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Racism Is A Learned Behavior Essay

1367 Words6 Pages

Racism: A Learned Behavior
Racism is one of the most controversial social topics in the world today even in the 21st Century. As the term has been associated through the centuries for negative connotations such as discrimination, prejudice and even violence, racism remains to be a volatile issue affecting millions of lives today. The definition of racism is based on the belief that a particular race based on physical genetic features is more dominant than another. The one that views that his or her ethnicity possesses human traits and capacities that are inherently superior compared to another is an exhibition of racist behavior. This belief becomes the basis for particular ethnic groups to discriminate on others that can be seen through institutional …show more content…

As such, through the centuries sociologists, anthropologist and psychologists have tried to determine the root cause of racism
Especially with the detrimental effects of discrimination as a result of racist beliefs. The effects of racism continues to be a prevailing problem. It has been the cause of wars and conflicts throughout human history however, the question remains whether racism is inherent to a person’s genetic makeup or whether it is a learned behavior. This paper will evaluate the different theories and studies on racism to explore whether racism is actually a learned behavior or not. The most important thing is, it will investigate theories to real life scenarios to determine if racism is learned or …show more content…

As known by studies in the different scientific fields from psychological, historical to sociological individuals are molded by their culture to adapt racist ideas. Significantly, social interaction plays a large role in contributing to changing the behaviors of humans that eventually leads to criminal behavior as a result of racism. These criminal behaviors include ethnic cleansing, racial hate crimes and even genocide. History has helped that man has always segregated themselves between groups however, it has enhanced the study that racism is a learned behavior through the analysis of one’s culture. As no biological or genetically study has been able to conclusively prove that there is a racist gene nor has psychologists been able to demonstrate that racism is a psychiatric disorder, it can be concluded that individuals learn racist behaviors primarily from society and social structures. Sociology has proven how racist ideas can be justified and even be inherently part of culture a long lasting division between human beings regardless of race. The presence of cultures that in essence defines societies help reinforce racist attitudes and behaviors. More importantly, it creates a cycle where human beings inherently learn to inculcate these beliefs. As such, racism is a learned

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