Alternate History Challenge: Earliest possible societal rejection of Racism.

Basically, what is the earliest possible time that racism/racialism/ethnic prejudice/etc become as discredited by the bulk of society as they are as in OTL 2011, or is a fringe ideology ala modern Neo-Nazism/White Nationalism.

Any POD from the start of human history applies.

Bonus points if done before 1900.
 
well at lest in the British/English world before colonization was very Anti-slavery (spiting on the Spanish for it) run away slaves or West Africans that joined British Ships often became "English" English seen as a cultural not a race, I'm unsure how you hold onto that view point and grow it (few Englishmen on the island had to deal with non-whites so the idea of cultural Englishness is vaguer)
 
I think what really led to racism was the great divergence separating European living standards from African and Asian ones. Perhaps if Alexander and his successors spread Greek culture from Italy to East Africa, the separation may not have been as entrenched.
 

Thande

Donor
I think it's misleading to suggest the world has always been as 'racist' as it was in the nineteenth century, with apologism for slavery and colonialism and so forth. I'm not going the other way and suggesting everything was a shiny happy tolerant utopia before then, but the whole "These people have a different skin colour and therefore are inferior to us and must serve us" idea wasn't really mainstream back in 1600 or whatever. People have always been suspicious of those different people over in the next country/province/city/village/street, but that's not really the same thing, and unlike race-based prejudice that's one aspect of humanity that will never go away.
 
I would agree with Thande here. In fact the earliest you could "get rid of it" is have it not show up at all. Not really sure how to do that though.
 
Basically, what is the earliest possible time that racism/racialism/ethnic prejudice/etc become as discredited by the bulk of society as they are as in OTL 2011, or is a fringe ideology ala modern Neo-Nazism/White Nationalism.

Any POD from the start of human history applies.

Bonus points if done before 1900.

I believe this became so by the early 1970s IOTL........at least here in the U.S.

However, though, I do believe that a POD back until just after WWII is quite doable, and perhaps maybe even one going as back as just after the abolition of slavery in some areas. :D

@thande: Here in N. America, I'm of the opinion that it most likely started with the Puritans and the planters during the Colonial Era as far as the common folks go.
 
Could making Abyssinia large enough do the trick? Or Axum, as it was known long, long ago?

If the Axumites are trading on equal footing with Romans and Byzantines, that would help, but with humanity having such short memories, there would have to be some continuity of that, most likely.

Or, is therea way to make Abyssinia (or is it 2 "b"s? Both look weird right now) a strong Christian nation, at least some brand of Christian, so when the Crusaders come in cotnact, they think, "It's the mythical Prestor John," thus elevating them in peoples' eyes. (Granted, I haven't read "Ethiopia of the West" yet so maybe that's happening there?)

Which would lead to possible problems with Protestantism, but even that need not be huge if they're actually closer to the Protestant Church (the butterflies can be enormous) or if someone from there becomes a major Protestant leader a la Luther, Knox, Calvin, etc.

Of coruse, that doesn't help with racism involving Asian peoples, both against and by them, but it's a start.
 
Yeah, I was only thinking of racism involving Europeans; the historical racism of Asians might be a bit harder to crack, though I don't think it's quite as virulent as the genetic/heritage-based racism of the social darwinist/eugenicist crowd.

I think the simplest way is to just ASBwave away colonialism entirely, which sounds awesome, except it's, well, ASB. More realistically, what we now know as racialism didn't really exist in the early days of the BE, it mostly arose in the 19th century. I read a book somewhere that it arose largely because of "lusty colored men preying on pure white women and girls", and as more of the latter came to the colonies, those fears intensified.
 
.
I think the simplest way is to just ASBwave away colonialism entirely, which sounds awesome, except it's, well, ASB.

I would have to agree, since the root of racism cames from conquest and the putting down of the defeated people, they can't be as good as us because we beat them. Likewise to keep a more numerious people under control you need to promote the superiority of the invaders. This is how the British controlled their Empire.

Thats said, the removal of slavery would be a good place to start, so go back to Egypt or Greece at their height and just have them kill their captives rather than enslave them. More bloody at the time, but it would remove racism.
 
Well slavery and racism are different things, if slavery that was not based on race or colour proceeded to be a norm in societies of Europe, even as serfdom, then the major issue of racism would be replaced with the issue of classism.
 
You would have to remove the technological disparity between the peoples of the world, and that would take some doing. As long as there are massive technological differences between groups - as there were in the 19th century - the more advanced one will look for reasons for it, and often that reason will be "we must be cleverer than them."

Having a few African nations modernise as Japan did would certainly help. A couple more successful slave rebellions, and few more battles that go the same way as Adowa, and you might see more European respect for Africans at an earlier stage.

That said, Japanese technology didn't stop racism against the Japanese: it just made them scarier to Europeans. Still, I'd rather be feared than despised...
 
Top