
The forgotten history of human zoos - mercurial
http://www.the-open-mind.com/deep-racism-the-forgotten-history-of-human-zoos-1/
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wodenokoto
I have a pet-peeve about articles that tries to paint a bad thing even worse.

This is bad enough as is. You do not need to exaggerate and call fences cages.

The Paris world fair is also a bit of a (dark) gray area. If you read the
wikipedia article, it seems less clear that these are people who are kidnapped
into a zoo and more like people hired to enact a stereotypic view of their
culture.

Moreover, the 1931 exhibit was setup to show cultural diversity and compassion
towards the colonies. It was obviously a marketing stunt, attempting to
legitimize an illicit sovereignty, but it is not unfair to expect those
participants to be treated better and not die within the year.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Colonial_Exposition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Colonial_Exposition)

The article also focuses heavily on white peoples explotation, but again
wikipedia points to the oldest known human zoo from the 1500's in Mexico.
Interesting stuff.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_zoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_zoo)

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Rebelgecko
Thanks for making those points. A lot of the articles on the linked site seem
questionable (to put it very very mildly).

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Mikeb85
And yet we're still smug about the fact we're so 'enlightened'.

Meanwhile, this was happening not even 100 years ago.

Maybe a little historical perspective is needed next time we demonize others
for what we consider overly-conservative values, in light of the fact that
western society hasn't exactly been particularly progressive throughout the
ages...

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Potando
You only have to look at the present to see that we aren't properly
enlightened yet. Look at the range of sexualities that are still criminalized:
pedophilia, bestiality, incest. We make a show of being accepting of
homosexuality, but it's a farce when we realize that we only accept it because
it's been repeatedly promoted by bold members of that group willing to risk it
all in an attempt to change society. People (in the UK at least) are still
being imprisoned for having consensual sex with their adult relatives. It's
still a common fear that pedophiles shouldn't be left alone with children in
case they rape them. Much like the fear of homosexual men was 50-odd years ago
(turns out not all gays are rapists after all). Farmers regularly rape animals
for profit, but if they do it for pleasure, it's a crime.

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Mikeb85
Well that escalated quickly.

I was thinking more along the lines of not being too harsh on those with more
'traditional values'. Like our Muslim neighbours, or those who think women
should stay at home, or maybe are uncomfortable with modern ideas of gender
and sexuality.

Not sure I'd throw in paedophilia (since minors are unable to legally consent
to sex with adults), or bestiality (animals definitely can't consent to that),
or incest (if it results in a child it can have severe consequences for said
child).

Regardless, while it's great that we now recognize people of other races are
equal (at least nominally), we shouldn't be too smug when denouncing others
who aren't as 'progressive' as we are (see all the propaganda regarding
homosexuality in Russia - where it's actually legal; versus India where same
sex relations are illegal).

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Lawtonfogle
>Not sure I'd throw in paedophilia (since minors are unable to legally consent
to sex with adults), or bestiality (animals definitely can't consent to that),
or incest (if it results in a child it can have severe consequences for said
child).

I don't remember asking the cow if it wanted to be made into a burger.

Also, we don't ban those with genetic disorders from having children. We
educate them and try to help them, but we ban them.

As for the first one, it is a harder topic to deal with, but look at the
things we ban that don't hurt children that could potentially serve as a
substitute.

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rtpg
seeing "1931" in there is so depressing. I realise we've made progress since
then, but that still isn't very far on a "cultural mentality" scale

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fit2rule
Australia, 1967. Aborigines are finally recognized as persons and granted
rights under the Constitution. Up until then, they were to be treated as
'native fauna' \- i.e. animals.

[http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/ab...](http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/aboriginal-
history-timeline-1900-1969)

~~~
xtrumanx
I've heard of the forced removal of children from their families but this
timeline paints a really dark picture for me of Australia's history. Makes
early 20th century Australia seems comparable if not worse than apartheid
South Africa.

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fit2rule
Its a dirty little secret, but Australia is still a very racist and intolerant
place. Basically, Australia got away with its own "slow and steady" apartheid
- a true travesty, to this day, and which still causes untold pain and
suffering to a portion of its population. Alas, this is the price paid by
generations for the luxury most Australians enjoy today. As an ex-pat, I hope
to see things change, but I'm very much afraid that the more things get swept
under the rug the more they stay the same.

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aaron695
They still exist.

Across the world we have many locations(Amazon and some islands) where we have
'quaint' tribes living in isolation, with people from the outside more or less
forbidden from visiting them so the rest of the world can still have the
wonder of real life tribes living amongst us.

The fact there is quite a movement(often amongst the left) to encourage tribal
societies to stay technology backwards shows people still think it's ok to
keep others as entertainment.

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ramblerman
I think the discussion on whether to bring these tribes into the 21st century
or not is an interesting one.

Linking it to human zoos is just stupid. It's apples and oranges.

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GuiA
The emergence of modern zoological gardens is intimately tied to colonialism;
given the prevailing mentality at the time (the world is a God given property
to the white man), these horrors are sadly unsurprising. I really recommend
the book "New Worlds, New Animals: From Menagerie to Zoological Park in the
Nineteenth Century" for an in depth history of zoos amd treatment of that
colonialism connection, it's fascinating.

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JoeAltmaier
Much of this was terrible. Some of it was little different from Epcot Center -
a cross-cultural experience arranged for mutual benefit.

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_cudgel
Did I mistakenly go to Tumblr?

