A controversial topic that still plagues today’s society is that of racism. Although some may say in fact that there was no racism in this time, others dispute it. Racism has been an issue for quite some time, and although it is not as prevalent in today’s society it still exists. After reading a few articles on the topic I have reason to believe that racism is only arbitrary and the definition of it is different depending on who you ask. I personally feel that racism has always been an issue. We as humans are constantly categorizing others based on a myriad of things. We discriminate against religion, skin color, ethnicity, and other attributes.
During the Elizabethan Age in England, 1485-1603, explorers are discovering new lands and returning with people of different nationalities. Habib a Shakespeare and English Renaissance scholar points out that adventurers John Hawkins, John Lok, and Martin Frobisher were among those raiding African coastal villages, kidnapping inhabitants and bringing them back to England. This brings a somewhat new view toward others and also a new group in which to discriminate against. Until recently in our society white and black couples were not accepted and this idea possibly stems from this time period if not further back. While reading “Othello” by William Shakespeare, you get a glimpse of how a successful black male is looked down upon based on his skin color. The citizens of Venice frown upon his marriage to a white woman.
“Until now people have assumed the Elizabethans did not know people of color,” says Habib “We now have documented proof of the residences of black people, which must be reckoned into the colors of Shakespeare’s world, in a very literal sense.” The other races became an invisible community amongst the English and eventually absorbed into society. In this time period they had no official categorization of race and therefore it was difficult to determine. It wasn’t just people of color, but also they were...