Colonial mentality refers to institutionalised or systemic feelings of inferiority within some societies or peoples who have been subjected to colonialism, relative to the mores or values of the foreign powers which had previously subjugated them. See Colony and Colonization for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism Mores (ˈmɔːreɪz are norms or customs Mores derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written Laws. The concept essentially refers to the acceptance, by the colonised, of the culture or doctrines of the coloniser as intrinsically more worthy or superior. The subject matter is quite controversial.

Contents 1 Origins 2 English-speaking societies 2.1 The Indian Subcontinent 2.2 Canada 2.3 United States of America; Black America 2.3.1 The "Blue Vein Society" 2.3.2 Black is Beautiful 3 The Spanish Empire 3.1 The Philippines 3.1.1 Physical consequences 3.1.2 Pedigree and forgery 3.2 Latin America 4 The Arab world 5 The former Soviet Union 6 Quebec 7 See also 8 References

Origins

Throughout human history nations and peoples have continuously colonised and been colonised. It is said that when a foreign colonial or imperial power is too strong to be effectively resisted, the colonised population often has no other immediate option than to accept the rule of the foreigners as an inescapable reality of life. Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude As time progresses, the colonised natives would perceive the differences between the foreigners and themselves, between the foreigners' ways and the native ways. This would then sometimes lead the natives to mimic the foreigners that are in power as they began to associate that power and success with the foreigners' ways. This eventually leads to the foreigners' ways being regarded as the better way and being held in a higher esteem than previous indigenous ways.

In much the same fashion, and with the same reasoning of better-ness, the colonised soon equates the foreigners' racial strain itself as being responsible for their superiority. The native soon strives to that strain to give their children a better standing in life than just their native genes.

English-speaking societies

The Indian Subcontinent

Some critics claim that Rudyard Kipling's portrayals of Indian characters generally supported the colonialist view that the Indians and other colonized people were incapable of surviving without the help of Europeans, claiming that these portrayals are racist. Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936 was an English Author and poet India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Examples of this alleged racism are mentioning "lesser breeds without the Law" in "Recessional" and referring to colonised people in general as "half-devil and half-child" in the poem "The White Man's Burden". " The White Man's Burden " is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling.

The term Macaulay's Children is used to refer to people born of Indian ancestry who adopt Western culture as a lifestyle. Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin The term is usually used in a derogatory fashion, and the connotation is one of disloyalty to one's country and one's heritage. It derives from Thomas Macaulay, the 19th Century British historian and colonial administrator who regarded British culture as inherently superior to the Indian one, and who was the prime mover in replacing Sanskrit and Arabic with English as the medium of instruction. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language ^[1] (see Thomas Macaulay#India).

Canada

In areas where the indigenous nations were decimated by epidemics and their cultures suffered generations of set-back the settler societies quickly outnumbered the colonized. In Epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people is a classification of a disease that appears as new cases in a In these cases, including much of North America, and Oceania, decolonization is now taking the form of indigenous decolonization in bringing back traditional cultural knowledge in the new society. Decolonization refers to the undoing of Colonialism, the establishment of governance or authority through the creation of settlements by another country or jurisdiction Indigenous Decolonization is a process that Indigenous people whose communities were grossly affected by colonial expansion Genocide and Cultural

It has also been claimed that Canada itself has somewhat of a colonial mentality in regards to the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

United States of America; Black America

The extremely race-conscious society of the United States is often cited as a prime example of colonial mentality. Numerous examples included the one drop rule and practice of the "Paper Bag Test", where African-Americans were allowed or denied entry in Black-only social institutions (bars, night clubs, cinemas, sororities, fraternities, etc. The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States that holds that a person with any trace of African ancestry is considered black unless Paper bag parties were 20th century African-American social events at which only individuals with complexions at least as light as the color of a paper bag were admitted ) based on how light the skin tone was when compared to a brown paper bag. Those African-Americans with skin tones the same or lighter than the paper bag were allowed entry. This practice of institutionalized colorism, favoring degrees of "whiteness", was exemplified more so by "The Blue Vein Society". Colorism is a form of Discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social and treatment based on skin color Colorism is a form of Discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social and treatment based on skin color

The "Blue Vein Society"

When U. S. slavery was at its zenith, a mulatto society known as "The Blue Vein Society" came into being. Colorism is a form of Discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social and treatment based on skin color

The original "Blue Veins" were organized in New England. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the Their primary objective was to establish and maintain "correct" social standards amongst a people whose social condition, by virtue of their white bloodlines, was almost unlimited.

An outsider suggested that one must show "Blue Veins" to be eligible for membership. This suggestion was readily adopted by those who were not of the favored few; and "The Blue Vein Society" has been known as such ever since.

Black is Beautiful

In the late 20th century, the "Black is Beautiful" movement sought to counteract the colonial mentality among African Americans by promoting dark skin and African features as ideals of high fashion. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Black is beautiful is a cultural movement which began in the United States of America, beginning in the 1960s

The Spanish Empire

The former subjects of the Spanish Empire in Hispanic America and the Philippines are the most commonly cited examples where the phenomenon of colonial mentality may be found. The Spanish Empire (Imperio Español was one of the largest Empires in history and one of the first Global empires In the 15th and 16th centuries The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Spanish conquistadors, the first European settlers in the New World, divided the conquered lands among themselves and ruled as feudal lords, treating their Amerindian subjects as something between serfs and slaves. This article is about the Spanish explorer soldiers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuriesfor other uses see Conquistador (disambiguation A Conquistador The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth specifically the Americas and Australia. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Some Spaniards, however, objected to this encomienda system, notably Bartolomé de Las Casas, who insisted that the indígenas (natives) were human beings with souls and rights. The encomienda system is a Trusteeship labor system that was employed by the Spanish crown during the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the Bartolomé de las Casas, OP ( August 24 1484 &ndash July 17 1566) was a 16th century Spanish Dominican Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living A right is a legal or moral Entitlement or Permission. Rights are of vital importance in theories of Justice and deontological ethics Serfs stayed to work the land and imported African slaves were exported to the mines, where large numbers of them died. Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body Largely due to the efforts of Bartolomé de Las Casas, the New Laws were adopted in 1542 to protect the Amerindians, but the abuses were not entirely or permanently abolished. The New Laws (or Leyes Nuevas in Spanish) of 1542 were created to prevent the exploitation of the indigenous people by the encomenderos

The Spaniards were committed to converting their Amerindian subjects to Roman Catholicism, and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end. However, most initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as Amerindian groups simply blended Catholicism with their traditional beliefs. On the other hand, the Spaniards did not impose their language to the degree they did their religion, and the Roman Catholic Church even evangelized in Quechua, Nahuatl and Guarani, contributing to the expansion of these Amerindian languages and equipping them with writing systems. Quechua ( Runa Simi) is a Native American language of South America. Nahuatl ( is a group of related languages and dialects of the Aztecan or Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family Guaraní are a group of culturally related indigenous peoples of South America, distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guaraní language ^[2]

The Philippines

See also Filipino Americans. Filipino Americans are Americans of Philippine ancestry which trace back to the Philippines, an archipelagic nation in Southeast Asia.

In the Philippines colonial mentality is most evident in the existence of favoritism for Filipino mestizos (primarily those of native Filipino and white ancestry, but also indigenous Filipino and Chinese, and other ethnic groups) in the entertainment industry and mass media, in which they have received extensive exposure despite constituting a small population in the country. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Mestizo is a Spanish term that was coined during the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in Latin Filipinos or the Filipino people are the citizens of the Philippines. White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. Han Chinese ( are an Ethnic group native to China and by most modern definitions the largest single Ethnic group in the world. ^[3]

Of the current demographics of the Philippines, the combined number of all types of Caucasian mestizos is 3. According to the 2000 Census the population of the Philippines was 76504077 6% of the entire Filipino population, in a recent genetic study by Stanford University. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in ^[4] Of that 3. 6%, half are of Spanish ancestral bloodline.

Physical consequences

One of the more adverse physical consequences in the idealization and acceptance of the racial concepts of colonial mentality can be seen in the high rate of consumer demand for skin bleaching products used by some indigenous women in the Philippines. The term skin whitening covers a variety of cosmetic methods used to whiten the Skin. ^[5] Skin-whitening creams have for a long time been popular and widely used in much of the Philippines for the lightening of the skin tones in order to achieve the so-called "Mestizo look". The products are believed to be used primarily by women who have succumbed to the Filipino ideal and colonial doctrine of the idealization of mestizo beauty to the greatest extreme. The consumers of these products, whether conscious or subconsciously, are following the dangerous edict on beauty by continuing to use those products despite the extremely hazardous side effects to their health, including a high risk of various cancers due to many of its active ingredients, including mercury. Mercury (ˈmɜrkjʊri also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum, is a Chemical element with the symbol Hg ( Latinized hydrargyrum These products have been banned in the USA due to racial controversies, but their sale and demand in the Philippines continues to be widespread. ^[6]

Pedigree and forgery

Colonial mentality is also at the root of a long established indigenous/European Filipino tradition of ancestral ethnicity forgery used in the attempt to conform to the idealized "mestizo pedigree" dictated by the former colonial rulers Spanish-Filipino socio-racial hierarchy.

This ethnic ancestral forgery is characterized by the habit of some modern-day indigenous Filipino families of no European ancestry, and claiming mestizo ancestry. Mestizo is a Spanish term that was coined during the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in Latin It is often accompanied by handed-down oral accounts of a presumed Spanish great-great-grandfather and grandmother with no evidence of Spanish blood in their genes, other than a Spanish surname. Most mestizo Filipinos have Spanish-names and surnames inherited from their Spanish ancestors, whereas most indigenous Filipinos with Spanish names and surnames acquired them as a result of the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos ["Alphabetic Catalogue of Surnames"] decreed to be imposed on the entire indigenous Filipino population by the Spanish royal courts in order to facilitate record-keeping and tax collecting. The British historian Arnold J Toynbee once asserted in one of his works that "the Philippines is a Latin American country that was transported to The Catálogo alfabético de apellidos (Alphabetical Catalog of Surnames is a book of Surnames published in the Philippines in the mid-19th century

Latin America

As in the Philippines, colonial mentality can also be seen in much the same form across Latin America. The demographic reality of Latin America is that half of its population is of part-white mixed race, either mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian) or mulatto (mixed white and black) or triracial (of mixed white, black and Amerindian), who together account for approximately 50% of the region's total population. Mestizo is a Spanish term that was coined during the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in Latin White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. Mulatto is a term used to describe a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person whose Ancestry is a mixture of black and white The term black people usually refers to a racial group of Humans with dark Skin color, but the term has also been used to categorise a number of diverse These percentages vary by country. Additionally, a large minority (30% or more, the largest single group in the population, actually) of Latin Americans is solely or mainly of European descent, again in varying percentages (some countries, such as Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile, have large European-descended populations, while in others, such as Bolivia, European descendants make up a very small percentage of society). For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. Uruguay.(official full name in República Oriental del Uruguay;, Oriental Republic of Uruguay) is a country located in the southeastern part of South America |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the The Republic of Bolivia (República de Bolivia) named after Simón Bolívar, is a Landlocked country in central South America. Amerindians, Asians, Blacks, and zambos (mixed black and Amerindian) make up the remaining 20%. Zambo is a Spanish term (the Portuguese language term is Cafuso) that was used in the Spanish Empire and continues to be used today In the Latin American context, the "Ideal of Beauty" is not to be of mixed European and other ancestry, as most Latin Americans already are of that ancestry, but rather to be mostly European ancestry.

In this instance, the Latin American entertainment industry is saturated with criollos (people of mostly Spanish ancestry) or other Europeans, with few mestizos, fewer mulattos, and almost no unmixed blacks or Amerindians. Criollo is a term that dates back to the Spanish colonial Casta system ( Caste system) of Latin America In the Dominican Republic, a predominantly mulatto country, skin whitening products are also quite popular and readily available. The Dominican Republic ( Spanish: República Dominicana;) is a nation located in the Caribbean region and shares the island of Hispaniola with

This European idealisation of beauty has also lead to a condition of ethnic forgery among many Latin Americans. However, in contrast to the Filipino experience where the majority is composed of unmixed native Filipinos of whom some attempt to claim mix-blooded status, in Latin America the norm is for some within the mix-blooded majority to concentrate on attempting to diminish, hide or deny any non-European admixture. These will then often falsely claim to be pure Spanish or other European ancestry in their attempts to conform to the idealized pedigree dictated by their Latin American socio-racial hierarchy. See also Passing - Race

A common joke in the United States, among both Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike, is the presence of more blonde and blue-eyed presenters on US-based Spanish language television networks such as Telemundo and Univisión than on the general public networks such as NBC or CBS. the racial politics of North America, racial passing refers to a person classified by society as a member of one "racial" group choosing to identify The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Telemundo is an American television network based in Hialeah Florida a suburb of Miami Florida. Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States and Puerto Rico. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network.

The Arab world

Nada El-Yassir comments that "in certain areas in the Arab world, the lighter you are the more beautiful you are considered. " She also says that it is common that women in the upper classes dye their hair blond. In some countries the implications of this hierarchy go so far as to affect one's social class and job opportunities.

There is certainly nothing inherently wrong with beauty ideals; all cultures have particular notions about what is aesthetically pleasing. Like other places, India and certain Arabic countries had their own culturally specific beauty ideals. However, these largely fell by the wayside after their encounters with colonial powers.

Iman Al-Jazairi says "Looking at Arabic poetry and novels, it is interesting to see that pre-Islamic poetry up until western colonization at the eighteenth century, women were always described as having long, wavy, black hair, brown skin, black eyes with the white of the eyes very white. Arabic poetry ( Arabic, الِشعر العربي ash-shi`ru 'l-`arabiy) is the earliest form of Arabic literature. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The body proportions were also bigger. During the later part of the nineteenth century and until very recently, light skinned, blond women have usurped the beauty standard in modern Arabic literature. ^[7]

The former Soviet Union

In some of the successor states of the former USSR much of the local, ethnically non-Russian population sees Russian culture as superior to the local ones. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Russian people (Русские— Russkie) are an East Slavic Ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries Russian culture is one that is rich and colorful Russians have a rich cuisine. This has been the case in Ukraine, for example, one of the more advanced successors, whose post-Soviet history has been marked by a preference for all things Russian and an overwhelming presence of the Russian language in politics, television, the internet and music, at least. Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages

Quebec

The idea that some Quebecers hold a colonial mentality, due to the conquest of Quebec by the British and subsequent domination by English Canada is important in a segment of Québécois intellectual thought, notably within the Quebec nationalist and independence movements. The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following English Canadians a term usually meaning English-speaking Canadians as opposed to A Québécois or Quebecois (pronounced) or in the feminine Québécoise (pronounced) (plural Québécoises) is a native or resident of the An intellectual (from the adjective meaning "involving thought and reason" is a person who tries to use his or her Intelligence and analytical thinking, Quebec nationalism is a contemporary nationalist movement in Canada similar to what is found in other multi-ethnic and multi-lingual regions of the world The Quebec sovereignty movement ( Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement aimed at either attaining independent statehood ( Sovereignty) or some These thinkers portray the relationship of Canada and Quebec as a dominant-dominated relationship and often consider the Quiet Revolution an event of decolonization. The Quiet Revolution ( Révolution tranquille) was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective Secularization Decolonization refers to the undoing of Colonialism, the establishment of governance or authority through the creation of settlements by another country or jurisdiction Those who are in favour of independence hold that Quebec sovereignty is another necessary decolonizing step. Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself The colonial mentality concept has also been used to criticize the relationship some Québécois have with France, as Quebec was a colony of France in the era of New France. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Viceroyalty of New France (Nouvelle-France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the

See also

• Acculturation
• Colonialism
• Colorism
• Creolization
• Cultural assimilation
• Cultural identity
• Cultural Alienation
• Cultural cringe
• Enculturation
• Ethnocide
• Globalization
• Hamitic theory
• Intercultural competence
• Language shift
• Melting pot
• Passing (racial identity)
• Paper Bag Party
• Race
• Racialism
• Racism
• Social interpretations of race
• Syncretism
• Westernization

References

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