Racism and disease post# 7

I am currently taking a World Environmental History class that surprisingly has brought about many connections to our class. We recently read a book on European expansion and many of the themes could be tied into racial and ethnic issues. I found the themes addressed in the book to be an interesting view on racial issues that we've never really discussed in class. European expansion in some ways branched from the need to spread European beliefs to the world, it was a duty to God. Once Europeans began to expand they brought many diseases with them. Diseases which, killed thousands of native people. Europeans however were unaware of why these natives were dying and they themselves were not. This in many ways caused the Europeans to believe that God had chosen them as the superior race. They believed that because they were immune to the terrible diseases, that they were better, which in turn caused a racial divide. I just thought this was a very interesting way to look at racism in a different way and point out another cause to racial divides and superiority.
- Ryan Fleming