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Sociological theories on racism
Racism and our society
White privilege in today's society
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Sociological theories on racism
Racism and our society
White privilege in today's society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The major thesis in this book, are broken down into two components. The first is how we define racism, and the impact that definition has on how we see and understand racism. Dr. Beverly Tatum chooses to use the definition given by “David Wellman that defines racism as a system of advantages based on race” (1470). This definition of racism helps to establish Dr. Tatum’s theories of racial injustice and the advantages either willingly or unwillingly that white privilege plays in our society today. The second major thesis in this book is the significant role that a racial identity has in our society.
Stokely Carmichael was a black civil rights activist, who gave his speech, “Black Power” on the twenty-ninth of October, 1966 to other civil rights activists on the basis of black power, or black rights. Carmichael's tone for this speech is most noticeably empowering, and thought-provoking. Carmichael’s main use in his speech was his choice of diction. He created a vast majority of degrading words towards those who were white, such as, “That failure is due to the white’s incapacity to deal with their own problems inside their own communities.” Here, Carmichael is degrading the white population, in which they can not deal with their own problems.
It has often been said that “that this is a greatest period for people of all races to live in.” Yet with change in society over time , there has a been a divide over the truth about that statement. In dialogue about race issues within the United States, one controversial issue has been about systemic racism towards people of colour, in particular, black americans. On one hand, Ralph Ellison, a recent predecessor to our present time argues that no matter what the future holds, people will judge others based on their association, their image, which will. In relation, a modern black activist group, Black Lives Matter, argues that even though change has come to America race relations, black people are still endangered by the system.
The article by Dorothy Roberts focuses around how race was invented. She talks about how and why people of different cultures were treated differently. It reflected on the different laws that “assigned” people to certain races and how it was different from state to state. In the second chapter Roberts talks about how people aren’t that different from each other genetically but we still focus on that 0.1%.
In chapter one, "Privilege, Oppression, and Difference, Allan Johnson begins his argument that "difference is not the problem"( Johnson, pg 5 ). The author goes on to explain that difference by itself is not the problem, rather difference in conjunction with our ideas that cause fear. That being said, discrimination was a bigger problem in the past and it still is today. We starts with talking about Rodney King and racism he had received from police officers in Los Angeles. Johnson continues on with the idea that people are judged not for who they are or the things they have accomplished, but how they are perceived by others.
Authority is based on the consent of the government while power is based on externalities and force. With these definitions in mind, he discusses how throughout history, the African-American community have undergone police power and not authority. Ending the article, Coates then makes the claim that
The struggles and the right of the less privileged are being ignored constantly. I do not agree with the authors reasoning that an individual making themselves self-appointed privilege police is a selfish attempt to discredit achievements or experiences of privileged individuals. I simply believe that this behavior is a cry out for equality. I have been in a situation where I had to stand almost two hours under the burning sun to get a bucket of water.
(Page 1785) Also, Harris does not believe that the white privilege will be ever removed because there is no historical or actual context where the whites will be ever exploited as the Blacks ever were (page 1785). Critical Analysis: I believe that Harris’s essay could be perceived through three aspects, which are (a) the historical context of the issue of racial classification and property, (b) The consequences of whiteness as property throughout the American history, and (c) the current situation of whiteness as property. In terms of the historical context of the racial classification and property, the US witnessed a White dominance in territory, economy, politics and property privileges.
Race has always been a problem in America and other countries. But developments such as Critical Race Theory (CRT) has helped challenge race and racial power and its representation in American society. Articles such as Critical Race Theory: An Introduction by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic; White Privilege, Color, and Crime: A Personal Account by Peggy McIntosh have helped CRT develop further. Along with the documentary White Like Me by filmmaker Tim Wise. These articles and film explore the race and racism in the United States, along with critical race theory.
Conflict theory has been used to describe the discrepancies in power and distribution of resources among the dominate group and the subordinate groups. Racial inequalities and racism among the groups has played a big role in the concept of conflict theory. Conflict theory examines the rising conflict between the dominate group, or white ruling class, and racial minorities, such as African Americans. This conflict and inequality among the races may be a reason why 20.2 percent of African American males die by homicide. In fact, African Americans are six times as likely as whites to be killed by homicide.
He conveys this through his powerful use of diction, even in the first sentence he says “My first victim was a woman-white” (Staples 1). The word victim gives a very dark and scary tone as if something horrible is bound to happen, but as the reader reads along the whole scenario is just the narrator walking through a park at night and the white woman feels threatened and progressively runs away from the man. The narrator is a college student. The main message is that people are still so quick to judge and feel like they are in danger when they are around african american people they’ll in this case run away. It's also a proven statistic by Havard University states that women are in fact scared of men.
Slavery is over therefore how can racism still exist? This has been a question posed countlessly in discussions about race. What has proven most difficult is adequately demonstrating how racism continues to thrive and how forms of oppression have manifested. Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, argues that slavery has not vanished; it instead has taken new forms that allowed it to flourish in modern society. These forms include mass incarceration and perpetuation of racist policies and societal attitudes that are disguised as color-blindness that ultimately allow the system of oppression to continue.
White are attached to their own identity and violate the civic solidary of others because they expect others conform to these ideas or be oppressed and have to feel unwelcomed. Many people like Sam Huntington “calls for immigrants to assimilate into America 's “Anglo Protestant culture” (Song). If this culture seems to be violated then people can become defensive of it and violent. As Lorde says, “there must always be some group of people who, through systemized oppression, can be made to feel surplus, to occupy the place of the dehumanized inferior” (Lorde). This group was blacks for many years and in the future any other minority could take the mantle as the oppressed because it violates one’s ideals and expectations of others.
As a result of its invisibility, the predominant systems of white racism operate on an unconscious level (McIntosh, 1988). White people have come to adopt certain physical and mental ways of interacting in the world that lack conscious attention and reflection which ultimately perpetuate systems of white privilege (Sullivan, 2006). White
Growing up in the southside of queens’ public school is the typical for most African American in the neighborhood. But of course, my mom wanted to make sure I wasn’t just typical so for high school I had attend a private school. I was very eager to join a new school but also nervous but to get rid of nerves I joined various after school activities to meet new people and feel comfortable at school. I joined the girls’ basketball, I quickly noticed that I had been the only African American girl on the team, but I didn’t let that stop me from trying to improve my game and make new friends. As the basketball season went on I had noticed that not much of the girls would talk to me, but I continued to rub it off and made the best out of it.