Who's the Savage?

This essay, about the racialization of savagery, reminded me of the essay entitled, Columbus, the Indians, and human progress. It reminded me of that because, in both stories it tells of the genocide of a “savage” race. It hints at the idea that England was superior, that English was the only civil language. It shows us how ethnocentric English society was. When they walked into another society, they assumed everyone was lazy, idle and unwilling to work, and like “beasts”. This angle is crazy, because animals are not lazy. They work for their food, take care of their young, and are one with nature.
In both “new worlds” the Irish and the Indians were considered savage by the English because of their race, and location. Since the Indians and the Irish look different than the English, it put a strain on the explorers to accept them. When people look different than you, there is an automatic judgment, and stereotype placed on them. In this case, they did not know what to think, and being extremely selfish, they decided that the peoples were an obstacle, and then decided it was their duty to overcome this obstacle. This was not the fault of the people being killed. They had been born in a different place, and thereby born into a different culture. These “savages” were more open minded about different cultures than the English were, and did not attack first, and think second. At one point, the English were taking Irish heads, and claiming them as trophies, everyday. They used terror to control the Irish, the same as a dictator. Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, are modern day terrorists, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert was a terrorist then. What they did to the Irish, could definitely be considered worse than some of the terrorist activities that have happened lately. They killed so many people, that they created open spaces. The worst part is that during this tragedy, they had the audacity to say that they were doing good “Christian” things. The English were also saying that they had a “God-given responsibility” to reform the savage nation. I am sure that no Christian would wish genocide on a group of people, ever. Christianity has not changed that much, but the people have. Overall, the author was exposing the extreme ethnocentrism of the English, to the point where they could not see that they were committing terrorism, and crime. The English seriously thought that they were helping the Indians, and the Irish, by killing them, and stopping the “waste” of the land.