Colonial mentality and Talk:List of minor planets/54101–54200: Difference between pages
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'''Colonial mentality''' refers to institutionalised or systemic feelings of inferiority within some societies or peoples who have been subjected to [[colonialism]], relative to the [[mores]] or values of the foreign powers which had previously subjugated them.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} The concept essentially refers to the acceptance, by the colonised, of the culture or doctrines of the coloniser as intrinsically more worthy or superior. The subject matter is quite controversial.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} |
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==Origins== |
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Throughout human history nations and peoples have continuously colonised and been colonised. It is said that when a foreign [[Colonialism|colonial]] or [[Imperialism|imperial]] power is too strong to be effectively resisted, the colonised population often has no other immediate option than to accept the rule of the foreigners as an inescapable reality of life. As time progresses, the colonised natives would perceive the differences between the foreigners and themselves, between the foreigners' ways and the native ways. This would then sometimes lead the natives to mimic the foreigners that are in power as they began to associate that power and success with the ''foreigners' ways''. This eventually leads to the ''foreigners' ways'' being regarded as the ''better way'' and being held in a higher esteem than previous indigenous ways. |
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In much the same fashion, and with the same reasoning of ''better-ness'', the colonised soon equates the foreigners' racial strain itself as being responsible for their ''superiority''. The native soon strives to that strain to give their children a ''better'' standing in life than just their native genes. |
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==English-speaking societies== |
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===The Indian Subcontinent=== |
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Some critics claim that [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s portrayals of [[India]]n characters generally supported the colonialist view that the Indians and other colonized people were incapable of surviving without the help of [[Europeans]], claiming that these portrayals are [[racist]] <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/443889.stm</ref>. Examples of this alleged racism are mentioning "lesser breeds without the Law" in "Recessional" and referring to colonised people in general as "half-devil and half-child" in the poem "[[The White Man's Burden]]". |
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The term '''Macaulay's Children''' is used to refer to people born of Indian ancestry who adopt [[Western culture]] as a lifestyle. The term is usually used in a derogatory fashion, and the connotation is one of disloyalty to one's country and one's heritage. It derives from [[Thomas Macaulay]], the 19th century British historian and colonial administrator who regarded [[British culture]] as inherently superior to the [[Culture of India|Indian one]], and who was the prime mover in replacing [[Sanskrit]] and [[Arabic]] with [[English language|English]] as the medium of instruction.<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/macaulay/txt_minute_education_1835.html Text of Macaulay's "minute on education" arguing for the use of English in India]</ref> |
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===Canada=== |
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In areas where the indigenous nations were decimated by [[epidemic]]s and their cultures suffered generations of set-back the settler societies quickly outnumbered the colonized. In these cases, including much of [[North America]], and [[Oceania]], [[decolonization]] is now taking the form of [[indigenous decolonization]] in bringing back traditional cultural knowledge in the new society. |
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It has also been claimed that Canada itself has somewhat of a colonial mentality in regards to the [[United States]].{{Fact|date=November 2007}} |
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===United States of America; Black America=== |
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The extremely [[race]]-conscious society of the [[United States]] is often cited as a prime example of colonial mentality. Numerous examples included the [[one drop rule]] and practice of the "[[Paper Bag Test]]", where [[African-American]]s were allowed or denied entry in Black-only social institutions (bars, night clubs, cinemas, sororities, fraternities, etc.) based on how light the skin tone was when compared to a brown paper bag. Those African-Americans with skin tones the same or lighter than the paper bag were allowed entry. This practice of institutionalized [[colorism]], favoring degrees of "whiteness", was exemplified more so by "[[The Blue Vein Society]]". |
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====The "Blue Vein Society"==== |
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When U.S. slavery was at its zenith, a mulatto society known as "[[The Blue Vein Society]]" came into being. |
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The original "Blue Veins" were organized in [[New England]]. Their primary objective was to establish and maintain "correct" social standards amongst a people whose social condition, by virtue of their white bloodlines, was almost unlimited.{{Fact|date=August 2008}} |
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An outsider suggested that one must show "Blue Veins" to be eligible for membership. This suggestion was readily adopted by those who were not of the favored few; and "The Blue Vein Society" has been known as such ever since. |
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====Black is Beautiful==== |
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In the late 20th century, the "[[Black is Beautiful]]" movement sought to counteract the colonial mentality among African Americans by promoting dark skin and African features as ideals of high fashion. |
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==The Spanish Empire== |
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The former subjects of the [[Spanish Empire]] in [[Hispanic America]] and the [[Philippines]] are the most commonly cited examples where the phenomenon of colonial mentality may be found. Spanish [[conquistador]]s, the first European settlers in the [[New World]], divided the conquered lands among themselves and ruled as [[feudal]] lords, treating their [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Amerindian]] subjects as something between [[serf]]s and [[slavery|slave]]s. Some Spaniards, however, objected to this [[encomienda]] system, notably [[Bartolomé de Las Casas]], who insisted that the ''indígenas'' (natives) were [[human being]]s with [[soul]]s and [[right]]s. Serfs stayed to work the land and imported [[Africa]]n slaves were exported to the [[Mining|mines]], where large numbers of them died. Largely due to the efforts of Bartolomé de Las Casas, the [[New Laws]] were adopted in 1542 to protect the Amerindians, but the abuses were not entirely or permanently abolished. |
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The [[Spaniard]]s were committed to converting their Amerindian subjects to [[Roman Catholicism]], and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end. However, most initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as Amerindian groups simply blended Catholicism with their traditional beliefs. On the other hand, the Spaniards did not impose their language to the degree they did their religion, and the [[Roman Catholic Church]] even evangelized in [[Quechua]], [[Nahuatl]] and [[Guarani]], contributing to the expansion of these Amerindian languages and equipping them with writing systems.<ref>[http://www.voltairenet.org/article120716.html Eliane Karp: pasado y presente [Voltaire]<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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===The Philippines=== |
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:''See also [[Filipino Americans]]''. |
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In the [[Philippines]] colonial mentality is most evident in the existence of favoritism for [[Mestizo#The Philippines|Filipino mestizos]] (primarily those of [[Filipino people|native Filipino]] and [[white (people)|white]] ancestry, but also indigenous Filipino and [[Chinese race|Chinese]], and other ethnic groups) in the entertainment industry and mass media, in which they have received extensive exposure despite constituting a small population in the country.<ref>[http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=11261 American Chronicle | Brown Is Beautiful<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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Of the current [[demographics of the Philippines]], the combined number of all types of Caucasian mestizos is 3.6% of the entire Filipino population, in a recent genetic study by [[Stanford University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/AJHG_2001_v68_p432.pdf |title=A Predominantly Indigenous Paternal Heritage for the Austronesian-Speaking Peoples of Insular Southeast Asia and Oceania |accessdate=2008-02-20 |format=[[PDF]] |publisher=[[Stanford University]]}}</ref> Of that 3.6%, half are of Spanish ancestral bloodline.{{Fact|date=February 2008}} |
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====Physical consequences==== |
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One of the more adverse physical consequences in the idealization and acceptance of the racial concepts of colonial mentality can be seen in the high rate of consumer demand for [[skin bleaching]] products used by some indigenous women in the Philippines.<ref>[http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=11261 American Chronicle | Brown Is Beautiful<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Skin-whitening creams have for a long time been popular and widely used in much of the Philippines for the lightening of the skin tones in order to achieve the so-called "Mestizo look". The products are believed to be used primarily by women who have succumbed to the Filipino ideal and colonial doctrine of the idealization of mestizo beauty to the greatest extreme. The consumers of these products, whether conscious or subconsciously, are following the dangerous edict on beauty by continuing to use those products despite the extremely hazardous side effects to their health, including a high risk of various cancers due to many of its active ingredients, including [[Mercury (element)|mercury]]. These products have been banned in the USA due to the skin cancer risk and widely opposed by the public for triggering racial controversies, but their sale and demand in the Philippines continues to be widespread.<ref>[http://www3.niu.edu/ptaa/beauty_in_me.htm The Beauty In Me<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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====Pedigree and forgery==== |
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Colonial mentality is also at the root of a long established indigenous/European Filipino tradition of ancestral ethnicity forgery used in the attempt to conform to the idealized "mestizo pedigree" dictated by the former colonial rulers Spanish-Filipino socio-racial hierarchy. |
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This ethnic ancestral forgery is characterized by the habit of some modern-day indigenous Filipino families of no European ancestry, and claiming [[Mestizo#The Philippines|mestizo]] ancestry. It is often accompanied by handed-down oral accounts of a presumed Spanish great-great-grandfather and grandmother with no evidence of Spanish blood in their genes, other than a [[Spanish and Portuguese names|Spanish surname]]. Most mestizo Filipinos have [[Hispanic culture in The Philippines#People|Spanish-names and surnames]] inherited from their Spanish ancestors, whereas most indigenous Filipinos with Spanish names and surnames acquired them as a result of the [[Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos]] ["Alphabetic Catalogue of Surnames"] decreed to be imposed on the entire indigenous Filipino population by the Spanish royal courts in order to facilitate record-keeping and tax collecting. |
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===Latin America=== |
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As in the Philippines, colonial mentality can also be seen in much the same form across [[Latin America]]. The demographic reality of Latin America is that half of its population is of part-white mixed race, either [[mestizo]] (mixed [[White (people)|white]] and [[Amerindian]]) or [[mulatto]] (mixed white and [[Black people|black]]) or triracial (of mixed white, black and Amerindian), who together account for approximately 50% of the region's total population. These percentages vary by country. Additionally, a large minority (30% or more, the largest single group in the population, actually) of Latin Americans is solely or mainly of European descent, again in varying percentages (some countries, such as [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], [[Brazil]] and [[Chile]], have large European-descended populations, while in others, such as [[Bolivia]], European descendants make up a very small percentage of society). Amerindians, Asians, Blacks, and [[zambo]]s (mixed black and Amerindian) make up the remaining 20%. In the Latin American context, the ''"Ideal of Beauty"'' is not to be of mixed European and other ancestry, as most Latin Americans already are of that ancestry, but rather to be mostly European ancestry. |
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In this instance, the Latin American entertainment industry is saturated with ''[[Spanish Criollo peoples|criollos]]'' (people of mostly Spanish ancestry) or other Europeans, with few mestizos, fewer mulattos, and almost no unmixed blacks or Amerindians. In the [[Dominican Republic]], a predominantly mulatto country, skin whitening products are also quite popular and readily available.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} |
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This European idealisation of beauty has also lead to a condition of ethnic forgery among many Latin Americans. However, in contrast to the Filipino experience where the majority is composed of unmixed native Filipinos of whom some attempt to claim mix-blooded status, in Latin America the norm is for some within the mix-blooded majority to concentrate on attempting to diminish, hide or deny any non-European admixture. These will then often falsely claim to be ''pure Spanish'' or other European ancestry in their attempts to conform to the idealized pedigree dictated by their Latin American socio-racial hierarchy. ''See also [[Passing (racial identity)|Passing - Race]]'' |
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A common joke in the [[United States of America|United States]], among both Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike, is the presence of more blonde and blue-eyed presenters on US-based [[Spanish language]] television networks such as [[Telemundo]] and [[Univisión]] than on the general public networks such as [[NBC]] or [[CBS]]. These issues are also addressed in [[White Hispanic and Latino Americans]] and [[Race in the United States]]. |
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==The Arab world== |
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Nada El-Yassir comments that "in certain areas in the [[Arab world]], the lighter you are the more beautiful you are considered." She also says that it is common that women in the upper classes dye their hair blond. In some countries the implications of this hierarchy go so far as to affect one's social class and job opportunities. |
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There is certainly nothing inherently wrong with beauty ideals; all cultures have particular notions about what is aesthetically pleasing. Like other places, India and certain Arabic countries had their own culturally specific beauty ideals. However, these largely fell by the wayside after their encounters with colonial powers. |
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Iman Al-Jazairi says "Looking at [[Arabic poetry]] and novels, it is interesting to see that pre-[[Islam]]ic poetry up until western colonization at the eighteenth century, women were always described as having long, wavy, black hair, brown skin, black eyes with the white of the eyes very white. The body proportions were also bigger. During the later part of the nineteenth century and until very recently, light skinned, blond women have usurped the beauty standard in modern Arabic literature.<ref>[http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/98-2/issue1/colourbar.html the peak (4/5/1998) features: The colour bar of beauty<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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==The former Soviet Union== |
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In some of the successor states of the former [[Soviet Union|USSR]] much of the local, ethnically non-[[Russians|Russian]] population sees [[Russian culture]] as superior to the local ones. This has been the case in [[Ukraine]], for example, one of the more advanced successors, whose post-Soviet history has been marked by a preference for all things Russian and an overwhelming presence of the [[Russian language]] in politics, television, the internet and music, at least.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} |
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==Quebec== |
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The idea that some Quebecers hold a colonial mentality, due to [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham|the conquest of Quebec by the British]] and subsequent domination by [[English Canada]] is important in a segment of [[Québécois]] [[intellectual]] thought, notably within the [[Quebec nationalism|Quebec nationalist]] and [[Quebec sovereignty movement|independence movements]]. These thinkers portray the relationship of Canada and Quebec as a dominant-dominated relationship and often consider the [[Quiet Revolution]] an event of [[decolonization]]. Those who are in favour of independence hold that Quebec [[sovereignty]] is another necessary decolonizing step. The colonial mentality concept has also been used to criticize the relationship some Québécois have with [[France]], as Quebec was a colony of France in the era of [[New France]]. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Acculturation]] |
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*[[Colonialism]] |
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*[[Colorism]] |
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*[[Creolization]] |
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*[[Cultural assimilation]] |
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*[[Cultural identity]] |
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*[[Cultural cringe|Cultural Alienation]] |
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*[[Cultural cringe]] |
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*[[Enculturation]] |
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*[[Ethnocide]] |
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*[[Globalization]] |
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*[[Hamitic#Hamitic theory as an ideology within colonialism|Hamitic theory]] |
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*[[Intercultural competence]] |
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*[[Language shift]] |
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*[[Thomas Macaulay#India|Macaulay's minutes]] |
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*[[Melting pot]] |
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*[[Passing (racial identity)]] |
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*[[Paper Bag Party]] |
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*[[Race (classification of human beings)|Race]] |
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*[[Racialism]] |
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*[[Racism]] |
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*[[Social interpretations of race]] |
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*[[Syncretism]] |
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*[[Westernization]] |
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== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
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[[Category:Cultural studies]] |
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[[Category:Colonialism]] |
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[[es:Mentalidad colonial]] |
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[[ru:Колониальный менталитет]] |
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