Psychic Stereotypes

In his first essay, Nietzsche discusses how the darker skinned, pre-Aryan race was conquered by the blonde Aryans and some historical consequences of their differences in appearance.

According to Howard Zinn, the root cause of racism in the United States was slavery. This is because slavery separated people based on their color of their skin and segregated them. People who were white were not slaves and were treated normally while people who were black were treated like sub-humans and discriminated, over time, this led to negative attitudes towards blacks.

Racism has always been a big topic in society, even during Jesus Christ time. I believe racism comes from independent thinking and views and how this view from family, friends and society forms us each day. Racism has to do a lot with social status, money, power, looks, sex and much more. Coming from a third world country I can really see the major differences of racism how they vary by culture and education. My experience in the United States as a young boy has formed my racism definition and view of society in general. One of the biggest influences in my life is my father name Evaristo Navarro in terms of racism, he came from an era where marrying a

Racism is the belief centralized in the idea that a certain race is considered to be superior or inferior to another. It is a belief that labels a person’s worth, social, and moral traits based on his/her inherent nationality or biological features (Anti-Defamation League). This mentality has been around for centuries and still exists today. There are several theories about how such came about and why it continues to thrive. Racism can only be thoroughly studied by tracing its roots and history. Knowing the relevant events prior to and after the peak of a racist manifestation in the society during a certain period of time is one of the keys in understanding the nature of racism. It is important to note that the attempt to understand the nature of racism is not necessarily equivalent to the attempt to justify it. The main purpose of racism studies should be directed towards the attempt to lessen, if not eradicate such mentality. The Holocaust, the infamous racist manifestation which took place in Germany is a great example of what happens when racism is not stopped or prevented. Taking such infamous racist events in history under an extensive look, reveals some of the major arguments/concepts/causes of racism that could lead to understanding racism as a whole and thereby help address this issue in the modern-day society. Extreme ethnocentrism, rivalry for supremacy, and people lacking information are some of the causes of racism deemed to be important in studying

Race is a hot topic in our world. We all think we know what race is. After all, we are constantly being bombarded with it whether it be from media, politics, or sports. The truth is that race does not revolve around the idea of biological traits or characteristics. It is a modern concept that we as a society have created to divide people into categories. I will argue that race is socially constructed from a biological, political history, and sociological standpoint, and how it may impact other areas of our society.

Some possible causes of racism can be of an institutional racism, which means that a group of people have the same faith about a certain type of person. Racism can be from the past and what people of

1) Racism can be manifested in many forms, including poverty, housing problems, underemployment, unemployment, wage differences, lowered educational opportunities, high crime rates, and welfare dependency. What are the causes of racism. Describe the primary cause of individual and institutional racism. How are these factors dealt with by society?

“Aryan” was merely a description of one the higher class races in Europe: the Indo-Europeans. The book Thus Spoke Zarathrustra by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche is responsible for the coining of the word Übermensch to represent an “overseer” figure. His principles were based on the idea that the Übermensch symbolized the phase of humanity in which one person achieves immortal characteristics. It has been proposed that Nietzsche’s ideology parallels the interests of the Enlightenment through its emphasis on individualism. What made his ideas stand out was his denial of the necessity of a God. He took the stance that the Übermensch’s “superior above all” mentality would see no room to benefit from a deity and therefore enforce his own regulations upon the population. The nineteenth century saw the rise of the concept of race and pseudoscience. Until the Industrial Revolution and the boom of technological developments, people had been judged by their ethnic ancestries and their financial conditions alone. The public’s popular opinion at the time was the idea of a strong correlation between one’s race and his of her potential for intellectual greatness. They were of an era in which the educated European population believed arguments which proposed that physical features on a person’s body were somehow directly related to level of intelligence; perhaps this wide acceptance of irrational ideas is due to the rapidly growing scientific advancements being made in the Western

What contributes to people becoming racist? Numerous factors contribute to the construction of people’s beliefs and ideologies. First, childhood environment plays a fundamental part in creating one’s identity, such as, residing in a monoracial neighbourhood, and family and friends’ sociopolitical view. Second, academic curriculum determines what information one receives. As each curriculum emphasizes varying aspects of historical background. For example, religious schools and racially homogeneous schools tend to have different academic curriculum. All of these components ultimately contribute to finalizing people’s mindsets: ignorance, religious belief, hereditary beliefs, and spatial and social isolation.

Another interesting finding from John Howard Griffin was that white children did not necessarily share their parents racial beliefs. This offers proof that racism is not a part of human nature, but rather a by-product of the human nature of the fear of the unknown. Since the white person was unfamiliar with the black man, there was a sense of fear of the black man. Racism is merely a defense mechanism passed down from parent to child.

Racism is a topic that has existed for many years. But where does it come from? Who do we blame? Should we blame television, music, politics or even our own families? All of the above play a role in racism. We aren't born hating each other. As we grow up we are taught to hate each other. Things such as how our family members talk, treat and deal with other races affect us tremendously. This is where the problem begins. Then our hatred grows as we are influenced by the things we see on TV and the things being said about others in the music that we listen to. As we read the papers we read about politicians bad mouthing other races. How about where we live, go to school or even work? Yes, another set of

Racism is primarily rooted in the historical development of capitalist as a world system. This has been proven through several centuries to

In the 19th century scientific racism was developed, in relation to the Civil War. Scientific racism was lead by people like Morton who measured brain cavity in multiple skulls and determined from these measurements not only which skulls were bigger, but also if that meant a person was smart, civilized, and various other traits. These conquered with racial stereotypes, placing whites as the most civilized on top, with blacks and Indians on the bottom (The Stories We Tell). His work convinced many people, including leading scientist who hadn't seen race as biological Louis Agassiz, that race could be proven scientifically (The Stories We Tell). The need for this scientific justification of racism came as a byproduct of the Civil War where slavery was abolished, but racism was still firmly entrenched in people's mind, this science was a way to legitimize people still clinging to their racist beliefs (Roediger, How Race Survived U.S. History, pp. 101-103).

Another very common cause for racism is the unfamiliarity of one towards other races. People have the tendency to fear what they do not understand. If a person has not grown up around a particular race before, then the chance of the person being a racist toward that particular group greatly increases. Not always, but when a person has already been supplied with negative stereo types, and does not have real experiences with at least one of the people in that particular group, then the chances of racism tendencies are increased. The explanation recently stated is the reason why it is important for children to be around other races at a young age: to ensure that their minds are used and adapted to being around them. When they are in those situations, subconsciously, they learn traits that counterbalance negative stereotypes that they may learn in the future. (The 4)

There are many theories that attempt to identify the precise origins of racism. The three articles that were designated for reading each try to answer the question of what are the sources of racism. Of the three, I found that both Loewenbergs and Allports arguments combined best explain where racism stems from. By using the aforementioned articles I will assert my opinion of the subject, and use past and current class readings to support my argument. In doing so, some light may be shed upon what are the actual derivations of racism.