Summary Of Race Racism And Darwinism

Social Darwinism was a set of theories developed by various people during the 19th century. It was the adaptation of Darwin theory of evolution applied to human social behavior and ability to survive compared to other human beings. It can now easily be seen that these theories could be used to justify racial discrimination and they have been used in this way throughout history. This misconception of Darwin’s theories popularized by various academics in the west gave western nations to treat other nations badly. People like French man Joseph Gobineau had already come up with race supremacy ideas before Darwin’s theories of evolution had started to become a popular idea. He took his ideas from what he was seeing around him at the time not

Racism Without Racists is perhaps one of the most eye-opening books i’ve read to date. Never before have a read a book and felt so much guilt and understanding, as well as a mix of both at the same time. The author, Eduardo Bonilla Silva, did such a great job of making statements and then backing them up with sufficient evidence to prove his point. After reading this, I feel much more educated and confident in understanding the topics discussed in the book.

Taking into consideration my early childhood, youth and adolescence, I could say that I was surrounded by people, who were friendly and shared common cultural values. However, with the hindsight at my whole life, I could say why the sense of institutional racism touches me so deeply. I was raised by my mother and my grandmother, both of whom could not read and write. Thus, for the illiterate people there were no chances to have higher status in the society. The only way to survive for them was hard physical work. Institutional racism, as a form of oppression, is more consequential and involves policies and acts that affect a large number of people. Life of my family is only one example of its impact. Even though, a lot of time has passed since then, the most recent incidents with Rodney King, Trayvon Martin and George Zimmer, illustrate how a black man continues to be viewed as a menace to society in America (Blumenfeld, 2010).

We live in a society where categorization is introduced to us at an early age: when we go grocery shopping, we find fruits labeled at different prices based of their varying origins; when you are introduced to new people, you’ll run into that person who kicks off the conversation by asking what astrological symbol you are. A random question? Not really, as soon as you respond with a “Gemini” or Capricorn” then you are automatically pigeon-holed into that class of person. “Oh so you’re outgoing, passionate, and an intelligent person? We’d have great compatibility!” For all they know, you’re a polar opposite of that immediate categorization you’ve just been given based off a symbol, or word, or color. While categories don’t physically harm an individual, it has a detrimental impact on the progression of society as a whole. Categories such as race, class, and gender seemed to be placed into rankings, where becomes more dominant than the other. This opens the door for discrimination and inequalities to be utilized by those in a position of privilege.

Also, Baker discusses the works of different scholars and their contribution to Social Darwinist ideas within anthropology. Those scholars include: Herbert Spencer, Daniel G Brinton, John Wesley Powell, Lewis Henry Morgan, Nathaniel Southgate Shalor, and all these scholars asserted claims of racial superiority of Whites and the racial inferiority of people of color. The Social Darwinist scholars published scientific rationales that supported racial disenfranchisement and segregation, which caused the creation of an evolutionary model that supported the idea of White progression and racial inferiority in America. Additionally, Baker used the concepts proposed in chapters one and two to emphasize his point regarding the intersectionality between anthropology and the process of race formation. Moreover, Baker established his argument that anthropology and scholars within the field played a crucial role in reinforcing popular ideas of racial interiority through their various

In “From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, the discourse is a discussion of the issues with the struggle and fight for black liberation. While Blacks may be making superficial strides and gains, such as an African-American President, the continued struggle to end discrimination in fields of housing, education, employment, and policing is still at the forefront of Black everyday life. One theme Taylor discusses is the issue posed by “allies” who in actuality, are working against the struggle. She describes racism as being broken down into three molds: biologically, color blindness, and the culture of poverty. Racists use biology to say that certain races are “naturally” superior to others. There is a misguided

Race has evolved through the scientific endeavor to forward knowledge, from a categorisation of people based on geographic origin and physical traits, to a hierarchical concept that is used as a tool to racially vilify, discriminate and marginalize particular races. The term race was introduced in the 16th century and referred to a group category of people (Smedley, 1999). From then, the concept of race was scrutinized and redefined by the western world. America bought about the concept of ‘race’ present in modern day, however the intellectual framework that served as a guide was European (Brace, 2005). Understanding of the evolution of race theories and its consequences are crucial to analyse how contemporary Indigenous Peoples are

Social Darwinism is a term and social theory formed in the late nineteenth century to describe the idea that humans compete in a struggle for existence. This competition is also linked to Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, resulting in survival of the fittest. The misapplied social term of social Darwinism is typically used in regards to the belief that wealthy Anglo-Saxon’s are biologically racially superior. Many people correlate the social Darwinist theory to the heightened rationalization of imperialism, racism, and capitalism, and the term typically has a negative connotation due to the vague understanding of it being attributed to a rejection of social responsibility and compassion.

Scientific racism feel strongly out of favor in the early 20th Century, but the origins of fundamental human and

Racism includes belief systems and practices that try to legitimize, or cause, the unequal dissemination of benefits or rights among distinctive social groups. Cutting edge variations are frequently situated in social view of biological differences between people of different groups. These can take the form of social activities, practices or convictions, or political frameworks that consider distinctive races to be positioned as better or substandard than the other, taking into account the shared inheritable attributes, capacities, or qualities. It might hold that individuals from diverse races ought to be dealt with differently (Andrews, 2015).

History has proven that racism is much more than an ideology but it’s an integral part of the human evolution (For example: Slavery, Religious conflicts in middle east, the recognition of women’s rights etc…). We can identify multiple forms of racism which humans were and are still confronted to (sexism, skin color, the appearance, religious, the cultural and physical differences, handicap). All of these factors have reached and deprived individuals from freedom, liberty of expression, equality. Not only does it affect human liberties it also divides individuals in two different categories, indeed; we can identify a dominant “race” and an oppressed “race” where the advantages and power are very unequally distributed.

After Charles Darwin published the Origins of Species, society began to turn away from religion and towards science to justify slavery and segregation by seeking out physiological and psychological differences between Blacks and Whites (Parks & Heard, 2009). Physiologically, some Whites argued that black people were the missing link between apes and humans. Psychologically, others like Frances Galton proposed his theory of eminence, or the notion that certain abilities, many of them psychological in nature, could be inherited, just as physical characteristics are (Galton, 1892). In collecting data from 12 separate groups from well to do white men, Galton (1892) concluded that the most influential men had at least one influential relative and therefore, their successful positions in life were due to genetic eminence or a predisposition for a high social rank. Even though Galton (1892) ignored environmental influences that could shape eminence and intelligence, he attracted followers even more than a hundred years later. This includes Arthur Jensen, Charles Murray, and Richard Herrnstein and their theories that black people were an inferior race because their IQ scores are significantly lower than white people’s IQ scores (Jensen, 1969; Herrnstein & Murray, 1994). Supporters of these theories, once again, latched on to tactics of dehumanization in order to justify black oppression without considering how this oppression shapes an individual’s mind and behavior.

Social Darwinism uses ideas like “evolution”, “fitness” and “struggle for survival” to explain and even justify inequalities in wealth and power. The struggle for survival is not only limited to politicians and wealthy business owners competing against each other to improve their status but also among the less privileged class struggling to get a job, obtain a promotion or just trying to make ends meet.

They say do not judge a book by its cover, yet everyday people are judged just based on their skin color. Racism is one of the world’s major issues and important problem today. Many people are not aware that racism still exists in anywhere else where a social is occurring. Race is a way to form a division between people, but can cause problems of discrimination. Racism is an issue that is happening all over the globe, not just in American. For example, it also happened in Korea and Asian. This is why human from all over the world must acknowledge the conflict to find a way to decrease racial injustice. In fact, an individual isn’t born as a racist, but only learns to become one as they grow from child to adulthood. There are many citizens who feel shameful when they cannot get a job because of their race or gender. But these cases are not even suggested or spoken to the front to be solved.

In America, large cities almost universally hold a predominantly liberal population, while many rural and suburban areas tend to vere more to the middle and right of the political continuum. One simple explanation for this phenomenon has less to do with the perceived nature of different “types” of human beings living in a given place than it does with the nature of that place itself. Naturally, someone spending every day of their life in a five by five mile square packed with two million people will experience an inconceivably broader spectrum of social interaction than an individual existing in a 30 square mile county of 2,000. Sociologically speaking, the more humans are exposed to any given thing, place, or person, the greater their appreciation for said entity, as familiarity breeds understanding, and understanding breeds comfort. Thus, it can be argued, a major cause for the idea of tolerance central to the liberal philosophy prevalent in a majority of American urban societies, is simply greater exposure, be it to a variety of beliefs, cultures, religions, races, and just ways of life in general. For many of these people, the only “normal” is diversity, variety; constant change. That being said, the perceived racism often present in the minds of those comprising our country’s sparser populations exists predominantly as a form of fear, rather than the common mislabeling of hate. To truly understand this, one must keep in mind that it is fundamental to human nature to