Research Paper on:
Racism According to Joyce Appleby and David Roediger

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of a sense of whiteness" (1991, p. 8). Building on the work of Herbert Gutman and George Rawick, Roediger argues that European-descended immigrant workers built their identity on their  race, as an alternative labor source to the slave of the South (Walkowitz, 1994). This enabled European immigrants to differentiate themselves from black slave labor, while permitting workers to  utilize the "statuses and privileges conferred by race," which make up for, to a certain extent, the "alienating and exploitative" nature of class relationships (Roediger, 1991, p. 13). The following  examination of Roedigers analysis of early American racism tests his hypothesis by looking for support from Joyce Applebys Recollections of the Early Republic. This text offers condensed versions of seven  examples of early American memoirs. The autobiographical accounts of early American life are highly enlightening about that era. The first autobiography in Applebys book is that of John Ball  (1794-1884). Ball was a New Englander, who craved education, and managed to obtain it. Ball tried several business ventures, several of which were in conjunction with his sister Deborah, who  had a "vigorous body and mind" (2). While on a trip through Mexico, Ball comments that the "natives are indolent, apparently happy in their ways" (33). He expresses his regret  that their numbers (like those of "our own natives") are dwindling. As this suggests, Ball is not unsympathetic toward the natives, whom he obviously views as "other," but that is  where his identification with them stops. Ball speaks of their dwindling numbers with a tone of regret, but no real sympathy. His manner and tone are roughly equivalent to the  way that someone might express concern about a dwindling African elephant population. While this substantiates Roedigers argument, from one perspective, it does not substantiate it fully. This is because