In the essay, “A Genealogy of Modern Racism”, the author Dr. Cornel West discusses racism in depth, while conveying why whites feel this sense of superiority. We learn through his discussion that whites have been forced to treat black harshly due to the knowledge that was given to them about the aesthetics of beauty and civility. This knowledge that was bestowed on the whites in the modern West, taught them that they were superior to all races tat did not emulate the norms of whites. According to Dr. West the very idea that blacks were even human beings is a concept that was a “relatively new discovery of the modern West”, and that equality of beauty, culture, and intellect in blacks remains problematic and controversial in intellectual circles
These were some of my favorite readings so far that we had been required to read through. They were very enlightening and provided many great perspectives and stories from white and minority people alike. The three readings I enjoyed the most are Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Color-Blind Racism by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, and Smells Like Racism by Rita Chaudhry Sethi. What I liked about Bonilla-Silva’s piece is the quotes taken from the white privilege.
“True equality means holding everyone accountable in the same way, regardless of race, gender, faith, ethnicity - or political ideology. ”- Monica Crowley. Throughout world history, racism has always been a major issue which is found to be more vital in certain regions than others. There are those collection of people who encourage this belief and those who assail the belief being-a superior race exist.
The essential victimization issues the author addressed was racism in America and police brutality amongst the African American community. The author discussed the death of Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, John Crawford, Tamir Rice, and Marlene Pinnock. Each one of these victims have been exposed to victim blaming. Society tries to justify police brutality by focusing on the actions of the victim rather than the offender.
It changes its form over time because of changing political and economic factors. Also, racist attitudes are shaped by misconceptions about the people, which mostly occurs because of a fear of difference.
The call of Pope Francis to take “a clear stand for creative and active nonviolence and against all forms of violence” echoes the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream of a nation without racism. Inspired by Dr. King’s concept of a creative and constructive tension, I seek the following solutions to the violence caused by racism: Treat people equally, join Anti-Racist and Anti-Prejudice, make an effort to know some different than you and to have freedom. The solution to ending racism is to treat people equally, here is Dr. King ’s quote that supports this solution.
Chapter 2: 1. The root of racism in America is the historical events and coincidences that lead the first shipment of blacks to Virginia to be used as slaves. From there a whole culture emerged of techniques and justifications to explain why blacks were slaves and inferior. It all started when a shipment of servants in 1619 came to a place of starvation and anger with its people desperate for labor to grow corn for their substance and tobacco for their profit because they couldn’t or simply didn’t want to. They couldn’t force the Indians to work as their slaves because the Indians were too resilient and they had a “home court advantage” so to speak and white servants were not sufficient.
With these divisions, there was an surge of discrimination in the forms of sexism, homophobia, and racism. Although all three forms of discrimination is a part of the negative underbelly of the modern world, racism has a long history in America. Racism is defined as, “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” (Racism). Three hundred ninety-seven years ago, the first African slaves were brought to America and centuries later, racism continues to be a system that allows for the “…debasing, degrading, and doing violence to people on the basis of color” (Wallis).
“ According to the National Association of Social Workers Web site, racism is “the ideology or practice through demonstrated power or perceived superiority of one group over others by reasons of race, color, ethnicity, or cultural heritage....” The definition further goes on to note that “racism is manifested at the individual, group, and institutional level.” (Blank, 2013) Despite how much time has passed by, racism continues to be a huge issue today. We see it every day, some have even been confronted by racial discrimination, or racial slurs even. We see how the system could be for example: how blacks continue to get more severe punishments or blacks have higher the chance to get criminally sentenced than whites.
In many cases racism is performed between the more dominant race -in america this is caucasian americans- to the less dominant minorities, Ie: Hispanics, and African Americans. In order to understand what better ways to get rid of current day racism, i propose a thought experiment to test how people perceive the racism in current day society. The question you must look at before you test to see how to stop current day racism and discrimination is the question, “how do people perceive racism today?”
The study of racism has a profound potential to become an ambiguous sociological endeavor. Incidentally, accounting for the multitude of factors which encompass this subject appear to make it the very heart of the matter and consequently the most time consuming. Although, it is my belief that all three of the main sociological theories (Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism) should be integrated in order to achieve a legitimate and quantifiable outcome, for obvious reasons the “Conflict Theory” logically renders the best possible method to obtain a valid micro analysis of specific agents in this case. The oxford dictionary defines racism as being: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior; a belief that all members of each race possesses characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
“The more things change, the more they remain the same,” these words written by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1849 still ring true today when one considers the state of racial relations in the United States. Our history as a nation includes moments of triumph in the areas of equality and awareness, and though we have come a long way since the enslavement of human beings, even today minorities within our nation still suffer the harsh reality of racism. Racism is a terrible problem; it is destructive and hurts society. “Racism is the belief that one’s race, skin color, or more generally, one’s group, be it of religious, national or ethnic identity, is superior to others in humanity”(Siddiqui).
The first step we should take towards demolishing racism is to allow children, starting at the age of 7, to learn more about the impact of racism, specifically by having to watch a program that he/she will watch 24/7 all about anti-racism. By introducing this topic at a very young age, the child’s mind will be able to easily understand and comprehend the day-to-day struggles of those who have faced the troubles of racism and will motivate them to never go down that path. In terms of laws, racism is hardly mentioned, which goes to show, the U.S. needs to enact more laws to help cripple racism. For instance, for every second some orange skinned, wigged, egotistical maniac uses some atrocious, racist, name-calling, rant directed towards an individual, they will have to pay a small loan of a million dollars. Groups such as the NAACP, the Black Alliance For Just Immigration and the Black Lives Matter Movement are all great
Racism: a curse for the society INTRODUCTION:- "Racism is an ideology that gives expression to myths about other racial and ethnic groups that devalues and renders inferior those groups that reflects and is perpetuated by deeply rooted historical, social, cultural and power inequalities in society." Racism is one of the oldest truth around the world .Racism, is said to be as old as the human society. Racism is nothing but only the belief that all members of each race possess the characteristics, abilities, or qualities which are specific to that race, especially, so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. And this differentiation change the people’s mentality and bring death among themselves.
In this essay the main focus will be looking at a wide array of perspectives, including local in Hong Kong, global in USA, some solutions, and my own personal perspective. Causes and Effects of Racism: A cause of racism is one’s own instinctive reaction for their protection. People who are racist tend to be people who lack qualities such as self esteem. Racism can come from the feeling of being victimised, worthless and lacking the
