Racism (American)

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Racism or racialism is a form of discrimination based on the idea that some prominent trait such as skin color has an extremely high predictive value for other characteristics of the individuals bearing those traits. People bearing one or a certain set of those prominent traits are sometimes called members of a race. The assumption behind doing so is that by grouping humans sharing one trait, such as skin color, one automatically includes in that group those humans who have other salient characteristics. The supposed economy of action lies in the idea that by selecting for something that is easy to determine, e.g., skin color, one automatically picks out the individuals bearing some other characteristic that is intrinsically difficult to determine, such as intelligence. Such a belief, and especially the belief that one "race" is superior to another, is called racism. Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequalities among "races". Although some speakers attempt to express a semantic distinction by using the word racism rather than racialism (or vice versa), many treat the terms as synonymous (see below).

There are some instances, though, in which possession of some trait has a sufficiently high predictive value to be useful in some limited circumstances. For instance, having a so-called white skin is indicative of a higher likelihood of suffering from skin cancer than is having highly pigmented skin. But all that tells medical health specialists is that it is worthwhile to direct resources toward educating the population of low pigment individuals to avoid high levels of exposure to ultra-violet radiation from intense sunlight or other such sources. One cannot reason from the fact that person X has a white skin to the judgment that one must treat that person for skin cancer. To do so would probably count as some kind of racism.

In the 19th century many legitimized racist beliefs and practices through scientific theories about biological differences among races. Today, most scientists have rejected the biological basis of race or the validity of "race" as a scientific concept. Based on this understanding, racism is a reality of human behavior that is based on a systematic error of observation and categorization the results of which are called "race". Racism, then, becomes discrimination based on a phenomenon called "race" that is alleged to exist. Racists themselves usually do believe that humans are divided into different groups that are genetically coherent in such a way that a marker characteristic also picks out other salient characteristics such as a definite range of intelligence or even a definite range of adherence to moral strictures.

There are two main definitions of racism today. One of them states that racism is dicrimination based on alleged race, the other - newer - one states that racism ought also to include discrimination based on religion or culture.

Contents

History of modern racism

United States of America

In colonial America, what few African slaves there were served alongside poor whites in indentured servitude; a term of service meant freedom and a land grant afterward. A number of Africans became landowners this way, before colonial slavery became based on racial lines. In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led a revolt against the Governor and the system of exploitation he represented: exploitation of poorer colonists by the increasingly wealthy landowners. However, Bacon died, probably of dysentery, and the revolt lost steam.

The central cause of concern to landowners was the unity of Bacon's populist movement. It raised the question to the landownders of how to divide the population politically in ways that would keep the poorer colonists divided enough to rule. To the Governor, the most threatening, and unexpected, aspect of Bacon's rebellion was its multi-racial aspect. So from that time on, the wealthy landowners determined that only Africans would be used as slaves - and white colonists were promised whatever benefits would have gone to Africans had they continued to be indentured servants. This change began the infamously long period of the American slave society, in which slaves were primarily used for agricultural labor, notably in the production of cotton and tobacco. The social rift along color lines soon became engrained in every aspect of colonial American culture.

Germany

Holocaust, General Government


South Africa

Apartheid.

United Kingdom

There were race riots across the United Kingdom in 1919: South Shields, Glasgow, London's East End, Liverpool, Cardiff, Barry, and Newport.

Israel

Anti-Semitism, apartheid, Islamophobia.

Types of racism

There are many forms of racism; two infamous historic examples are South-African apartheid and the anti-semitism of Hitler's Germany. Racism could be divided in three major subcategories: individual racism, structural racism, and ideological racism.

A loose list of categories of racism:

  • Racial prejudice is pre-formed personal opinions about individuals on the basis of their race. (E.g. John thinks that Mary will have bad attribute X solely because Mary is a member of race Y.)
  • Racial discrimination is differences in treatment of people on the basis of characteristics which may be classified as racial, including skin color, cultural heritage, and religion. (e.g. Mary refuses to hire John because he is of race Y.)
  • Institutional or structural racial discrimination -- racial discrimination by governments, corporations, or other large organizations. (e.g. Mary cannot get a job, despite her qualifications, because she is of race Y.)
  • Cultural racial prejudices or discrimination refers to a state of affairs when the assumption of inferiority of one or more races is built into the culturally maintained image of itself held by members of one culture. (e.g. Members of group X are regularly enculturated to believe themselves to belong to "the superior race," and, consequently, members of other groups defined as "races" by group X are automatically labeled as inferior. )
  • Historical economic or social disparity is a form of discrimination which is caused by past racism, affecting the present generation through deficits in the formal education and other kinds of preparation in the parents' generation, and, through primarily unconscious racist attitudes and actions on members of the general population. (E.g. A member of Race Y, Mary, has her opportunities adversely affected (directly and/or indirectly) by the mistreatment of her ancestors of race Y.)
  • Racialism is constituted by scientific or pseudo-scientific claims about differences in ability among the so-called races. (E.g., Dr. Smith writes a book claiming that members of race Y are, on average, less intelligent than members of race Z.)

In addition to the basic types of discrimination discussed above, racism can also be divided into two broader categories: racism against a minority (of a certain population) versus racism against a majority (of a certain population). Examples of the former include the enslavement of Africans and continued repression of their descendants in the United States. The existence of the latter is often controversial, but agreed upon examples include racial apartheid in South Africa, wherein whites (a minority) discriminated against blacks (a majority); this form of racism also occurred during the former colonial rule of such countries as Vietnam (by France) and India ( by the United Kingdom).

Reverse racism is a highly controversial concept, and refers to a form of racism against a majority that may have several components. Current claims of reverse racism being practiced in the United States (where the term originated and is primarily used) are highly disputed.

In the United States, many people, mostly conservatives, criticize policies such as affirmative action as an example of reverse racism, and claim that it is systemic racially-based discrimination. Supporters argue that affirmative action policies counteract the systemic and cultural racism, long practiced against minorities, by providing a balancing force, and that affirmative action does not qualify as racist because the policies are enacted by politicians (who are mostly part of the white majority in the United States) and directed towards their own race.

Some Americans believe that reverse racism exists in the United States, but that it is cultural racism, and not primarily systemic. For example, some African-Americans discriminate against white people -- this too can be called reverse racism.

In addition, some white people believe that political correctness has led to a denigration of the white race, through perceived special attention paid to minority races. For example, they consider the existence of Black History Month (February) but not a White History Month, Hispanic History Month or Asian History Month to be de facto racism directed at the majority and non-black minorities.

Racism is and has been official policy in many countries. In the 1970s, Uganda expelled tens of thousands of ethnic Indians. Malaysia currently enforces discriminatory laws limiting access to university education for Chinese students who are citizens by birth of Malaysia. Russia launched anti-Semitic pogroms against Jews in 1905 and after. Israel limits land ownership to Jews.

In the United States, racial profiling, or prejudicial treatment of minorities by law enforcement officials, is another highly controversial example of racism. Arguments on the subject tend to focus on whether it is cultural discrimination on the part of law enforcement officers, or an official policy of discrimination among law enforcement agencies. Supporters of racial profiling also believe it to be a necessary tool for law enforcement, because, they claim, members of certain minorities are more likely to commit crimes. For example, most terrorists have been young Arab males, they claim, and so it is both logical and useful to have security officers at airports take special note of young Arab male fliers. Critics point to the existence of Christian, Hindi, Israeli and Latino terrorists, and ask whether it is rational to neglect giving adequate attention to these groups while focusing on people who appear to have an Arab background. (See racial profiling for more information on this aspect of the dispute as well as for information concerning the usefulness of racial profiling.) The critics claim, for example, that racially profiling young Arab male fliers at airports will only lead to increased recruitment of older, non-Arab, and female terrorists. In addition, many critics of racial profiling claim that it is an unconstitutional practice because it amounts to detaining individuals on the basis of what crimes they might commit or could possibly commit, instead of what crimes they have actually committed.

Some examples of specific types of alleged racism

  • Afrocentrism - (not always considered racist); the belief that black African cultures were historically more powerful and influential than is widely believed
  • Anti-Semitism - usually, racism directed towards Jews, though Arabs are sometimes included as well.
  • Apartheid - a system of racism, now abolished, that once existed in South Africa; some refer to current Israeli policies towards Palestinians as apartheid as well.
  • Black supremacy - the belief that those of African descent are the superior race.
  • Colorism - racism among blacks, based on skin-tone, exemplified in terms such as "high yellow" (sometimes written and/or pronounced as "high yaller") as well as the brown paper bag test. There seems to be an implicit calculus behind this belief that makes the goodness of the individual inversely related to the darkness of his/her skin.
  • Eurocentrism - the sometimes unconscious practice of historically and culturally focusing on white Europeans, to the exclusion of study, or even mention of, significant achievements of other groups of people.
  • Islamophobia - the manifestations of hatred and hostility towards Muslims and Arab people in general.
  • Manifest Destiny - a historical form of the racist belief that asserted that white Americans had the right and duty to colonize the west and "civilize" the Native American inhabitants.
  • Nazism - a historical form of political organization (called national socialism) coupled with extreme racism, that directed its energies against the Roma (the so-called Gypsies), Jews, Poles, Russians and Slavs, among other groups. Some adherents of Nazi ideology continue to exist today.
  • Racial segregation - (not always considered necessarily racist) the belief that the so-called races should be kept separate, either geographically or culturally.
  • Racial purity - the belief that the various so-called races should be kept "pure" by not permitting interbreeding
  • White supremacy - the belief that those whose skin color is what is commonly described as being "white" (but strangely not the similarly colored Ainu people of Japan or albino members of non-European stock) are the superior race, or 'master race'.
  • Attitudes of suburb and gated community developers, who are often accused of pandering to racist views by emphasizing "crime risk" in more racially diverse downtowns, especially in North America.

Some examples of allegedly racist organisations

See also: affirmative action, Afrocentrism, anti-Semitism, apartheid, ascribed characteristics, black supremacy, chauvinism, Civil rights movement, discrimination, essentialism, ethnic stereotype, ethnocentrism, Eurocentrism, genocide, hate crime, homophobia, Jim Crow laws, Ku Klux Klan, master race, Miscegenation, Naziism, race, race riot, racial segregation, racialism, sexism, skinhead, social stereotype, White Australia policy, white supremacy

External link

References

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