Examples Of Racism In America

America, the land of the free. Many individuals from all over the world dream of living the American Dream, equal and free. Others would disagree with the American Dream notion and say America is far from being equal and free. This leads racism to become a contemporary social issue and has divided our nation more than ever before. Is racism a problem in our current society? First, we must be able to distinguish the definition of racism. Fredrickson defines racism as, “not merely an attitude of set of beliefs; it also expresses itself in practices, institution, and structures that sense of deep difference justifies or validates… it either directly sustains or purposes to establish a racial order, a permanent group hierarchy that is believed

The Europeans and British (and many other counties, but I mainly will focus on these two countries due to the fact slavery was practice heavily) used the ideology from the Greeks and Romans in the Middle Ages (Also known as the “Dark Ages”) to dehumanize West Africans. In the book, “Racism: A Short History” Fredrickson states “the Greeks distinguished between the civilized and barbarous… One was civilized if one was fortunate enough to live in a city-state and participate in political life, barbarous if one lived rustically under some form of despotic rule. ” Europe and British were advanced in technology, which made them a developed country and considered themselves as “civilized.” Africa, in the other hand, wasn’t advanced in technology, so they were considered underdeveloped and seen as barbarians. This lead countries to believe Africans as inferior species; not worthy enough to be under the same hierarchy. The Atlantic slave trade is known for the mass enslaved individuals were transported to the New World and sold to Western European slave

Board was an attempt to end segregation in schools and fix the civil rights policies. By implementing psychology as a defense mechanism, the black advocates had a huge advantage on their side. “To separate them from others of similar age and qualification solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect the hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone” The Brown v. Board was a victory with the African-American communities and civil rights activists, it destroyed Jim Crow system (separate but equal law). But it was short lived. The law was passed to bring the white and black students together, it made schools more segregated than ever before. According the U.S. Department of Education, “almost 98 percent of southern black students attended predominantly black schools” This could be tied to parents of the white communities showing an unwillingness to send their children to a school where majority of the students are black. Kozol is a teacher, who visited numerous public schools for the past 15 years. He found that the conditions in public schools are worse since the ruling Brown v. Board. “During the 1990’s, physical conditions in some buildings had become so dangerous that a principal at on Bronx school, which had been condemned in 1989 but nonetheless continued to be used, was forced to order that the building’s windows not be cleaned because the frames were rotten and glass