Racism in America

The idea of racism has evolved and has become less prevalent throughout the last century. Schools and public areas are unsegregated, voting rights, racial slurs being considered as unacceptable behavior etc. American sociologist and race theorist, Howard Winant states that’s “The ensuing approaches increased recognition of racial injustice and inequality, but did not overcome the discriminatory processes” (Winant,2000)Although the United states has come a long way to try to end racism, one cannot ignore the fact that it still exists. It is something that may seem invisible in society, but everybody knows that it still thrives and that it’s racial attitudes affect the way our society functions. One of these invisible forms of

Racism can take many forms, ranging from verbal abuse to outright physical attacks to a person or property. Racism can also be non-verbal, for example denying a person from a minority ethnic background a job or entry to a restaurant or shop, purely

Racism is defined as poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race or the belief that some races of people are superior to others. This belief has been instilled in people for centuries. These beliefs have slightly deteriorated due to the civil rights movement. However, racist beliefs have managed to be passed down from generation to generation which is why racism is still quite prevalent today.

Racism is the trend of thought, or way of thinking, which attaches great importance to the notion of the existence of separate human races and superiority of races that are usually associated with inherited physical characteristics or cultural events. Racism is not a scientific theory, but a set of preconceived opinions they value the biological differences between humans, attributing superiority to some according to racial roots. Even in such ethnically diverse country as the United States, racism continues evident against people of different ethnic traits and skin color. According to Steinberg (Steinberg, 1995), racial discrimination has been the most important cause of inequality between whites and blacks in the U.S. Because of that, minorities in American society have been fighting over years for equal rights and respect, starting with the civil rights movement in 1960s. Also, public policies implemented since 1964 in the United States have been instrumental in reducing economic inequality between blacks and whites, such as the affirmative action, a federal program that tries to include minority groups by providing jobs and educational opportunities (Taylor, 1994). From this perspective, does racism still play a dominant role in American values and American society? If so, what are the consequences of this racism that still remain in American society? What is the impact of the Barack Obama presidency on the unending fight against racism in this country?

There are several forms of racism. The biggest form of racism is racial profiling. Racial profiling is “the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting of having committed an offense.” Why are there so many controversial issues regarding racial profiling? Why is it more likely for colored folks to get pulled over? Are they getting pulled over for a legit reason or just because? It is said that police are more likely to pull over and frisk colored people that the whites. “Thus, African Americans (and some other minorities) are trapped in what some have labeled the ‘joint frustration’ syndrome: African Americans, who are far more often the victims of crime, are simultaneously the most dependent upon and the most distrustful of the justice

Racism has been a terrible problem in American society for hundreds of years. Racism issues are not limited to one specific race, but include all races. It is the responsibility of the people of this nation to address racism and learn to accept and embrace each other for our differences, and allow this great nation to become even more united for our sake and the sake of future generations. To eliminate racism it is imperative to know first, where racism started and how it has developed, why it continues to be present in our nation today, and what we must do as a people to overcome this major problem.

One may have a strong argument if they were to say the racism in America seen in the 1960s has not changed much when looking at present day. There are still a large number of “murders” of black individuals, young and old alike. Now, racism is not just a phenomena in the United States. It can be seen all over the world in different sizes and forms. People of color in Europe, for example, may face different challenges and hardships of people of color here in the United States but can still view it as racism. Racism is present almost everywhere. A series of videos backs up this claim. In America, racism can be seen widely through the treatment of African Americans in jobs, schools, traffic stops, and more. In France, the racist treatment of Muslim women is seen in the attacks of their choices of clothing. This shows the variety of racism in one country to another.

Racism is an umbrella term and denotes discrimination based on not only race but the facts behind culture, ethnicity and economy. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about minorities is criminal history. When a crime is committed nearly every time it’s a black male that came from the streets. About 52 percent of crimes committed in America are by african american males. Racism is authentic because ever since the January 1, 1863, when president Abraham Lincoln ended slavery. Martin Luther King led thousands of people demonstrators to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, from Selma, Alabama.

Racism can be “defined as the hatred of one person by another or the belief that another person is less than human because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes” (“What”). The face of racism over the past 50 years has changed but yet, some still stay the same. People made laws against racism and it is not as blunt anymore. But opinions and stereotypes will remain which will cause others to still be treated differently.

Racism in this country has been prevalent over centuries now, and still a huge hindrance in the United States of America. Racism has a huge history with scholars documenting the long illustrious reasons and root causes as to why this has become such a major topic of issue in the United States and its psychological and social obliterations in the society.

These people are correct in a sense; loud and public acts of racism are no longer prevalent in the US as they were in the past. However, today racism is stealthy and unspoken, and often deftly covered up with fabricated cover stories to legitimize the discrimination. This new breed of racism is perhaps even more difficult to fight against than its more egregious past self; its subtlety allows its perpetuators to claim ignorance of any discrimination, and its lack of media attention lulls Americans into complacence and acceptance of the current system. Further disturbing is the prevalence of “covert racism”, also commonly called “subconscious racism”. Many white Americans may actively stereotype and discriminate against blacks without even being aware of their actions and thought processes (BlackYouthProject). This phenomenon is a sad consequence of being raised a subtly racist society which perpetuates discrimination, even if never openly. Many subconscious racists may also be unwittingly subscribing to “symbolic racism”. In J.H. Moore’s book Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, Henry Sears characterizes symbolic racism as the endorsement of four specific beliefs:

After living in a place like Bend Oregon for 18 years I haven’t ever noticed a difference between blacks and whites. Bend has been said to be “one of the whitest places to live”, yet I never viewed a city by its race. Being racist to me meant that it was the whites who had a problem with the blacks and whites didn’t want anything to do with blacks. I hadn’t actually seen racism in action from anyone here. Now, after watching the film Crash and reading the essays “Blinded by the White: Crime, Race and Denial at Columbine High” written by Tim Wise and “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” written by McIntosh, my understanding of race, diversity, and communications have changed.

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

The violent ideology known as racism is defined by many as “the result of perceiving one group as superior over another” (Quoted in Keister and Darby, 284). This is when a dominant power in a society oppresses the minority power by prejudging the minorities attributes, commonly their race. When defining

Some people may believe there are not specific types of racism, but there are indeed different categories such as: Colorism, Internalized Racism, Subtle Racism, and Reverse Racism. Colorism is discrimination based solely on the color of your skin and in result, darker skinned people are treated worse than people with lighter skin complexions. Internalized racism is basically self hatred of individuals from minority groups. They may hate their skin tone or other characteristics because throughout history, they have been devalued. Racism does not have to be enormous such as hate crimes, this is when subtle racism comes in. Subtle racism are minor things that minorities experience such as being ignored or laughed at because of their ethnicity or