Racism And Social Action Plan

The “American Ideal” of “Looksism” is what society says we are supposed to look like, the “white Anglo-Saxon Protestant ideal” (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 14). An example of this is the Barbie doll. She is tall, skinny, white, blonde hair and blue eyed. This is the doll that little girls grow up wanting to look like because society is teaching them that this is the ideal. Otherism is the use of “stereotypes to objectify those who are different from ‘us’” (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 15). If someone does not fit the ideal they are considered not normal or bad. An example of this is objectifying a whole race; by saying the Mexicans are stealing White jobs. While this is untrue, the Mexican heritage is different from the white Anglo-Saxon ideals, so some see it as bad and are threatened by it, thus creating this racist stereotype.

Is it racism or economics which hinders many African American communities from progressing economically in the 21st Century? This research proposal will address this question by examining the social and psychological impact caused by racism and the economic impact it’s had on the African American community. This proposal will further investigate whether the emotional scars of slavery continue to hamper African American progress or if racism is actually the cause.

Racism is a socially constructed concept used by multiple groups of people and creates a hierarchy of sorts based purely on the color of a person’s skin or their cultural origins. It has been an idea that has existed since the beginnings of civilization. A more modern iteration of this concept was made prominent in the 16th century as European settlers began to explore different areas of the world, specifically areas in or around Africa. But slavery can be seen back in the 1500s all the way to 1880 and was most likely a leading example of what helped define racism up to the 20th century. In Ali Rattansi’s book, “Racism: A Very Short Introduction” , the author connects how slavery and race are closely tied together. European explorers would ignore the cultures the invaded in order to see these people as nothing more than native groups that were meant to be seen in a subservient role. Slavery would continue to grow across the Atlantic and seen as an institution that created large amounts of wealth for those who could reap the benefits from it. As long as money was being made, slavery persisted and was justified. Race and racism was conceived the way it was because the slave owning system was controlled by European colonizers.

While coming up with a topic for this paper, one of my questions dealt with war and cultural groups. I will be the first to admit, Racism was the last thing on my mind. The original question being, “How does war affect a Social Culture and how does it stand today?” When I started thinking about Cultures that had been so deeply affected by war, one of the first that came to mind were the Japanese in World War II. Then I recalled what one person had told me of their younger days at college, when they were attending school. Their name will remain anonymous; I do not want to make the victim’s name public as it has a very personal nature.

Anti-racist practice consists of being able to actively and honestly explore who you are, what you stand for and where you are situated in terms of social location, what has advantaged and disadvantaged you and how you found the strength to overcome those challenges (Heinonen and Spearman, 2010, pp. 133). To further explain, our “social location further gives us an understanding of ourselves in terms of our ethno culture, gender, age, socioeconomic, class, ability and other characteristics and critically examine how these have advantages or disadvantaged us in our needs and life chances” (Heinonen and Spearman, 2010, pp. 132). It is important to ask ourselves these questions as social workers so we can uncover any unresolved biases we have in ourselves. The anti-racist approach to social work involves how social workers deal with attitudes and practices that promote prejudice and discrimination. Thus, an anti-racist

The history of America has long been viewed by its’s occupants as one of perseverance despite great odds. We take pride in fighting for democracy and promoting freedom around the world. But, at home these tenants of democracy, equal rights and freedom are all relative; to race, gender and class. The Bill of rights offers some insight into who we should be as a nation; while reminding us of who we have not yet become. America’s “id” has always been moderated by an “ego” cocktail of social, scientific and political activists. America is at its best when the differences between right and wrong are clearly defined by scholars, artists and scientists who can’t be ignored because of their expertise and ability to present evidence that cannot be refuted.

Explanations that justify the use of racism directly relates to differential treatment of minority groups and contributes to racism’s existence as an unstoppable social problem. The foundations of these explanations are based on the common misunderstanding of the definition of race. Thus, problems that tend to concentrate in one race are mistakenly judged as “race problems”. This judgement leads to the establishment of a system of inequality between a superior race and inferior races. However, the logic behind these explanations don’t account for the true reasoning behind minority individuals value status. In fact, these explanations contribute to minority individuals’ further struggle in life.

Racism is something that will never go away in the U.S. because the “race card” is used so commonly, in order to justify the unfairness that they feel like they are receiving. Most of the U.S would just like to move on and ignore any kind of racism but there are those out there that use it for attention reasons because, well, it’s easy. They say that Caucasians are the most racist or the starters of racism, but the truth is all people are racist more so than prejudice, because there are few people that will let the idea of racism die.

All the evidences indicate that racism involved the use of black codes and racial system to prevent African Americans from living, working, eating, communicating in certain areas. Racial system in south of the United States greatly impacted the lives of people of color. Racism described all blacks as slaves and treated them worse than others.

The SAE chant about racism caught many people’s attention. But, it would catch conflict theorists the most. This is because the people in charge are asserting their dominance over people who do not have power. This video goes to show that there is still racism in the United States and it is getting worse. A conflict theorist would say that Black People, or African Americans are trying to fight for no prejudice and equality and white people do not want to give it up. This is a big struggle in today’s society because racist children are being brought up though racist parents and that is how racism is passed on.

In the United States and internationally, there is a multitude of indicators that the racial environment is changing. Environmental pollution and racism are connected in more ways than one. The world is unconsciously aware of environmental intolerances, yet continues to expose the poor and minorities to physical hazards. Furthermore, sociologist continue to study “whether racial disparities are largely a function of socioeconomic disparities or whether other factors associated with race are also related to the distribution of environmental hazards” (Mohai and Saha 2007: 345). Many of these factors include economic positions, health disparities, social and political affairs, as well as racial inequalities.

Racism has been an ongoing social justice issue for decades, and we seem to always fail to make it stop. According to Dummett (as cited in Fernando, 1984), racism is the behaviour and attitude that emerges from our beliefs that certain people are different from us. These differences are mainly based on race, where people come from, physical characteristics, such as colour and hair type or behavioural characteristics, and that people categorized must be treated differently based on their needs, capabilities and rights. Usually there is one dominant and superior group and a few inferior groups (Dummett, as cited in Fernando, 1984). Coates and Morrison (2011) suggests that what we distinguish as real and true may not always be real and that things may not always be as it seems. Coates and Morrison (2011) also states that we live in a racial matrix, where we have this illusion of reality and that differences associated with racial status and hierarchies are perceived as the norm in society and this perception of reality is not easy to get rid of. There are four types of racism; subtle racism, colorism, internalized racism and reverse racism (Nittle, 2016). Racism can be explicit, but it can also be very subtle and covert, which is a huge problem, as most people do not even notice it and they do not realize that it happens on a day-to-day basis (Coates and Morrison, 2011). Racism is not only one problem or concern, as it is brings along a variety of other problems and is compiled

My belief on the way to end racism is this, I believe that the best way to end racism is to have every person that's racist, to become friends with someone with the race they don't like.

It was chaos. Millions of people across the country were protesting against the government, destroying cars and smashing the windows of buildings. Fires were set. 2,000 people were protesting on the president’s mansion grounds alone. They were protesting because of the oppressive government and stolen election. President Rose, their leader, had stomped on freedom of speech and rose taxes to a point where many people didn’t have enough money to eat. So they rallied behind Governor Charles, a former governor and human rights activist. He advocated prosperity and fairness for all citizens. When he unfairly lost, because of President Rose evidently rigging the vote, and went to jail for no apparent reason, people rioted.

Racism is an ongoing force that negatively impacts the lives of Americans every day. The racist mindset in America stems from the times of slavery, where blacks were thought to be inferior to whites. Throughout history, the ideology of race and racism has evolved and developed several different meanings. Today, we can still see the devastating effects of racism on people of color, as well as whites. “Racism, like other forms of oppression, is not only a personal ideology based on racial prejudice, but a system involving cultural messages and institutional policies and practices as well as beliefs and actions of individual” (Tatum, pg. 9). As a result of this system, it leaves the