Aurthors: Difference Between Racial Prejudice And Racism

In this paper, I will use concepts and information from class readings to address findings, reflected in the following questions: 1) why do whites and blacks (and people from other racial groups as well) have differing perceptions of racial issues.2) why do such significant economic disparities still exist 50 years after the civil rights movement.

Prejudice and discrimination are linked, however they are different terms, prejudice comprises of preconceived negative thoughts or beliefs about individuals who belong to a particular group, whereas discrimination is bigoted behaviour or action that is motivated by unfair beliefs.

Institutional is more far reaching than individual racism that only shows exists within contact between people. Institutional racism would be the discriminatory practices that the housing market has against people of color, like red-lining (Aguirre & Turner, 2009). Or institutional racism could be the military or government not allowing people of color or specifically Blacks from joining or punish them because of their natural hair, or they were wearing braids or other cultural styles. The major theme or characteristic here with institutional racism is that it can affect other spheres of society and does not just pertain to a few individuals. For instance, because of the racism within the housing market, now people of color will likely either live in a undesirable neighborhood,

Prejudice and discrimination are linked, however they are different terms, prejudice comprises of preconceived negative thoughts or beliefs about individuals who belong to a particular group, whereas discrimination is bigoted behaviour or action that is motivated by unfair beliefs.

Inequality between races in the U.S. seems like a distant, long forgotten thing of the past. However, the gaps between the varied races in the U.S. are just as real as they were before. Asians are perceived as smart hard-workers with cruel parents, hispanics are identified as lazy illegal immigrants, whites are portrayed as dumb party-goers, and blacks are discerned as scary and evil thugs. The ways these races are viewed is extremely harmful to the way they are treated by society. These people tend to be treated badly starting at a young age, making the stereotypes they are accosted with harder to overcome. Stereotypes are taken to schools and jobs, causing imbalances almost everywhere, but the most damaging stereotypes are given to blacks, as they are treated like criminals

The difference between prejudice and racism is that prejudice is an opinion or an idea that is based on fact, logic, or actual experience and racism is a belief that one race is superior than another or treating a person or group differently based on their race. An example of racism would be that someone believes that whites are better than blacks because of the education we

The prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races; discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race, is the definition of Racism, according to Webster’s Dictionary. Today the use of the term “racism” doesn’t just fall under one single definition. Racist practices often include the idea that humans can be subdivided into groups that are different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be ranked as inferior or superior.

Institutional racism on the other hand is far broader in context and more complex. It refers to the ways in which racism has infiltrated into social institutions which govern, discriminate and oppress various groups within that society based on their race (McConnochie et al, 1988). These institutions within our societies, such as schools and healthcare services, use racism in a systematic manner which favours one group over all the others. Although racism as a notion is the same for both individual and institutional purposes, the consequences of the two are vastly different. Sociologists have argued that in the recent years racism has shifted from excluding groups on a biological basis, to more of a cultural basis of difference (Giddens, 2001; Van Krieken et al, 2010).

“Discuss the key differences between ‘individual racism’ and ‘institutional racism’. Give examples to illustrate your argument”.

Racism isn’t hating someone because of their race. Prejudice is not a misconception of who a person is. Racism is being prejudiced because a person believes their race is superior; and, prejudice is a preconceived opinion not based on any prior experience. In other words, racism is when a person has a preconceived opinion about another person because they feel their race is superior. Racism and prejudice are probably two of the most talked about and controversial words 60 years ago and still today. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and Martin L. King marched on Selma they didn’t think we would still be in such a place today; we are in a place where people are not allowed to be themselves without facing judgment. This is the same prejudice and racism members of society face in schools, by students and educators which limits their ability to progress in a world full of competition and rise above what demographics say they are destined to become. As the great Charles Albert Tindley once said, “We Shall Overcome!”

A good example of institutional racism is incarceration. An 1850 census shows that, there are currently more black men in prison than were enslaved in the year 1850 (Arene-Morley, 2014). Incarceration statics shows how the system is very unfair to minorities. The crack vs. cocaine sentencing laws also depicts incarceration disparities. Crack is a drug used predominantly by black people while cocaine is predominantly used by white people. Crack and cocaine is essentially the same drug. The only ingredient that separated them is banking soda. Even though these two drug are virtually the same, crack gets a much harsher sentencing than cocaine (Kurtzleben, 2010).

Throughout this course we have learned about many things, one in particular would be Racism. We have learned about many different types of racism along with examples of racism. Before I go into specific examples of racism that I have learn about in this class, I will first define and explain the differences between racism, prejudice or also known as bias, discrimination, race, and racist so there 's a clear understanding of why I picked the specific examples. The definition of racism that we learned in class would be an “Institutionalized system with disproportionate unjust outcomes for a particular race”. Prejudice or also known as bias was defined as “A negative feeling, opinion, or attitude toward a certain category or people” this would be an feeling with no action acted upon, where discrimination is defined as “Action or inaction toward a category of people” which would be acting on the negative feelings or opinions of a certain group. The definition for race is a “Social construct, but a lived reality” while a racist is “Discrimination based on the category of race”. (Disadvantage privilege notes, 2016)

Institutional racism are those accepted, established, evident, respected forces, social arrangements, institutions, structures, policies, precedents an systems of social relations that operate are manipulated in such a way as to allow, support individual acts of racism. It is also to deprive certain racially identified categories within a society a chance to share, have equal access to, or have equal opportunity to acquire those things, material and nonmaterial, that are defined as desirable and necessary for rising in an hierarchical class society while that society is dependent, in part, upon that group they deprive for their labor and loyalty. Institutional racism is more subtle, less visible, and less identifiable but no less

Institutional racism is hard to identify because it is “built into the structure of society” (McNamara & Burns, 2009, p.14). Many times people do not realize they are committing this type behavior and think they are treating everybody the same (McNamara & Burns, 2009). A very good example occurred in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in August of 2005. The government thought it was doing the community good when it planned to tear down 5,000 damaged apartments in public housing and replace them with mixed income housing, but what they did displaced large numbers of African-Americans from their homes and the area (Henkel et al, 2006). The good thought was there, but not the results that were drastically needed. Another example

In our daily lives, one may note that some activities tend to favor some people or a group that is dominant in a certain area. This can be considered institutional racism. According to Memmi (2000), institutional racism usually aims at barring anyone from interfering with the advantages of the dominant group in a given geographical location. The best example of this kind of racism was the Apartheid in South Africa. The British tried to protect their lavish lifestyles by preventing the Africans from attending the same schools with them. In addition, the Africans were not allowed to use the same roads or eat in the same cafes with the whites.