Ch 20

Colonial rule ended up disturbing the way of life that people had, and the concept of racism was becoming more widespread at an extremely fast rate, especially in places like Africa. The cultural identities that people had were being altered, and cultures were changing due to colonial rule. One aspect where change can be seen is in the way people viewed education. The idea of education was enlightening to many people, especially the illiterate. They saw it as a chance to move up in society, and attain better jobs, to escape from former obligations that they had, such as forced labor.  Along with embracing education, many people embraced other European ideas, for example the way that building and houses were designed, and the little girl fantasy of getting married in a white dress. Many people saw the colonial rule progress as a path to a better future, hoping to achieve a better life for themselves and their families. In India many reforms were taking place, people sought to change the Indian culture that was free of idolatry, child marriages, caste, and discrimination against women, while keeping their mindset along the texts of Hinduism. I think that while I was reading this, this particular section stood out to me because it mentioned the country that my ancestors are from. I may have not been born in India, or grown up in a traditional Indian household, and I think that has a lot to do because of the reforms that started years and years ago. For example, all of those horrid practices that took place, like child marriages, and the discrimination against women, were still part of the Indian culture today, I don’t think that I would be the person that I am today. Especially the part that has to due with discrimination against women, everyone knows that people do not see women equal to men in the society that we live in today. Especially in foreign countries outside of the U.S. like India and the middle east for example. Imagine what it was like before the reforms and colonial rule took place. So, I am glad that these reforms took place, and people became educated because it opened up new doors for many people, who previously were naïve to the rights they had as human beings.