Dubois's philosophy not only shows nihilism in the black race during this era but it also shows the same lack of progression in the black community in 2011. It reminds us of the lack of harmonious solidarity as well as the lack of intellect, high morals and spiritual insight affecting the Black masses today. His piece brings up an array of valid points on why the black community is its own worst enemy when it comes to building a new infrastructure of educational, historical and financial knowledge of self like the Jewish, Asian and Indian cultures. Dubois says “It is the problem of developing the best of this race that they may guide the mass away from the contamination and death of the worst, in their own and other races. Now the training of men is a difficult and intricate task.”(Dubois 1) I personally think that the contamination of most blacks today is from out dated teachings, some churches, politicians and most importantly, the entertainment business.
“How is possible to have this tremendous degree of racial inequality in a country where most whites claim that race is no longer relevant?” (Bonilla-Silva 2) This is the question that drives Eduardo Bonilla-Silva to look further into the racial dynamic of the United States. Bonilla- Silva explains this issue of racism in terms of “color blindness”. He defines this “color blind racism” as a new racism ideology that stems from these powerful explanations that whites use for justifications for the racial inequalities that exist today. (Bonilla-Silva 3) Color-blind racism has become such a strong ideology that it is being used as a tool to keep minorities from reaching new heights. “Shielded by color blindness, whites can express resentment toward minorities; criticize their morality, values, and values and work ethic” (Bonilla-Silva 4).
He explains that whenever someone decides that racial comments has to be accepted, we are asking people to accept the hurt of racial comments for everyone else. Lawrence closes out his argument by stating that arguments about the First Amendment and racist speech, without having a better and full understanding of what it truly means and the harm of what it does, makes the First Amendment a weapon of mass destruction rather than a “vehicle of
As sociologist Douglas S. Massey has said, “segregation is a key cause of poverty because where one lives determines much about the life chances one faces." And this in the United States is "Created by White prejudice, Actualized by discriminatory behavior and Condoned, if not supported, by government." Today both, in the US and in Europe as well, overt racism is replaced by “politically correct behavior” and the reality of social relations has been rarified. This has made the evil of racism omnipresent, omnipotent but still invisible. It is to the credit of White societies, that, this art is not only universalized but its social reproduction is also ensured.
Expressing the feeling of the radical civil rights advocates, DuBois demanded for all black citizens 1) the right to vote, 2) civic equality, and 3) the education of African Americans youth according to ability. In general, DuBois opposed Washington’s program because he believed that it was narrow in its scope and objectives, devalued the study of the liberal arts, and ignored civil, political, and social injustices and the economic manipulation of the black
Schlesinger examines the current attempts by black "leaders" to rewrite the history of black Americans in order to ostensibly improve their self-esteem and provide them with role models. Mr. Schlesinger argues that this sort of "compensatory history," or "underdog history" which is invented or exaggerated to soothe the wounds of the oppressed or abused, really can have no positive effect, either for those it presumes to help or for the nation as a whole. He states, "... black Americans, after generations of psychological and cultural evisceration have every right to seek an affirmative definition of their past". But he also states that, "History as a weapon is an abuse of history. The high purpose of history is not the presentation of self nor the vindication of identity ..." He points out that the reinforcement of such a separatist concept of black identity through such slanted or inaccurate history, coupled with a complete dismissal of the history of black people in America over the past 300 years, can only result in the "...fragmentation, resegregation, and tribalization of American Life".
Although these two are the most prominent, they are not the most important. The most important is the sociological concept primary socialization, but is not displayed until later. First Racism is introduced in the opening scenes through the use of derogatory terms. The main character, Derek Vineyard, begins to refer to African Americans and other minorities as parasites and problems in the United States. In this same scene he also shows views of white supremacy because he states that minorities come to America only to exploit it as opposed to establishing themselves as “model citizens”.
The NAACP’s primary goal during Du Bois’ time was to invalidate the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson. He was fond of Booker T. Washington, mentioned earlier, and many of his own views surrounded the concept of double consciousness. Du Bois believed that as a result of Plessy v. Ferguson African Americans began to judge themselves based on white standards, ultimately leading to the internal acceptance of inferiority. He describes the state of double consciousness as, “a peculiar sensation this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others…” (143). In other words, black people have reached a state of double consciousness where they look at themselves in the way that white people look at them.
Olivia Brice English 101 Ms. Hesse Racism Today People believe that racism is defined as the belief that there are characteristically and biologically different traits in the ‘human racial groups’ that justify discrimination. In Appiah’s essay he expresses how race is not a biologically different thing, but is instead a social concept or idea. Racism is what people call this social idea about race, and how it makes people differ from one another. At one point in history racism was very distinct and easy to spot, but by looking at an article from recent years we can see that racism still exists but is hidden and overlooked and that people are not considered to be racist, although they are. So what does it mean to be racist today?
Individuals have also made good arguments about the negative outcome that racial profiling might bring to our society. Obviously it has led the dominant race to have superiority to the minorities – racial discrimination. James Zogby, the president of the Arab-American Institute have made a point that he have seen a lot of dark skinned people being searched and treated with humiliation, which is really wrong – Racial Relations. David Harris, a writer and Professor at Toledo College, have already written a couple of books about racial profiling. He states that law enforcers think that they would be more accurate in targeting a suspicious group, but in reality, what happens is the total opposite wherein officials have inaccurate results in targeting the suspect—Race Relations.