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Black racial discrimination
Racial discrimination in the US
Racial discrimination in the US
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Racism has been, and currently is, one of the most dominant forms of discrimination in our world. The minorities, such as those of African and Asian descent, are exposed to varying degrees of maltreatment and social pressure simply due to the color of their skin. Scientists, and other powerful figures of society have used science to try and solidify this discrimination. Using IQ tests, some attempt to claim that the minorities are simply much less intelligent than their Caucasian counterpart. Some have even gone so far to claim that those other than Caucasian are biologically inferior by nature. This construction of racism is purely social, so what exactly are these people basing their right to test race and IQ on? IQ tests and race should not be tested in correlation, simply because it encourages the spread of racial discrimination and the test themselves are basely inaccurate.
Not all scientists have the intention of their work being used to back racism, however data that is controversial can easily be skewed, and used to support discriminatory views. Some scientists even skew their own data unconsciously. This is due to what Charles W. Mills calls The Racial Contract. He states that human beings are innately ignorant, and “whites will in general be unable to understand the world they themselves have produced.” Mills believes that we can become racist without even realizing because society has blinded us. Samuel George Morton is a famous case of a scientist whom unintentionally invalidated his experiment due to his natural racial bias. Morton obtained a vast collection of skulls from the various races, and measured their average volume. At first, he used flax seed to pack into the skulls. It seems, as Stephen Jay Gould anal...
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Proctor, in Cancer Wars, asks a very important question. “Who gains from knowledge (or ignorance) of a particular sort and who loses?” There is absolutely nothing gained from the study of race and IQ. It has not provided us with any information that can be used to better our society. Yet, the people who are placed into these minority groups have everything to lose. They have been pushed into a life of degradation and discrimination simply because of a term, 'race'. IQ tests do not provide an accurate look at any persons intelligence, let alone the intellectual capacity of an entire group of people. Nor does intelligence have any hereditary value, so thus it is based on the individual, not ancestry. Therefore, race and IQ should not be studied on an individual basis, let alone in correlation. It only provides a base for racism even with the best of intentions.
In his article, “None of the Above: What IQ Doesn’t Tell You about Race” journalist Malcolm Gladwell refutes the notion that intelligence is based on genetics and argues that IQ is not just based on an individual’s level of thinking but also on the location where an individual resides. In 1984, James Flynn discovered that over the years, the IQ of people around the world had been increasing by three points per decade. This is now known as the Flynn effect. The IQ fundamentalists around the world believe that IQ score shows an individual’s level of thinking and it is based on genetics. However, Flynn effect disproves this
Racism has existed through the world for centuries and has been the primary reason for numerous conflicts, wars and other human tragedies all over the planet. From 16th to 19th-century blacks were taken from their homes and families and taken for the slave trade. They were often overworked, beaten and killed. Being black was not the best thing you could be in 1950’s. Racism is not something that is inborn, it is what people created. In the article, “We’re all racist. But racism by white people matters more”, Mona Chalabi says “I don’t think white people are born with some sort of racism gene – the main thing that explains those different scores is the way that society has geared up our brains differently.” It is our society that is ignorant,
The Bell Curve is a book originally published in 1994. It was written by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray to explain the variations of intelligence in American Society. They accomplished this by using statistical analysis, for the purpose of raising warnings regarding the consequences of the intelligence gap. This was also made to propose a national social policy with the goal of mitigating bad consequences that have been attributed to this intelligence gap. Much of the information is widely considered controversial. An example of this is the low African-American scores compared to whites and Asians, and genetic factors in intelligence abilities. The introduction of the book starts with a brief history of intelligence theory and recent developments in intelligence thought and testing. The author creates six assumptions that has to do with the validity of the “classical” cognitive testing techniques.
The field of psychology has continuously endeavored to find an appropriate method in evaluating intelligence. The Stanford-Binet intelligence test is one of pioneering tests created to measure facets of intelligence, and it is still being utilized today (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). Weschler created several intelligence tests focusing on age range in relation to intelligence (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). While these tests are staples in the psychological testing community, there are many criticisms of intelligence testing. One such criticism is the absence of race and culture as influential factors of intelligence (Carroll, 2010).
Medical research in the United States has a disgraceful history of exploitative studies in which African Americans were targets of abuse in the name of medical and scientific progress. African Americans have been used as the testing ground for drugs, treatments, and procedures since the time of slavery. The tolerance of the human frame and the endurance of the soul have been pushed to the limit in many of these experiments. From the physical demands on plantation work and the torturous treatment of slavery to the mental anguish inflicted on a slave’s soul by their masters, blacks have received deplorable treatment sanctioned by a white society. The end of slavery and the ushering in of the twenty first century did not end the torturous treatment and mental abuse. African Americans have been used for medical experimentation without consent for decades. Ironically they are treated as inferior and often given fewer rights than others, but amazingly their cells and bodies are treated as equals in laboratories for medical research, the results of which can save, extend and enhance the lives of others. Although color lines that are drawn in many aspects of life and inequitable treatment doled out based on the depth of the color of one’s skin, actually astounding results from medical experimentation on African Americans has produced drugs, cures and treatments for even those who do not value people of color, leaving the question of ethics and equity hanging in the balance.
Women’s Brains deals with the abuse of scientific data in order to “prove” negative social analyses with prejudiced groups such as women, blacks, and poor people. Evolutionary biologist Stephen Gould points out the flaws in the scientific methods of various scientists and correctly asserts that many scientists incorrectly used anthropometric data to support social analyses that degrade prejudiced groups.
Throughout history, and in today’s society, race has been a debated topic. Even today the question about whether race influences intelligence, athletic ability, and creativeness is still discussed. Through scientific research it is known that race contributes nothing to how a person thinks, feels, or acts and that is it society that creates these standards. When looking into the past there was much controversy about blacks and their self worth. According to the Thomas Jefferson’s article “Notes on the State of Virginia” blacks and whites are naturally different and fixed by nature. In other words blacks are naturally not as intelligent as whites, but today’s knowledge argues, and proves, otherwise. There is also argument about the possibility that blacks are inferior to whites because of their environment. In the movie “Race, the Power of Illusion” teenagers of many different races and ethnic backgrounds were tested to determine how different they really are from one another. In the end, everyone finds out they may not be as different as originally thought. Society as a whole needs to realize we, as Americans, are more alike than we think. If everyone can get over skin color as a classification, then society will have overcome a huge barrier and the future for equality will become clearer.
Society shapes racial inequality in the modern United States and Wayne Brekhus (2015) looks at how social marking is an element of culture in American society. When discussing race, people tend to talk about discrimination against marginalized communities (i.e. non-whites, females, homosexuals, etc.). They actively look at the marked category--those marginalized communities-- and the unmarked goes ignored. Berkhus believes that there are two possible reasons why these unmarked categories are avoided. Either the issue is psychological where individuals “deliberate[ly] disciplin[e] the mind to ignore the irrelevant” or it is sociological and is caused by the “deeply ingrained unconscious pattern of cultural or subcultural selective attention
In common sense thought, race is simply a fact: humans are not all alike, there are whites, blacks and yellows, maybe reds and browns too, and these different kinds are races, and that's just a feature of the way the world is. However, recent work on the concept of "race" shows that "race" and "race"-talk can be understood by analogy to what Foucault suggests about psychiatry and mental illness coming into being together: (1) it is now beginning to appear than "race" and racism came into existence together as well. It is racism that has made talk of race something that we can take seriously. A statement attributing intelligence or laziness to a person on the basis of her/ his skin color, can only be judged true if there are resources in the vocabulary for associating personality traits with skin colors. The major resource providing this association is the concept of race.
Talking about the causes and effects of racial discrimination can go many ways. First off, let me just clarify that am a stronger believer in the fact that racism is taught. You don’t pop fresh out of the womb spewing racist slurs at your doctor. It is taught by stereotypes being spread by your family and acquaintances around you. I remember plenty of times throughout high school when close friends of mine would be angry with a person of a different race for no real reason and they would use slurs incredibly offensive towards that person, even if they did say behind their back it proved that racism is at large, larger than it should be. Sometimes it wasn’t even subconsciously, they were just blatantly racist!
Recently, some scientists have advocated the elimination of race from scientific studies altogether. They argue that it is not a useful category for the study of human subjects. Others argue just as strongly that it is. It will be helpful to first examine the historical development of the concept of race before examining the usefulness of race in scientific investigations.
“Since the human genome has been mapped, debates within the scientific community about race have intensified. When you look at the human genome, you cannot find race…” (Freeman). Biological evidence suggests there are genetic codes for everything from eye and hair color to how tall someone will grow. Those genetic codes are based on inheritance and where family history has brought them. According to scientists there are no genetic codes that group humans into specific racial categories. According to the Department of Epidemiology and public health, “There is more genetic variation within than between races, and the genes responsible for morphological features such as skin color (which are the basis of racial groupings) are few.” (Senor, 327). It has been seen in numerous studies that genetically someone who identifies with the African- American race, has the potential to carry the same genetic markers as someone of the Caucasian race, or any other racial grouping. If race is not verifiable by scientific or biological means, then it’s origin must be from another
While the IQ test is generally used and widely accepted they have been criticized for several different reasons. One is that the test by its nature measures how well a person does answering questions on paper. However it is well-known that not all forms of intelligence involve memorizing words or solving equations. Recently there has been a movement in psychology regarding something called EQ or emotional quotient. What this is saying that there should also be a rating for people that are particularly able to deal with other people and social situations. While someone that is very good at dealing with people and real world situations is generally not regarded as being intelligent in a stereotypical manner there hasn’t been any definition of intelligence proposed which have ruled out this particular form of intelligence.
In some countries, racial discrimination is acute, violence and so on that are some ways to solve different problems, it is not even questioned. In today 's society often happen racial discrimination problems, such behavior destroy the people to go abroad. Even harm to other people 's life safety. This is making a lot of foreigners to protect their own security, and give up their studies and works, they want not to go outside. 'Attacks on Chinese student at Paris metro stirs concerns ' French women attacked Chinese students, event alerted the important leaders of the two countries. Because of their behavior were represent a country in the eyes of foreigners. I visited New York in first time, I suffered some American to abused me. I was very angry. Racial discrimination, this is making a person life uncomfortable. I think people are equal, we should correct treat the problem. We should get on well