UNIV 3539 Blog

American and German racial views of those times differed only in manner. Americans preferred a social torture while the Germans went toward a more brutal physical torture to people they felt were inferior. However, it is wrong to think that one is better than the other. While the Americans weren't outwardly committing genocide, covered up murders still continued to happen toward people who were thought to be less than the majority. There is still a constant hierarchy of race seen in both cultures, adding to their similarity. The only main difference is that in America it is seen as proper to keep down with poverty, humiliate, and deny basic human rights the people who are lower than you on the ladder while Germany thinks it is more appropriate to get rid of them all together in the most brutal ways.
Upon reflection, I am actually surprised that a type of Holocaust did not happen in America because of the severe racial prejudice that prevailed. However, with that embracing of mental torture and secrecy toward racial killings, Americans prevented a mass genocide of so-called "inferior" races because such an act must be in the open and must be backed by an urge to completely disintegrate an entire group of people instead of a believe that they have their uses but should be kept down in their supposed place.

the views were very similar. America was having issues with African Americans at home and did not care for eastern europeans. America blamed African Americans for its trouble just as germany blamed the jews for its troubles. they way in which they differed was that the hate for the jews in germany was realitivly new, where as the issue with racism in america had been around a bit longer. i doubt something akin to the holocoust could have happened in america because african americans still had a few, though seperate rights and did work towards their rights.

American and German racial views were similar in the respect that both countries truly did believe the white race was the best race and any other race was inferior. In Germany, it was primarily the Jews; in the US, it was primarily the blacks. They differed in that the Germans attempted to extinguish the other races by putting them to death and executing them; whereas the Americans simply used the blacks as slave labor. I think that if the US were not a democracy, something like the holocaust could have happened. Groups like the KKK existed in the US to try to extinguish the black race, however, governmental controls in society made it impossible for them to succeed.

American and German racial views were similar in many ways. Both countries were against race mixing. They both believed that the white race was superior; they both enslaved other races, they both experimented on the people they enslaved.
The racial views differed in that America?s discrimination was based on the color of the skin; Germany?s was based on ethnic background. America discriminated on lower socio-economic status, Germany did not. America looked at handicapped people as needing special attention; Germany looked at them as a disgrace to society,
I think something akin to the holocaust could have happened in the United States during slavery, the only reason it did not happen was because the slave masters needed the slaves for their free labor.

American and German views were similar in that one race was believed to to superior to others. In the United states it was the belief that White Americans were superior to all other races. African Americans, Hispanics, and all other races were made to feel inferior to White Americans. The only difference in Germany and the United States is that not as many African Americans were killed as the Jews were in Germany. In the United States African Americans were beaten and lynched because of their race. Something akin to this had already occured in the United States. It was called slavery. However during this time there were various laws that had been implemented to prevent this for happening on a large scale. There were hate groups that commited random acts of violence against African Americans.

The Nazis saw no use for Jews, and believed that their only option was to eradicate such people. They held a false notion that "pure" Germans were more important than everyone else because of their ancestory. Jewish people were banned from several fields including medicine, law, and civil service. African-Americans were similarly subjected to discrimination in the United States. The key difference between the injustice directed toward the Jews in Germany and African-Americans in America is that Jews were viewed as having NO value to society, while African-Americans were exploited for their labor. It's important to note, however, that although African-Americans were utlized for their labor value, they were not treated as humans that are valuable. Slave owners saw value in their slaves. Germans saw no value in Jews. Either way, both groups of people were not treated with respect for the much greater value that they truly possessed.

Both the Americans and Germans were ignorant to the fact that they believed in certain races being superior than others, firstly. The Americans felt that being of European descendent made them better, which in turn, gave them reason to mistreat non- Europeans, especially African Americans. The Jews were harshly mistreated in Nazi Germany because of this same ungodly belief. The Germans felt that they were above the rest and felt as if the Jews were so low in class that they didn't deserve to live. They were killed without remorse. Though, the U.S. killed many who they felt were inferior to the so called "superior class", they had other reasons for doing so other than they were of a different race. This ,however, didn't make it right, but I guess you can say they didn't commit genocide as the Germans did. The only reason that I believe this didn't happen in the U.S. is because of greed. Why would they have killed the people who they had legally enslaved? This would have been retarded on their part. The Europeans were getting free labor and everything else you can think of from enslaved African Americans. They made them rich and prosperous. It would have been crazy for them to have killed the African Americans off. This is the reason they were brought to this land. Even still all individuals were undoubtedly wrong, and will have to pay for their sins later.

Americans and Germans both had a goal of keeping the white race pure. They both felt they could control others by making rules which would not be followed. America slowed the influx of immigrants by changing immigration laws, but the Germans took a much harsher approach with genocide.
In the south, Americans viewed the blacks and other inferior races as property which they needed on the plantation. They would not murder unless absolutely necessary. They did not feel inferior to Black Americans. The Germans felt inferior to the Jewish people because they were successful at business. They also blamed the Jews for their lot in life.
Could something like the Holocaust have happened in America? I don?t believe so since America viewed the inferior race as property. Did racists in America do a terrible thing? Most definitely yes!!

The way that I see it is their views on race where very similar. They both viewed one race as superior to another, so there was not much difference as far as I am concerned. These racial views really came about with Hitlers riegn, but the Americas where built on hating people because they where of a different race. As far as the Holocaust type situation happening in America I think that it could, the lynching of innocent black people in unknown numbers just because they where black is not to far from the Holocaust.

The Peace Conference geographically, economically, and politically hurt Germany, then in turn hurt everyone because another world war resulted because Germany was severely punished, making them rebellious later. They lost so much land and possessions because they were the cause of the war. Economically, it seemed that everyone was headed towards recovery except Germany, of course. They were made to pay money back to many for this war. The conference ordered them to reimburse accordingly. Politically, many countries were joining together to make a better, brighter future. There was a springtime of nations as old empires disappeared and new countries emerged with a sense of new pride. However, the struggling Germany had to do something as well. Condemning the Treaty of Versailles, they were led by Adolph Hitler who promised renewed honor and power, promised that the burdens placed on them by the treaty would be uplifted, and promised work, food, and high rate of employment.

The United States wanted peace. They didn?t waste to have to fight another man?s war again. They felt that joining the League of Nations would eventually drag them back into a war in which they had nothing to do with.

The U.S. may have prevented WWII from happening if they were actively involved. The opposing counties may have been hesitant to draw their weapons if they had known that the powerful U.S. would have intervened. The fact that there weren?t any major forces against Hitler and his army made him eager and ready to fight.

I?m not sure if the U.S. participation would have saved the world from WWII, but I do believe that it would have maybe postponed it, and maybe then a compromise could have been made. Because there weren?t any major obstacles, Hitler felt that the weak countries were pushovers.

I think the League of Nations was weak and could not prevent Hitler from disarmament because they showed themselves to be vulnerable when they did not step in and rescue Ethiopia when the Italians invaded. The Italians conquered this territory without consequences and repercussions from the League of Nations, which lacked the will to react. Seeing that this is case, especially after the Japanese seized Manchuria, Hitler was determined to do the same for Germany.

While America has struggled with the issues of racism and equality, I do not think things ever escalated to anything close to what happened during World War II in Germany. I also do not think anything like that could have happened in America. With our system of government, the authoritarian rule and secrecy would never have been able to take place. Also, I do not think the American people would have gone along with the kinds of horrors that occurred in Germany, such as an attempt at elimination of human beings.

However, there are some similarities between the two situations. In both countries, people were discriminated against, forced into labor, and killed based on one factor of their being, whether it be race, religion, or mental state. Before World War II began, the Jews were forced into ghettoes, forced out of their jobs, and the public school system. It is here that I can see the most similarities to what happened in America. The segregation and loss of rights is very much alike. The Jews being forced into slave labor also recalls the enslavement of African Americans in the United States.

American and German racial views were very similar. They both felt like the white race was the supreme race. They differed only in the way they handled the racism. The Americans used discrimination and segregation as a means of allowing them few human rights in societies. The Germans felt that they should just get rid of the whole race of people all together. I think that without the efforts of a few people there could have very well been an extermination of a black race of people like Germany practiced. I also think that if we were not a democracy, this may have became a reality.