Tocqueville is unremittingly bleak in this section of the book. Why do you think he is he so pessimistic about the possibility of harmony between the ‘three races’ (by which he means people of European descent, people of African descent, and people descended from the Indian tribes*)? Do you think his pessimism has been borne out by American history since he wrote his book?
What do you think this case tells us about current relations between the three racial groups Tocqueville discusses?
*This last term was of course the operative term for many years for the various horticultural groups who were already here in North America when the Europeans arrived. They are now frequently called ‘indigenous Americans,’ but it seems to me this is at least as inaccurate a term as ‘Indians,’ since these people were neither Indians nor indigenous (i.e., native) to the Americas. They, like everyone else who wound up in the Americas, came from somewhere else, even if they came earlier than either of the other two racial groups in question–in their case, they came from Asia over the land bridge between Russia and Alaska. In fact, humans can reasonably be called ‘indigenous’ to only one place: sub-Saharan Africa, which is where H. sapiens originated and then radiated outward to the rest of the planet.
2 replies on “on Tocqueville’s view of relations between ‘the three races that inhabit the United States’”
Tocqueville thinks so negatively on the idea of harmony between the three races in the United States simply because of the concept of superiority. He thought that the three races were naturally distinct of each other and should differ in social opportunity simply because in his mind were much more superior than the other two races. Tocqueville believes this idea because of the whites obvious dominance of the continent and its resources. The only traits that Tocqueville believed that blacks and Indians had in common was their hostility and their obvious disadvantages of being born into their respective races. In his mind these factors are what made them below the whites. These ideas are what makes Tocqueville so skeptical about the concept of the three races living in harmony.
Over time this idea of harmony between races has been battled by different groups and disagreed upon many times. This harmony has made strides due to the fact that all races are now considered to be equal but isn’t all the way there. Certain races are born into different opportunities than others, which makes it hard for there to be complete harmony between the three groups.
This certain case of the student harassing a Native American Veteran shows that the harmony between the groups is still not perfect. It is almost impossible to say the thought of racism and thinking oneself is better than another will never exist but it has gotten better than it was. With that said, recently it seems that our society has taken major steps backwards. With all the acts of racism recently it seems that it could eventually be possible for us as a society to migrate backwards to how harmony was during the times of Tocqueville.
Can you point to the part/s of the text that lead you to believe that Tocqueville is arguing for the “superiority” of whites over blacks and Native Americans? His argument here is actually pretty nuanced, so it would behoove us to get into some of the details.
Re: the linked case, do you think it is adequately summarized, given the additional information and context described in the article, as “the student harassing a Native American”? The article suggests that, here too, things are much more complicated.