4A Hotspots

My first hotspot from Smith's article came from the Proctor and Gamble Ivory Soap ad on pages 110-111. I found it interesting for several reasons. First, I thought it illustrated the idea that people use racism to advance their own interests well. In this case, Proctor and Gamble used implied racism to help sell their soap. I also found it interesting that, in a sense, the ad acknowledges the fact that they the “civilized” people were also once unclean. It says that they acted in ways that were very similar to the Natives, yet they seem to think that a simple bar of soap is what draws the line. I think that this illustrates that, contrary to what Smith says, racism is circumstantial, since the whites only realized the differences between the Natives and themselves once they developed a new mindset.

My second hotspot can be found on page 117: “Ironically, while enslaving women's bodies, colonizers argued that they were actually somehow freeing Native women from the “oppression” they supposedly faced in Native nations”. I think that the main reason the “colonizers” would say this is because they felt that Natives were uncivilized savages. As mentioned previously, the colonial people felt that Natives were unclean and dirty. Therefore, they would be free of 'oppression' simply because they would have a taste of civilization. Ironically, however, they wouldn't have much of a chance to use what they learned, because they were enslaved.

My first hotspot can be found on page 71: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I think that this could probably summarize Martin Luther King's entire civil rights movement. It means that, though we may not realize it, we are so closely associated with others that if something happens to one group of people, it will affect everyone. I feel that Martin Luther King was saying that this is why it is important to stand up for the rights of others. We are so closely related to others that we must protect human rights, not only for the sake those being oppressed, but for our own sake. We must not see ourselves as nations or races, but as a unified human community, for it is together that we will rise up and break the bonds of discrimination.

My second hotspot is as follows: “This 'wait' has almost always meant 'never'.” (King, page 74). I felt that this fit in nicely with Andrea Smith's Native American article as well. Many people, including both the Native and African American people, have asked for their rights and have been told to “wait”. As Martin Luther King points out, however, this often means that it will never come, because “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” (King, page 74). I found it rather interesting that African Americans were being denied their basic rights and freedoms, while nearly 200 years earlier, Americans themselves were in the same situation with the British. It is quite hypocritical of America to expect freedom from England, but to deny freedom to fellow Americans.