Identity: Labeling Leads to Racism

1228 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Race impacts society

Identity
Labeling Leads to Racism
For years government has labeled society based on their characteristics, social status, and educational level among others. Is it really necessary to label society? People are so used to the norm of being labeled. For example, when one goes and applies for a driver’s license the application asks to check off what ethnicity we are. Do we really need to check off our ethnicity to be able to drive? Society believes it helps identify themselves for who they are and where they come from. If government would do away with the labeling of society for the purpose of identifying, there would not be so much racism in our world.
Racism plays a big role when society is labeled. Racism comes from simply people not liking others just for the simple reason of how they look or where they come from; but we cannot place all the blame on society for being racist. For the most part, it comes from our own upbringing. As children grow, parents instill in them values and beliefs. So if a parent teaches their children to be racist they will learn it and use it as they grow up. “Upbringing is the largest cause of racism”-Anonymous. Even if we allow yourself to get to know some of them, this will always be in the back of your mind” (laurenmay123).
Just because one is of different color, have a big nose, ears, head or any other part of the body that society does not consider normal, society instantly are labels them. Some examples of labeling just because of the way people look are “mentally ill”, “retarded”, “nigger” and so forth. This entire name calling will affect someone’s self-esteem and they believe it to the point where they cannot or will not better themselves. Government labels society because of it characterist...

... middle of paper ...

... how society can put an end to labeling? Labeling causes so many afflictions in today’s world? It is sad to say that during the times we live in it is impossible to stop this madness. If only society would stand up for what they truly believe and not follow the norm of labeling, it will help ease racism. So government should not label society for the sole purpose of identifying who you are or where you come from based on your characteristics, educational level, and social statues. “It is time we took ownership of our identities” (Godinho). Society needs to take a good look around and realize that we are all equal and the labeling needs to be put to rest.

Works Cited
Godinho, Thorne. ""The Intimate and Unbearable Shackles of Racism"." "Web log post. 23 March 2014. Web log post. 07 May 2014. laurenmay123, Chico, CA. Racism and its Affect on Society. n.d. 7 may 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Racial Segregation and Prejudice in ZZ Packer's Brownies

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wilkins, Roger. “Racism.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 572 (2000): 159. Sage Publications, Inc. Web. 25 Mar. 2014

    Read More

  • The Role Of Racism In James Baldwin's Notes Of A Native Son

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Racism and the American Dream From 1492 and 1877

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    Let’s begin with racism, which dates back to as far as humans can remember. “It may be defined as the hatred of one person by another -- or the belief that another person is less than human -- because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes” One of the most known acts of racism was the enslavement of Africans in the new world. This racism was a result of the racist belief that black Africans were less human than white Europeans.

    Read More

  • Awareness versus Ignorance

    1389 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the history of mankind there have been numerous cases in which people were victims of oppression or hate. Among these cases the sole reasoning behind this oppression or hate being based on the perception of others. History has shown that society is responsible for labeling groups of people, generally these labels are misleading.

    Read More

  • African American Individuality Crisis In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

    2826 Words  | 6 Pages

    .... Those who opposed to those outrageous classifications were label as ignorant. Society gave African Americans no other alternative but to accept the social remarks imposed towards them, and if not they were classified as insane. Andrew Heberek discusses the psychological and emotional problems African Americans faced in society due to social remarks. Some of the problems Heberek discussed are African Americans lack of individualism. Mozora Sandler and David Briggs in their study incorporated the percentage of African Americans who are discriminated in American society. Marjorie Pryse and Michael Hardin both incorporate the inner struggles African Americans were facing in society and how their identity was interfered. Overall, the social remark American society has imposed towards the minority has led the majority of African Americans to be invisible.

    Read More

  • The Conflict Theory and Racism: Class Interest and White Skin Interest

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    As human beings, each person might consider himself as unique because we have certain common yet very distinctive structures in our anatomy. The human physiology and basic anatomy are unchanging for all people. However, there are differences in color of the skin, appearance, adaptability, physical viability and many other factors. From generation to generation there is a transformation that shapes and changes all of our traits, and some of the characteristics are greatly influenced by variations in geography and also the environment. Humans have so many similarities, but not all individuals have respect and solidarity towards others. The idea behind this is the feeling that one is better than someone else solidly based on race, and this is what creates and enhances the idea of racism. The reason for choosing racism is to better understand the development of racism and the existing theories that have explained this issue. It is true that racism continues to persist in our current world even after so much research has been done and laws set to guard individuals from racism in all day-to-day sectors of life. With the introduction of modern technology and social media, people started to communicate more with each other and possibly understand other people's perspective. There are several theories that analyze racism.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Racism Without Racists

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racism exists all around the world and is a big part of our society today. From schools, to work places, to even restaurants, racism is there because we, ourselves have constructed it but, not everyone can see it through their own eyes because we were all born with different perceptions. In Racism Without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, racism is described in a variety of different ways whether it is due to biological factors or simply by saying that racism does not exist and people just need to work harder. Bonilla-Silva has experienced discrimination himself and he wrote this book to show that even though it is not extremely visible like before, such as segregation, it is subtler but still plays just as big of a role in our society as before.

    Read More

  • The Cycle Of Socialization Analysis

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bobbie Harro states in “The cycle of socialization” (2000), “No one brings us a survey, in the womb, inquiring which gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, cultural group, ability status, or age we might want to be born. These identities are ascribed to us at birth through no effort or decision or choice of our own” (p.16). I was born into a system, just like everyone else, where I was judged and labeled due to the social categories that I identify with. What I have experienced throughout my schooling has shaped and molded my sense of self and the way that I view myself in terms of my gender and race/ethnicity. I live in a world where I have been both praised and ridiculed for these differing characteristics that seem to define me, but

    Read More

  • The Labelling Theory: The Labeling Theory

    2096 Words  | 5 Pages

    Also a lot of researchers invested heavily to comprehensively investigating this perception while; at the same time chasing a hints in an attempt to elucidate how this concept affected average citizen. Accordingly, a lot of researchers eventually studies have been proven that the labeling theory were actually doing more harm than good than good in

    Read More

  • Stereotyping In Society

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    It arises issues because we tend to take value away from humans and allow ourselves to see them as just items. According to they essay” The Language of Prejudice” by Gordon Allport he describes why the usage of nouns are usually not a good way to describe people. They aren’t right because a “noun” abstracts from a concrete reality some one feature and assembles different concrete realities only with respect to this one feature,” (Allport, 218). He explains why we group people in different categories give each other names as easy way recognition of a certain group. Although we may see no harm in the labels we give each other are nouns that can be racist, stereotypical and demeaning. In result of the nouns we use they cause us classify and overlook all other features of a person making them seem incapable and

    Read More

  • Critical Race Theory And Labeling Theory Essay

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Latino immigrants in the U.S. tend to have the highest dropout rates within the school system. Though, the aggregate statistics goes beyond students’ poor performance, there are many factors that can influence students to make the choice to quit school; for this essay, I will use Critical Race Theory and labeling theory to help me deconstruct the reasons behind this phenomenon, using example 1 of section I.

    Read More

  • racism and prejudice

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    Racism is based on the belief that one’s culture is superior to that of others, and this racial superiority provides justification for discrimination. Racism begins with categorising by race, and therefore stereotyping particular cultures. A simple definition of prejudice given by St Thomas Aquinas states prejudice as “thinking ill of others without sufficient cause” (1. pg 21). Racism is a major issue in today’s society, affecting a large number of the world’s population and causing political and social turmoil. To evaluate the true meaning, effects and views concerning racism in today’s world, a number of literature sources were researched including novel, films, short stories, poetry, song lyrics, textbooks and magazine articles.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Race

    3295 Words  | 7 Pages

    Racism, still affects our society socially. It is like this every day, everywhere, and every time, people suffer discrimination. All because they have differences amongst each other. Different beliefs, different cultures, different skin color, all of these act like building blocks to help construct what we know as

    Read More

  • Racism: The Artificial Category of Race

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    THESIS: Scientists and other intellectuals recognize the modern concept of "race" as an artificial category that developed over the past five centuries due to encounters with non-European people. Even though people still attempt to organize humans into categories according to their race, these categories have been shown to have no scientific basis.

    Read More

  • Racism Is A Social Problem Essay

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Racism is a huge social problem in the world today. Many races today are being discriminated for being a certain race. Racism has been a social problem for a quite long time now, and it is still a social problem. The vast majority are being discriminated because of a certain group of a race, or person, done something that was awful, but this does not mean the whole race is to blame for the actions of others. Other races are looked down upon because of the color of their skin or maybe because they look very different. Racism has led up to genocide because one group fears another, or because of the way a race looks. A person who is racist is not born racist, they are taught to be racist or they see other people being racist, and they want to

    Read More

More about Identity: Labeling Leads to Racism

Open Document