One of the main topics Bonilla-Silva talks about in his book is racism and more specifically, color-blind racism. Racism is the belief that your race is the most supreme compared to others and they are inferior. Racism leads to other factors as well, such as discrimination, exploitation, and prejudice. Color-blind racism is the idea that racism does not truly exist, making it seem very subtle and everything in life is based off of meritocracy (hard work). Color-blind racism is connected to race because although it is trying to say racism is non-existent, it carries out different categories of action which prove racism is present in today’s world.
Stratification in general is the formation of classes or categories. “Racial and ethnic stratification refers systems of inequality in which some fixed groups membership, such as race, religion, or national origin is a major criterion for ranking social positions and their differential rewards” (Social Stratification). An example of this would be someone who is African American may not be able
Prejudice is a destructive social problem. Theories of prejudice distinguish between old-fashioned and modern forms. The former is an open rejection of minority group members; the latter is subtle and covert, with a veneer of out-group acceptance. Prejudice is commonly defined as an unfair negative attitude toward a social group or a person perceived to be a member of that group. Racism is related to concepts such as prejudice, but it is a more encompassing term.
If we look at the history of racism and discrimination, many African Americans have experienced it more than natives. Few natives have experienced racism. This paper is a discussion of realism about race by looking at Kant, Blumenbach, DuBois, and Locke argument about realism of race. To begin with, realism is an approach given by philosophers which suggest that we should deal with racism the way it is, allowing us to deal with any challenge from the fact that we acknowledge that there is a problem. It is the true description of the natural events without interfering with the available facts of the subject matter.
By identifying some of the main ways that colorblind racism is shown, this book can generate discussions on racial inequality, as it exists in America today. However, the biased methodology and result reports do not encourage tolerance of different
Racial jokes and ethnic slurs are obvious examples of racial discrimination. These comments not only leave the victim feeling helpless and fearful, but they have a negative impact on worker productivity and economic performance (Dimensions of Racism). Other examples of these controversial subjects are stereotyping and prejudice. Stereotype means, "set image." Stereotyping refers to forming an instant or fixed picture of a group of people.
Racial characteristics infuse gender stereotypes in particular: African American masculinity (hyper-virile and threatening), Asian femininity (hyper-feminine and submissive) being two key instances. This kind of cultural racism survives the downfall of institutional racism that is, racism that formally disbars some races from access to jobs, neighbourhoods, clubs, etc. And cultural racism is especially damaging in that it can so easily be interiorised by members of oppressed races
We need to go back to the root cause. Racism goes hand in hand with oppression, this is where one group thinks it’s superior to the other and oppressing them, making the group feel unwanted or invaluable. Unless we start to see each other as human, but not just people with different colors, no matter what we do it will be difficult. People need to be educated about racism, and the different types of racism. From the text racism can be put in four categories.
School environments play a major role in academic success. Limited resources and low academic performance are all characteristics of schools in lower economic communities. Highly-qualified teachers often avoid lower income schools by committing to more prosperous schools. Low socioeconomic status students are left with teachers who often lack expertise in their subjects. Lowe interviewed State Teachers of the Year to determine which aspects of the physical environment affected their teaching the most, and these teachers pointed to the availability and quality of classroom equipment and furnishings, as well as ambient features such as climate control as the most important environmental factors.
Institutional racism is defined in the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) as “the manifestation of racism in social systems and institutions. It is the social, economic, educational, and political forces or policies that operate to foster discriminatory outcomes. It is the combination of policies, practices, or procedures embedded in bureaucratic structure that systematically lead to unequal outcomes for groups of people”(2007). In other words, policy and practices intentionally or unintentionally favor one group or put a racial group at a