 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Bloodlines and Racism. Discuss Spriro, Defending the Master Race The book Defending the Master Race by Madison Grant viewed history through an entirely racial lens. Rather than conceptualizing history as a series of clashes between different civilizations or class struggles, Grant characterized history as a series of divisive exchanges between persons of different 'racial' status. What is so interesting from a modern perspective is that many of the 'races' perceived by the

Bloodlines and Race
Words: 857 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Bloodlines and Race How does Firmin attempt to reconstruct races as existing along a level playing field rather than being arrayed hierarchically? Joseph Antenor Firmin was nineteenth century's politician and anthropologist from Haiti. He was of the view of equality of races and was strongly opposed of categorizing humanity and the supremacy of a particular race. Although he was a Black himself, he did not promoted black Supremacy rather produced a book

Bloodlines and Racism
Words: 598 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Bloodlines & Race Responding to Locke's Conceptions of Race Alain Leroy Locke was a man of great influence and great genius. Locke was a primary contributor and in some ways, mastermind, behind the Harlem Renaissance, an age in the early decades of 20th century American history. Locke was African-American; his achievements and contributions to society were often marked by his race whether he was working in direct support of African-American causes/issues, or

Bloodlines and Race
Words: 548 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Race Portuguese Thoughts on Seized Africans The Portuguese chronicler perceived the seized Africans of the mid 15th century with great detail and consideration. The chronicler observed many aspects of the seized Africans that show their culture and their feelings. He saw the various reactions of the people as they stood in chains awaiting the next step in their unthinkable experience(s). He saw people weep; he saw them detach from reality and seem

Critic of Ernest J. Gaines Short Stories Called Bloodlines
Words: 662 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Bloodline collection of five short stories, Bloodline depicts the struggles of day-to-day African-American life in the South. With unique literary devices and keen emotional insight, Author Ernest J. Gaines uses the first person perspective in each tale to make the narratives exceptionally poignant and to bring the characters alive. In fact, two of the tales are told from the perspective of young boys, Gaines captures their innocence and their unwitting

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now