Marc Aronson's Argument

Prejudice is a hard topic to discuss. Globally, every civilization has experience some aspect of prejudice in their society. From slavery in America to the persecution of Jews in Europe, prejudice has been seen in every corner of the earth. In my blog, I will document my readings of the book Race, written by Marc Aronson, as he uncovers the history of prejudice in Western Society. Please enjoy!

The definition of race can be stated as the following, 

"A competition between runners, horses, vehicles, etc. to see which is the fastest in covering a set course." 1

While this is an accurate definition of the word, race in this context means something else. In his first chapter, Aronson defines the word race as the following, 

"A way of explaining human difference and organizing people into categories. It rests on four assumption—what [he] call[s] 'pillars' (2)"

Throughout the first section of the book, Aronson repeatedly references his four pillars: physical differences, physical body features, inherited traits, and level of brain power and moral refinement. He uses these four ideas as the basis for his book. By examining how each of these pillars grew, developed, interconnected, and came to be true, Aronson uncovers the history of racism and prejudiced in the Western world. And why, Americans of every background, experience prejudiced to the extend of which it is today. 


To uncover racism in the Western world, Aronson travels back in time to when race and prejudice were first formed. He starts off the book by talking about slaves in ancient civilization. Long before white Americans enslaved Africans in the 17th century, slavery was seen around the world. Africans enslaved other Africans, Asians enslaved other Asians, and so on. He mentions ancient slavery because it made a huge contribution to Western civilization. Out of the conditions that slaves endured came the idea of monotheism, if the Bible is to be believed. This is one of the most basic ideas of Western civilization. Unlike ancient Egypt, Western society believed in only one god. The belief in only one God led down a road of new prejudice, war, and enslavement based on God's will.


 In his next couple of chapters, Aronson talks about Greeks v. Jews, the Roman Empire, and the birth of Christianity. He dives deeply into each of these topics and pulls out information that helps build an understanding of the formation of prejudice. Prejudice first started as a matter of social ranking. Greeks enslaved other Greeks because they were of a different social ranking. The rich enslaved the poor. White Europeans later enslaved African Americans because they were thought of as savages. They were seen as uncivilized and thought to be on the bottom of the social latter.

Aronson then goes on to talk about the role religion played in the creation of modern prejudice. The differences between Christianity, Islam, and Judaisms led to hatred and ultimately prejudice between the different religions. Spain, up until the 1400s was a place of religious tolerance. Jews, Muslims, and Christians all lived together in one nation. It wasn't until the Christian kingdoms of Spain merged together that religious tolerance died. When Spain became a formal Christian nation, laws were put in place that checked the powers of other religions. For instance, only pure-bred Christians could hold high offices. By enacting these laws, the Spanish took a large step toward the idea of "race" by linking blood-line with faith. And in doing so, took the first steps down a long road of prejudice. 


Aronson wraps up Part Two of his book by describing Christopher Columbus's contributions to prejudice in Western culture. When Columbus sailed from Spain to the New World he brought with him the question on whether monstrous men (natives) were humans or not? Could they be saved with the faith of Christianity or were they doomed to be destroyed? Columbus's voyage revealed new ways of thinking that lead to the belief that,

"Religion was not a choice but an inheritance. (89)"

As more and more Europeans sailed across the ocean, they began to experience the unchangeable differences between groups of people. They saw different skin colors, hair colors, and body types that could be ranked. This is where the concept of the race began to form.


Marc Aronson wrote this book as a way to understand prejudice in Western society and why, Americans of every background, experience such high levels of prejudice. In the first two sections of Race, Aronson uncovers the history of prejudice. He argues that the creation of Western prejudice was formed over a long period of time through religion and ancient social ranking. I do agree with his argument that prejudice developed over a long period of time. However, I do not have enough background knowledge on the history of prejudice to determine if Aronson is right or not. Aronson's extensive research on this topic and clear factual evidence makes me want to agree with his argument. 








1.Definition of race. English Oxford Living Dictonaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/
 definition/race. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.