We Are Who We Are

This week our class jumped right into the loop of revolutionary revolts in Latin America. Compared to the European revolutions the majority of the Latin American revolutions were based on race, color, and social status, which was disappointing to find out. 

     Racism, unfortunately, is still a problem in society today, and it's appalling to see how the game was different in the 1800s. It is essential to acknowledge human value regardless of race. Back in the early 19th century, almost every conflict caused was due to racial or social differences. The case of a superior class/race gaining control over a less "worthy" class/race was the norm, and was considered right. What wasn't the norm, however, was the thought that everyone who was affected by the consequences of such conflicts had feelings and opinions, too. To see and example of how these situations impacted several races, my history class studied the Latin American revolutions for independence.
We started off by learning the social structure, from the peninsulares, creoles, and mestizos, to the mulattoes, slaves, and Indian people. Our class then split up into three big groups and became experts on one of the following revolutions that took place in Gran Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. After making timelines and reading about the events that took place, we made smaller groups with experts from all three revolutions and taught each other. Finally, we found commonalities and differences of all the revolutions, along with recognizing the main reason of the revolution- racial and social differences.
     I was assigned to learn all about Gran Colombia, now Ecuador and Venezuela. After reading the documents given, we compiled the following timeline of all the events that took place:

Made using: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/

Once the timeline of the Gran Colombia revolution was made we shared it with the other two groups. After gaining knowledge of the other two revolutions, we compared and contrasted the motives of the people. All three revolutions took different routes to gain their independence, but they all ended up successfully breaking their connections with rulers from Europe. Once they were free, they went on their separate ways and used different styles of government. However, in all three cases, it is hard to deny that the motive of the rebels was not due to their social standing and racial backgrounds. The revolts were almost always creoles, mestizos, and mulattoes going against and overthrowing the minority of peninsulares from Europe. In some cases, imperial taxes were unnecessary, while in others a new constitution with improved rights was wanted. But racial background were an issue and the main motive behind all three revolutions. 

     Even though human kind has come a long way trying to avoid slippery racial situations, problems still exist. Of course there aren't hundreds of people forming armies and warring their so-called superiors, but the fight for equal rights is quiet and brewing underneath. Many try and cover these racial stereotypes while some can't help but pick up on them and make a humongous deal. There are still several issues that go on in the real world today; take the Ferguson case, for example. Let's not get into further detail, but the point is clear- race has impacted the world and will continue to do so until we do not consider the issue and try and overcome several theories of society. It isn't easy to eradicate future racial situations, but at least we can help by understanding and accepting people for who they are, then possibly this issue could improve for the generations yet to come.