An Exploration of Racism
I refuse to serve you because you are black.
Racism, it’s something that surrounds us all; some of us may have been
victims of it, or perhaps you have been racist towards another
yourself. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, what job you
work in, you are bound to have at least witnessed racism once in your
lifetime; because racism is everywhere.
Racism has existed for centuries, but during the last two hundred
years hatred toward ethnic minorities has increased. The prejudice
against black people dates a long way back into the history of the
ancestors of the present day blacks and when the first came to the
USA, as slaves.
Although slavery was abolished black people were still frequently
treated as second-class citizens and gave seemed to still have an
image that meant they were not as superior as the whites.
They were segregated on public transport and at various public places
and constantly faced the humiliation of being put down by the whites.
Racism occurs all over the world and can happen to anyone and will
always exist, because people will always be prejudice. For some it may
not be their fault, it may be the way they were brought up, or perhaps
they had bad experiences themselves. Whatever the cause, it will
continue through their children and through the generations. Some
black people themselves are unable to give up the past and continue on
forth, and so use the oppression their ancestors went through as an
excuse to be racist towards whites.
Racism can be broken down into three different forms, open racism,
violent racism and secret racism; these forms of racism have the same
main purpose, to encourage and promote hate towards ethnic groups.
Open racism is the freedom of racial thought and speech. In America
this has been allowed due to the First Amendment that protects
political views on racism. The British National Party and National
Front also come under this protection. Open racists Promote their
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.
their own fault and poor choices. There is so much judgement in our daily lives, for example
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
Racism, will it ever end? The answer is probably not. The United States of America was set up on the basis of race. Even many years ago European settlers looked down upon the Native Americans as inferior. Years later in today’s modern society, racism still exists, although we may not fully realize it. Many people are not aware of how much racism still exists in our schools workforces, and anywhere else where social lives are occurring. Using our sociological imagination, we are capable of applying the role of race to any situation. However, in some situations, race does not play a covert role; it plays a crucial and obvious role. In “Film Shows Students Battle Racism for Mixed Prom”, Michelle Nichols stated, “As Barack Obama campaigned to become the first black U.S. President, teenagers in the small Mississippi hometown of Hollywood star Morgan Freeman battled racism to hold their high school’s first integrated prom.” The assumption that racism no longer exists is false. Racism still exists to the highest degree. Even in the 21st century, prom -- an annual dance for graduating students, is divided and integrated for black and white students at Charleston high school. It’s always about race. Why is racism still rampant in American society? The reason is that even though race is not founded through science, this institution of American society is simply an obsolete combination of historical, social, and cultural construction.
Discrimination has been found through out human history and in almost if not every culture. One of the most common, if not thee most is racial discrimination, or more commonly known as racism. In different ways both Bonilla-Silva’s “Racism Without Racists” and Diangelo’s “White Fragility” address this issue of racism; specifically the sub issues of racisms modern forms, such as the coded language, segregation, and the presentation of unequal opportunities. As well as how these new forms of racism are affecting the dominant “white” cultural ideas about racism or more so their lack there of in modern day society. The general conclusion of both was that due to the new ways racism prevents itself, white people are undereducated on the impact
Racism is a theme seen throughout all history. Not just one group has been affected by it in one way or another, but many groups if not all have experienced it. In the following we will explore racism in history.
In the dictionary the word racism is defined as a belief in, or set of
“Racism is a refuge for the ignorant. It seeks to divide and to destroy. It is the enemy of freedom, and deserves to be met head-on and stomped out.” These wise words were spoken by Pierre Berton, an author of non-fiction novels. In our society, racism is everywhere, and has been in our past as well. Racism is ruining our world, and it is becoming tolerated. It is a threat to our society by affecting not only one person, but all those who are involved, whether it’s the bystander, the victim or the one who was being racist.
Racism is the mistreatment of a group of people on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, place of origin, or ancestry. The term racism may also denote a blind and unreasoning hatred, envy, or prejudice (Dimensions of Racism). Racism has had a strong effect on society. Despite the many efforts made to alleviate racism, what is the future of African Americans' Racism's long history, important leaders, current status, and future outlook will be the main factors in determining how to combat racism. Racism is still present in many societies, although many people are doing their best to put an end to racism and its somewhat tragic ordeals.
The Development of Racism Slavery's twin legacies to the present are the social and economic inferiority it conferred upon blacks and the cultural racism it instilled in whites. Both continue to haunt our society. Therefore, treating slavery's enduring legacy is necessarily controversial. Unlike slavery, racism is not over yet. Loewen 143.
Racism: a Short History George Fredrickson makes an argument ultimately against the dichotomy between civilization and savagery, specifically the resurgence of ethnoreligious bigotry that, according to him, replaces 20th century race theory in order to justify continued inequities and sociopolitical oppression worldwide in Racism: A Brief History. His book delineates the rise of modern race theory, beginning in Medieval Europe and synthesizing an explanation for the existence and success of the overtly racist regimes, the United States, South Africa, and Nazi Germany. Fredrickson cautions, however, that racism can easily become interchangeable with religious bigotry when facing corporatism that aims to alienate, marginalize, and devalue human beings as mere consumers with little agency or any collective sense of identity. Racism's ultimate goal, according to Fredrickson, is to establish a permanent hierarchal order that "has two components: difference and power." Fredrickson's analysis is probably one of the most direct and functional definitions of racism that I have run across in a while.
Dating back to the beginning of times people have always been looked at different depending on the color of their skin or what your religion, race, or beliefs may be. It is in our human nature to not like people for certain things that they are. Many will argue that in this day in age we are no longer at a race war but how can you be so sure when you actually open your eyes and see reality. Rapper Kanye West once said “racism is still alive, they just be concealing it” and these words are everything but false. You must ask yourself the real question about racism and it is how could you ever cure such a thing in people’s minds? People are free to think and believe what ever they would like and old habits such as racism will never change in people.
According to Navarrete, McDonald, Molina, & Sidanius (2010), race refers to a group of people who exhibit similar physical and genetic characteristics that are different from other groups. He also refers to race as social constructs. Racism, however, is defined as the belief that one’s own race is superior over other people’s races (Cote-Lussier, 2016). On the other hand, racial stereotyping may be defined as the blanket assumption that every member of a particular racial group behave and act in a certain predefined way irrespective of their individual unique differences (Wong, Horn, & Chen, 2013; Graham & Lowery, 2004). The two terms, though, are mistakenly interchangeably used in most racial studies. According to Inzlicht & Kang (2010), numerous scholars and researchers have done a number of researches on race, racism, and racial stereotyping. A lot of the research that has been done in this field, though, has mainly
Explanations that justify the use of racism directly relates to differential treatment of minority groups and contributes to racism’s existence as an unstoppable social problem. The foundations of these explanations are based on the common misunderstanding of the definition of race. Thus, problems that tend to concentrate in one race are mistakenly judged as “race problems”. This judgement leads to the establishment of a system of inequality between a superior race and inferior races. However, the logic behind these explanations don’t account for the true reasoning behind minority individuals value status. In fact, these explanations contribute to minority individuals’ further struggle in life.
Black youths arrested for drug possession are 48 times more likely to wind up in prison than white youths arrested for the same crime under the same circumstances. Many people are unaware how constant racism has been throughout the years. It is important to understand the problems of racism because it is relevant to society. Racism in America is very real and Americans need to know it.