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We know that racism exists today and everyone knows it's wrong. Is there anyway to fix it? Racism is a problem that many people face. The issue of racism is still an issue that affects our society. Yes, our society has come a long way in eliminating racial discrimination. Racism of any kind is wrong.
Racism is objectively defined as any practice of ethnic discrimination or segregation. Prejudice is an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. There are three basic forms of racism, open racism, violent racism, and covert racism. These basic forms of racism, although different in form, all have the same purpose, to promote racism. Open racism expresses freedom of racial thought and speech.
Open racists promote their views strictly through persuasion ary tactics. Open racism is currently almost nonexistent and steadily declining, because it is considered politically incorrect and socially unacceptable. Violent racism promotes racism through violence, fear, and persuasion ary tactics. Covert racism expresses ideas of racism in disguised forms; sometimes the covert racist is not even aware of the fact that he is racist.
Racism, it is asserted, is no longer blatant: people are reluctant to express openly their dislike of and contempt for minorities. Racism, it is said, is subtle: it is disguised, kept out of sight. Avoiding minorities on the street and denial of a public benefit to a minority which would be awarded to a white are examples of covert racism. Since it is no longer politically correct to openly express one's racist views, people therefore favor disguised, indirect ways to express their bigotry. Covert racism is the most abundant form of racism in our society today.
In the past, our society has seen many forms of major racial discrimination. What causes racial prejudice? I can give these four reasons: 1. Influence of tradition 2. Psychological need of individuals to belong to a particular, identifiable group. 3.
Building up ego by cultivating a feeling of superiority. 4. Usefulness of prejudice as an economic and political weapon. Practically since the dawn of man's existence man has undoubtedly noticed differences between races. Racism's presence throughout the formation of our culture is quite evident. Frequently throughout history the ethnic group with the most power has assumed that its race and culture are superior to others.
Many laws prohibit racist acts that were prevalent in the past. Why was it that in the midst of all the legal safeguards in place in our society, in our time today that people still claim to be victims of racism? The feelings are strong among people of all nationalities. Many whites think that all the laws do is protect the minorities at the expense of the whites. Blacks and Hispanics recognize that laws alone will not solve the problems we have in society today when attitudes and perceptions like these still exist. But racism isn't just a matter of laws or social customs.
It's also a matter of the heart and mind -- a matter of attitudes and prejudices that keep us from accepting others and helping them the way we should. And those attitudes, I'm afraid, are still with us. They lead to all kinds of behavior toward those of other races and ethnic backgrounds -- all the way from indifference and neglect to anger and hatred. And this isn't just true in our own society, but throughout the world. The question is, is there any hope to solve the problem of racism? Racism is a problem that all local officials must address, regardless of the racial or ethnic composition of their city or town.
Racism is not susceptible to a "technical fix" but is instead something that is embedded and reproduced every day by what we do. As a result, it has to be dismantled, unraveled, purged - undone. "Undoing racism" means moving from being a part of the problem to becoming a part of the solution. As a first step in this process, we urge municipal officials to accept that we are all a part of the problem of racism, and that no community is immune. We urge people to recognize that they have the power and the obligation as an elected leader to take action to dismantle racism in their community and their region. We are all a part of the problem in many different ways, and we all need to move past denial and learn to take steps to eliminate racism. The problem of racism - and its potential solutions - are built on a support system consisting of two pillars: 1.
Personal attitudes and behavior, or what we think about other people and how that drives our day-to-day decisions and actions; and 2. Policy and institutional frameworks that make racism a pervasive and systemic problem in many countries today. Racism is sustained both by personal systems of understanding and behavior and by the political and institutional systems that dominate our society and culture. Racism depends on both for its existence, and both must change in order for racism to go away. Working against racism is about creating a society that is guided by the fairness of its ideas, its politics and its culture - not by the fairness of one another's skin. Municipal officials can and must play a leadership role in undoing racism.
This work must happen at the local, regional and national levels, and it must be based on recognizing that racism remains a fact of life in many countries today - and that it is holding all of us back. How Can We Undo Racism? - By Changing Ourselves. On the one hand, working against racism means changing what we, as individuals and elected leaders, are doing to keep racism alive - for example, by separating ourselves, intentionally or not, from individuals of different races, or by not speaking up when those around us make racist comments. By Changing Our Policies and Institutions. Dismantling racism also means changing the policies and the social and institutional systems that allow racism to remain an oppressive force - for example, by enabling police to stop motorists because of the color of their skin or by permitting banks to treat loan applicants of different races differently.
From the other hand, the solution to the problem of racism is, in principle, rather simple. The first step is to define what racism is objectively. As it was above said, racism is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and those racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Racism is a person's attitude, ignorance and beliefs that causes one to believe their race is superior. It spreads to each generation causing a never-ending cycle. It occurs in every day life.
Violence, destruction and ultimately death are sometimes the results of racism. It is unfair treatment to minorities being judged primarily because of the color of their skin. Every race is affected in some way, but African-Americans are affected more significantly than any other race. Racism begins in the home where it is taught. Racism occurs at home, work, anytime and anyplace. It began years ago and continues today.
But we must struggle to ban discrimination in all of its forms. We also need to enforce all civil rights laws in the search for meaningful remedies to heal the damages of racism and cultural aggression. We need to have greater access to global society as a whole and to be considered equal with the groups within this global structure. We need to discuss individual responsibility and accountability in terms of programs that could focus on fighting racism.
We need a systematic program to fight racism in the white community, particularly among poor working people and the middle class. I think there is a priority of working and organizing toward racism in white communities. The goal should be to come together with people of color to help organize and empower their communities for them to more effectively lead themselves around an agenda that they see as essentially important. Respecting the culture and identity of communities of color should always be a priority. White organizations should always have people of color in critical roles on their staff so they can take the lead in organizing communities of color.
This does not mean that only white people can organize in white communities, or black people in black communities. We could have interracial teams working collectively because of the focusing need of strategies to progress toward a more harmonizing future. We must recognize the centrality of the agendas and leadership in communities of color in the struggle to create a new society. I think it is important to struggle for a new society. We are really fighting against racism so we can have better race relations or so we can sit down and maybe one day have tea together. We must have racial justice as well as good relations.
Racial justice and gender equality of rights for all people are prerequisites for becoming a better society. We need to struggle against racism so that we can create a force that will be at the cutting edge of the fight for social transformation and the creation of a new society in a new world. We cannot achieve a society based on genuine economic and political democracy unless we succeed in our pursuit. Racism is a disease that has no cure.
Martin Luther King Jr. stated in his speech that he looked forward to the day when his four children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I think he was right then and now, but the country has sunk deeper into racism. I believe it is time to regress to King's idea.
The content of one's character and not the color of one's skin should judge a person, which is the sole decent of American criterion. For example, for now to solve the problem of racism it is created AWD project - the Action for World Development Challenging Racism in Schools Project. The aim of the AWD project is not to create a problem of racism in order to 'solve' it, nor to impose a single standard method of addressing racism that can be applied without modification to any and all schools. Instead their goal is to work with all members of the school community to evaluate what the concerns are, where racism arises and what form it takes, and then to begin to identify strategies that will work in the very specific context of that school.
Racism, therefore, cannot be solved by merely focusing on race. The key factor for success in this process is to work through the primary social institutions that perpetuate the learning of racism and its corresponding behavior of exclusion: the family, the school, the church, the workplace, and government. Now that we know the problem what should be done to solve the problem for sure? The answer seems quite simple; THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK.
If you have a strong belief about someone that can't be proven walk a mile in the other persons shoes. Here are some steps that we as students and members of society can do to combat this problem: Consider your attitudes to see if they reflect prejudice. If so, consider the reasons or causes for your feelings. Consider whether your prejudice shows discriminatory actions. If so, evaluate the justification of your actions and make a change.
Prejudice and discrimination are negative manifestations of integrative power. Instead of bringing or holding people together, prejudice and discrimination pushes them apart. So, if we don't stop racism now our world will self-destruct. Through racism nothing productive has ever happened.
Many people have been beaten and killed but nothing was ever solved. Without it the countries will be a better place. Children can go to school without the worry of being killed based on how they look. I think if the hate of other races is stopped then a lot of the other violence will be subdued as well. The key to human survival is to stop violence, a key part of violence is racism. If racism is stopped before it progresses to the worlds end, the world can live together in harmony.
Bibliography. Fairchild, H. (1992). Discrimination and Prejudice; An Annotated Second edition. San Diego: Wester field Enterprise. Hunt Elgin F. , Colander David C. (1996) Social Science: An Introduction to the Study of Our Society, Needham Heights Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon. Swift, J. (1991).
Dream and Reality: the Modern Black Struggle for Freedom and Equality. New York: Greenwood. A common sense approach to racism / sexism . (n. d. ). Retrieved May 4, 2004 from web CONSULTING for Change in Human Systems. (n. d. ).
Retrieved May 4, 2004 from web CRIS - Challenging Racism In Schools - An AWD project. (2003). Retrieved May 4, 2004 from web Isley, S. (n. d. ). Future Impact of Racism. Retrieved May 4, 2004 from web James, B. (1997). Now and Then.
Retrieved May 4, 2004 from web Racism Not the Problem in School Suspensions (2003, February 5). Retrieved May 4, 2004 from web Rosado, C. (1998). The Multiple Futures of Racism. Beyond the Myth of Race through a New Paradigm for Resolution in the Third Millennium. Abstract: ROSADO Undoing Racism: Fairness and Justice in America's Cities and Towns. (2001, May). Retrieved May 4, 2004 from web
Free research essays on topics related to: color of their skin, economic and political, prejudice and discrimination, people of color, forms of racism
Research essay sample on Color Of Their Skin Prejudice And Discrimination
