In this short essay I will define institutional racism, its history in American and who it mostly affects. Institutional racism also known as institutional oppression refers to racism perpetrated by government entities, major cooperation’s, schools, the courts or the military (Moore 2008). Unlike the racism perpetrated by individuals, institutional racism has the power to negatively affect the bulk of people belonging to a minority group. This form of racism still persists in America because dominant groups are unwilling to share or give up the benefits inherited from past generations. Through numerous examples, Institutional Racism demonstrates how inequality and racial exclusion are embedded within the fabric of American society.
The idea behind this research is to try and point out some of the disparities in sentencing, and possibly offer some potential ways to reduce the problem. “Racial disparity in sentencing, historical representation of current biases, plea bargaining and racial profiling are all factors contributing to the current over-representation of minorities in the judicial system, further threatening the African American community and weakening the family. Aggregate data and statistics compiled supports the assumption that African Americans are disproportionately subjected to conditions such as racial profiling, traffic stops leading to searches and seizures yielding minor offenses that lead to incarceration, rather than probation or rehabilitation. Further, they are given much longer, disparate prison sentencing than white offenders under similar circumstances. These systematic disparate treatments contribute to a dysfunctional community and lead to the socioeconomic destruction of the African American family infrastructure.” (Coulson-Clark, et.
Racism is a form of discrimination that “stems from the belief that groups should be treated differently according to phenotypic difference” (McKenzie, 2002). Racial discrimination comes in many forms, the most obvious being public displays of racism, these can come in the form of ‘hate crimes’ which are very direct. However, perceived racism that is the interpretation of negative treatment, or uncomfortable social situations experienced by affected individuals as a direct result of race. Perceived racism can be argued to be the most influential form of discrimination in relation to health. It is commonly recognised that racial discrimination can have a number of negative consequences.
There are two main types of discrimination; direct discrimination and indirect discrimination, direct discrimination is where overt individuals openly discriminate against others and this can be done either words or actions where the person is going out of their to disadvantage another person or group of people. An example of this in a health care setting would be a nurse/ doctor denying treatment to a coloured person but accepting to treat a white person (this is also an example of racism). Indirect discrimination is more covert, this is where certain conditions, rules or regulations are put in place that has a preference to one group of people than another. A person’s culture is important to them and signifies who they are and it developed within their social group that they were raised in. It is important in a health and social care profession to respect a person’s culture in order to show that the individual is being supported and that we are giving them a sense of understanding.
In the documentary Jane Elliot focuses on discrimination against women, homosexuals and mostly against African Americans and how society is biased to suit the oppressors. The blue eyed brown eyed exercise teaches white people what its like to be black in the United States of America. This is done by separating the blue eyed people who are all white and the brown eyed people and making the blue eyed people feel inferior by treating them the same way as blacks are treated in society. In the documentary Jane Elliot uses the exercise to make the blue eyed people feel uncomfortable, frustrated, humiliated, and discriminated against. By doing this she is simulating society’s discrimination of minority groups.
The occurrence of this type of nullification has been attributed to a potential response to social conditions, including the perception that the criminal justice system targets minorities,” (Keneally, 2010-2011, p. 945-946). Keneally (2010-2011), goes on to state that, “one explanation asserts that jurors are making a statement to focus attention on racism in the
Many of the stereotypes associated with black women have a history with slavery, such as the idea of them being mammies, or the notion of the bad black woman. This is connected to W. E. B. Du Bois’ idea of the double consciousness. The term describes the internal conflict that members of subordinate groups have while in an society that still oppresses them. It is the idea that a person looks at themselves through the eyes of the racist society that they are in (Du Bois, 1903).
Double consciousness forces blacks to not only view themselves from their own unique perspective, but to also view themselves as they might be perceived by the outside world. Du Bois spoke of this when he talked about “the sense of looking at one’s self through the eyes of others”. As a result, blacks can suffer from a damaged self-image shaped by the perceptions and treatment of white people. Black life in turn can easily become shaped by stereotypes perpetuated by mainstream culture. According to Du Bois the prejudices of white people elicit “self-questioning, self-criticism, and lowering of ideals” among black people.
Examples like this and many more occur in our lives commonly, but we’re not always aware of it. To clear up, another example would be that when I went to my friends house she was yelling at everyone and she was acting really angry, I thought she was being really rude, careless and disrespectful but later on I learned that her mother has been in the hospital the night before so she was exhausted and worried for her. Fundamental attribution error is a part of our lives, which we experience by not having empathy or simply, by having misjudgemental
She got beat up every time she drank. For her husband it was terrible. He had to worry about the kids every time he left the house. He feared for the safety of his children. For her kids it was the worst.