*sigh* Another History Post

Savage. This is a word frequently used by Ishmael towards Queequeg in Moby-Dick, and as horrible as it is, the implications aren’t the same as if they were used in today’s world. Racism was certainly a problem in the early 19^th century, but its basis was different. Today, we think of racism as judging people by the color of their skin. In the time of Moby-Dick, however, racism had more to do with geography.

Queequeg is seen as being a savage because of his origins as a Pacific Islander. The same was thought of Hawaiians, Filipino, and other such people from that region. Other tribe-based societies like that of the American Indians and some tribes in Africa were also given these types of labels. Contrasting to that, people from many Arab and Middle Eastern cultures were considered to be barbarians. They were a step up from savages, but weren’t equal to white Christians.

Europeans (and those who had European ancestry) considered themselves to be at the top of the social pyramid. This idea likely an extension from the thoughts of the ancient Greeks. That society was very focused on trying to obtain perfection—which to them meant being a very masculine white male. (Sorry ladies.) They maintained that with effort women could become men. However, once perfection was achieved, it couldn't go away. Nature preferred perfection, so a man could never devolve into a woman. (Many who would be considered men by today's standards would be considered too feminine to be men back then, though.)

That said, it wasn't whiteness that defined Europeans: it was Christianity. We see numerous references to identification by religion with Ishmael. He often identifies as a Christian and labels Queequeg as a Pagan. The use of the word pagan here is interesting: pagan isn't a word that nature worshipers and other such pantheists chose for themselves; it was given to them by Christians and was adapted from a word used by the Romans to indicate an “incompetent soldier.” (Etymonline)

So if resentments were based on culture, why did it change to skin color? One reason would be justifications. The American Civil War brought the issue of slavery front and center with abolitionists pointing out the hypocrisy in stating that all men were created equal when some men owned other men as property. The justification from those who were pro-slavery, of course, was that men with dark skin weren't people. They even had some scientists who went out and made the case that people of color and white people were separate species.

If you would like to learn more on this subject, there's a great video out there called Race: The Power of Illusion. It goes way more in-depth on this and also covers the Indian Removal Act carried out by Andrew Jackson in 1830.