Concrete Responses The essays included present a compelling but biased study within the context of class, race and gender. History shows racism has been clearly practiced in the past; however much has been done to correct the unbridgeable and immutable differences in race, gender and class status in the United States. Rothenberg emphasizes, in the collection of essays, past views of Euro-Americans’ superiority in intelligence and abilities over darker skinned races. Throughout the history of the United States, discrimination against race and gender has been documented thus creating various classes according to race and gender. Racism has been defined as “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010).
Focusing on the main essay,One institution that has remained controversial in offering services to the public is the police (Young and Mooney, 1999). The negative attitudes, stereotypes, and behaviour of the police favour the White race while putting people of colour and African at a disadvantage (Pilkington, 2003). There are stereotypes that people of colour always
Collins’ work is immensely important in the field of race and gender relations in America. Collins works closely with the theory of intersectionality, a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw. Intersectionality refers to how different areas of oppressions intersect each other, such as race, ethnicity, nation, social class, gender, sexuality, and age, to shape the ways that one is marginalized (Crenshaw, 1991, p.1244). Collins expands on this idea with
Rothstein offers a very comprehensive review of a myriad of factors influenced by socioeconomic class and their potential effects on the achievement of students. He addresses genetics (Rothstein, 17), childrearing techniques (19), nutrition (44), alcohol and tobacco use (42), and a variety of health-related physical aspects (37-42). In the article More than just race: being black and poor in the inner city by William J. Wilson, the author analyzes the fragmentation of African-American families and the underlying causes of this breakdown. Wilson begins with discussing the 1965 report by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He illustrates the rise of the “black perspective” and its effects on the serious social scientific study of urban poverty (Wilson, 99).
Racial Micro-aggressions against Minorities Jose P. Polanco Carlos Albizu University PSYM 523-A Racial Micro-aggressions against Minorities The term micro-aggressions are consider a brief everyday exchanges that send demeaning messages to certain individuals because of their group memberships. The nature of racism has evolve over time from the old fashioned overt expressions of White supremacy and racial hatred to the more subtle, ambiguous, and unintentional expressions called aversive racism. Because most White people associate racism with hate crimes and White supremacist groups, they are unaware how racism has taken on an invisible nature to the extent that they have lost the perception of unintentional racism towards people of color. White Americans believe that discrimination is on the decline, that racism is not a significant issue that has an impact in their behavior and performance. In contrast, Black Americans perceive that racism is a constant reality in their lives, White individuals continue to respond toward them.
Race is an influential idea and a continuing concept, made-up by society. It has also fostered inequality and discrimination for centuries, as well as influencing how we relate to other human beings. A “stereotype” is an oversimplification about a person or a group of people. We utilize stereotypes when we are incapable or reluctant to attain all of the information we would need to make impartial judgments about people or situations. In the absence of detail, stereotyping in many situations allow us to arrive at a general conclusion of these groups.
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.
Karenga says that us as Black people need to acquire this knowledge not just for knowledge sake, but for human sake. The knowledge African Americans could gain through Black Studies would be the key to taking all of this oppression we have endured for hundreds of years in America and turning it into success and prosperity for the community. The knowledge we learn must be taken back to the communities and shared with the masses that need it most. According to Karenga, and history, we are the fathers and mothers of humanity and human civilization and by understanding Black Studies, we are contributing to the full understanding of humanity itself. In an
The inequalities that people of various genders and races experienced and dealt with in the early days of racism is validated through the texts of Oliver Cromwell and Anne McClintock. Through their eyes one is able to grasp the development and methods used in order to understand the historical context of racism and how racial antagonism and racial antipathy influenced the social attitudes of our society. To understand racism, the lack of equal treatment that many encountered in the past, one also needs to understand how race aggression played a pivotal role. In the late 19th Century, some important aspects to ponder were albeit, racial exploitation, assimilation, lynching and marriage restrictions, as well as gender inequality, which ultimately led to the expansion of racial stratification. In conclusion, "making sense of the meaning of race and the character of race relations in American life requires an understanding of capitalism as a social system and it's specific history of this country."
Race is nature and ethnicity is nurture; that is, birth characteristics versus cultural heritage” ("What Is the Difference"). However, there seems to be a tendency for people to substitute ethnicity for race "Some educators and researchers use ethnicity interchangeably with race because we believe they are still uncomfortable with race, racism and its role in education. But, if we abandon the concept of ‘race’ we also abandon discussions of power, domination and group conflict, economic exploitation, political power and powerlessness” (The Socially Constructed Nature of Race).