Nieberger 1

Roger Nieberger

Professor Fiona Harris-Ramsby

ENGL-1050-401

24 February 2017

Othering

In order for this essay to truly have meaning, I believe that we need to begin by defining

othering. What is othering? According to an email I received from Professor Fiona Harris-

Ramsby, she states, it is any act of speech or behavior that positions a minority group as a

them rather than an us. Also, according to a blog post by Yiannis Gabriel:

Othering is a process that goes beyond mere scapegoating and denigration it denies

the Other those defining characteristics of the Same, reason, dignity, love, pride,

heroism, nobility, and ultimately any entitlement to human rights. Whether the Other is

a racial or a religious group, a gender group, a sexual minority or a nation, it is made rife

for exploitation, oppression and indeed genocide by denying its essential humanity.

I believe that othering can be done by a group of people to another group of people, or it can

be done one person to another. I believe it to be anyone that denies humanity to another

individual regardless of minority or majority status. In America othering has been going on for

hundreds of years, and I believe that othering still goes on today in many forms. This essay

will give examples of how othering in its many forms is all around us, but not recognized.

Frederick Douglass was othered because he was black. This is quite evident in the

language that he uses in the Fourth of July speech that he gave in 1852.
 Nieberger 2

It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. This, to

you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. It carries your minds

back to the day, and to the act of your great deliverance; and to the signs, and to the

wonders, associated with that act, and that day. This celebration also marks the

beginning of another year of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of

America is now 76 years old. (461)

As you can see from his writing here, he doesnt include himself in this celebration. We find out

later in his speech that he excludes himself from this celebration because of the othering that

is being administered on the slaves (blacks) of this country. He states:

Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day?

What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great

principles of political freedom and natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of

Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble

offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude

for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? (465)

We can see here that blacks are feeling othered at this time in history. People of the majority

didnt see it that way though. That is why slavery and segregation lasted for so long in this

country. This is an example of racial othering.

Mary Gordon makes reference in her writing to the fact of feeling different because of

being an immigrant to this country. She feels like she doesnt really fit in anywhere. She states:

All that Americana-Plymouth Rock, Gettysburg, Mount Vernon, Valley Forge-it all

inhabits for me a blurred abstraction with far less hold on my imagination than the
 Nieberger 3

Bastille or Hampton Court. I suppose Ive always known that my uninterest in it contains

a large component of the willed: I am American, and those places purport to be my

history. But they are not mine. Ellis Island is, though; its the one place I can be sure my

people are connected to. (432)

She feels different because of her immigration background. She feels a great connection with

Ellis Island and what the immigrants went through to get into this country. She states at the end

of her writing:

I have never been the victim of overt discrimination; nothing I have wanted has been

denied me because of the accidents of blood. I have found in traveling to Ellis Island an

important piece of evidence that could remind me I was right to feel my differentness.

Something had happened to my people on that island, a result of the eternal

wrongheadedness of American protectionism and the predictabilities of simple greed.

(434)

We can see that she feels that she is connected to the ghosts of Ellis Island, and she feels their

pain of being othered. You can see throughout this piece that she points out how America

was being so protective of itself that othering was happening to many minorities that were

trying to come to this country. Once again the othering was happening, but it wasnt

recognized by the majority at the time. This is an example of immigrant othering.

Gloria Anzalda is another writer in our textbook that has been othered. She states, I

remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess-that was good for three licks on the

knuckles with a sharp ruler. (521) She was not only being othered, but also tortured for

being different. She also stated, At Pan American University, I and all Chicano students were
 Nieberger 4

required to take two speech classes. Their purpose: to get rid of our accents. (522) Talk about

being othered. Chicano students were being othered, but the administration of Pan

American University didnt see it. This is an example of language othering.

I know that we want to think that the world is getting better at being accepting of

people the way they are, but the truth of the matter is that many people are still being

othered. I will prove my point by using an example of othering that recently happened to

one of our fellow classmates, Rafael Granado. This example could be any one of the three types

of othering that I have already given examples depending on how Rafaels neighbor was

viewing Rafael in his mind. In Rafaels week four discussion he says, I have a neighbor that

when he sees me I speak English to him but he says I dont speak Spanish. I recently told him

Im speaking English to you so we can talk. Some people dont want to understand others. His

neighbor has already othered Rafael as being non communicative to him, although Rafael can

speak English and communicate with his neighbor just fine. I do apologize for your neighbors

ignorance, but it does prove my point that othering still happens today, but it isnt

recognized. I am hopeful that othering will stop in this country, but it will take time. Former

President Barack Obama said it best when he said, This union may never be perfect, but

generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. (482) I dont think that

othering will disappear in my lifetime, but to eliminate it is a worthy goal to try to achieve.

Othering still happens today, but this doesnt make it right. It is not right, and we all need to

be more compassionate towards one another. We, as a society, need to recognize the

othering that goes on, and put a stop to it.

 Nieberger 5

Works Cited

Anzalda, Gloria. How to Tame a Wild Tongue. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading

and Writing 8th ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. New Jersey: Pearson, 2012. 521-528

Print.

Douglass, Frederick. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July. George and Trimbur. 460-475

Print.

Gabriel, Yiannis. The Other and Othering A Short Introduction. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2017

Gordon, Mary. More than Just a Shrine: Paying Homage to the Ghosts of Ellis Island. George

and Trimbur. 431-435 Print.

Obama, Barack. A More Perfect Union. George and Trimbur. 476-483 Print.