Racism And Racism

In America, a culture of sustained racism and sexism influences foreign policymakers, which results in colonialism and imperialism, the desecration of nations, and militancy. The authors of the articles, Michael L. Krenn and Laura McEnaney, with differing skill sets, provide evidence of racial and gendered bias in foreign policy. In “The Adaptable Power of Racism,” Krenn expertly examines the history of racism within foreign policy; how racism adapted in the face of religious and scientific challenges, and the overall effects of racist foreign policies.1 McEnaney, in “Gender Analysis and Foreign Relations,” provides a lackluster account of the application of gender analysis to foreign policy, specifically in relation to the policies of the Cold War and Spanish-American War.2 The history of racism and sexism in America provide a blueprint for foreign policymakers, where racist militancy and sexist excuses override basic human rights.

What we as a community cannot overemphasize is the fact that we cannot barely undo the legacy of a distinctive system such as apartheid overnight. It is our duty to continuously strive towards nationhood, transformation, reconciliation and as South Africans. Nevertheless, nation states are political constructs and thus have to be continuously molded through social engineering. It is hazardous to our democracy for anyone in this community to hold or possess the view that racism is a given. Since time immemorial all the justifications advanced by apologists of this prejudice have been proven untrue. Despite this, some people in our community are still prone to racism and this is the problem which we should address.

Racism is a serious social menace not only in the US, but also the world over, including Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The situation has escalated to a new high, especially in this twenty-first century where technological advancements have necessitated mass and quick sharing of information (Nairn et al. 188). Indeed, social media elements like Facebook, Snap Chat, Twitter, Instagram, and What Sapp has been core in enhancing globalization and its effects, some of which affect and influence racial discrimination both directly and indirectly. As opposed to the views that racism is real and has gained momentum globally, the work of media has on the other hand chosen to report the manifesting cases on the extreme degrees, so that it appears as though the world has come to a halt because of such discriminations. At a critical approach, scholars have noted that media is a channel that creates awareness about racism, and hence could easily escalate the situation if a critical balance on the news and reports aired to the public are not balanced between estimates and practical occurrences (Baker and Rowe 443). While discussing the subject of racism and racial discrimination, it is not only essential to outline how the situation is apparently but also imperative to confirm that race relations are depicted to be really bad in today’s times but the media tries to persuade people to believe an exaggerated side of the situation.

In our everyday life, we see some form of racism being portrayed in movies, tv shows, and media. For many of us, it is hard to distinguish and truly uncover the racism being portrayed. There are forms of racism that one can easily see, but it is hard to reveal full insight. For instance, in the film The Help, racism was portrayed because the women working as maids were African American whom worked to pay for their necessities. This film showed how women of color suffered double the hardship because of their race and sex. However, some white women were also discriminated by men and amongst each other. In addition, this could be traced back to the article Take a Closer Look: Racism in Women’s Lives, because it speaks of the different levels in which racism harms an entire society. Also, the article talks about the advantages/privileges that whites have. Although the article and the film are fairly similar, they also have some differences. The film portrays both racism and sexism, and the article focuses on how children’s upbringings develop racism, and how others resist racism. Both the article and the film interrelate with one another.

Racism has been around for many centuries and it has affected many people around the world. Racism affects people mentally and emotionally and can cause many terrible actions to happen to people. Racism happens to every race around the world but the most common and frequent race being affected by racism are the African Americans. African Americans have been affected by racism very harshly throughout centuries and have caused many to have mental and emotional issues. African American women and children have always taken a big toll when it comes to racism. Racism has always been amongst African American women and children and it has been affecting their psychological state of mind.

Racism has been a growing concern in the United States for many decades. Many individuals of color are treated unfairly just because they are of pigment. Recently many individuals in the African American Communities sparked out in outrage when individuals such as Michael Brown and many more were racially profiled by the police and were brutally attacked. Racism does not only limits individuals of color their freedom and rights but has further impacts on health. However, when one mentions inequalities and racism, people may look at it in terms of a justice problem, but not much attention is given how racism and inequalities impact people of color and their lives. Racism needs to be resolved because this issue is spontaneously growing across the nation targeting innocent victims of color and creating long-term health issues.

As immigration becomes a bigger issue in the United States, so do racial tensions and segregations. A poll conducted by CNN, in 2015 helped to shed light on five separate areas where racial ideology has rapidly changed. Americans are more likely to consider racism a big problem today than they were 20 years ago. When polled in 2016, 49% of Americans said racism is a big problem in the country, up from a mere 28% four years ago. While only 43% of white citizens consider racism a big problem, 66% of blacks and 64% of Hispanics consider it to be an issue, most likely because they are the ones who are affected by the increase in racism. The percentage of those who see racial tensions increasing has grown as well. Almost

Stereotyping has become a topic of increasing sociological and political importance and Islamophobia in America is on rise after 9/11. In the United States racial and ethnic stereotyping is always been a problem. Where people are being generalized because of the limited and inaccurate information and how media portray the picture of minorities. People have lack of knowledge about other religion and cultures and they make assumptions about based on information from news and some of the television shows. This is a definition that goes against the human standards. Just because a particular person from a particular race does something very wrong, everyone from that race is being discriminated by people from so-called other races. This practice

Racism has existed since 3000 B.C when the Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews. The enslavement of African Americans in the 17th and 18th century has been a constant issue and a debatable topic in American society. In recent news, Confederate Monuments of soldiers and generals have been assaulted, and their existence bears witness to open racism. Monuments are being taken down and removed because to some, they represent a society that once owned slaves. Many Americans blindly support these claims, but fail to witness the true reason as to why these statues are placed, not to support racism or slavery, but to honor those who fought and died.

It appears that in today’s society, there is a strong faction of people that seem obsessed with the concept of regression or returning to what they perceive as a better time in our country’s past. Their rhetoric and behavior are openly displayed and centered on hurting vast numbers of Americans that do not fit into their ideal of what America should be. Their hateful words and actions hurt us as a people, as a nation, and without resistance could lead to our inevitable downfall. While that may seem like an overly dark statement to make, it becomes much more understandable with further explanation as it relates to the issues of the infusion and melding of various cultures into the American fabric. America as a nation was founded on racism and racial discrimination, but as the nation grew, we slowly began to recognize the inequalities thrust upon certain sections of our nation and repair those racial divides. The process continues to be slow and incremental with numerous setbacks along the way. America seems to love maintaining a certain status quo when it comes to race relations and only takes action when the outcry of the downtrodden oppressed become too loud to ignore. When the expression of outrage affects the majority, it is then that change happens, but only in small measures and the advantage still, somehow remains in the oppressors’ favor. In our society, no matter how much a persecuted group progresses, often their advancement is thwarted by either political preventions, hate filled groups or individuals, or even our own government trying to maintain the nonsensical status quo and perceived superiority.

It is debatable that since King’s speech things have prospered and some stayed the same. In the past years, there have been issues that show that nothing has changed. Everyone can argue that racism and segregation haven’t gone away. If cops and the people that are against blacks would just ask questions before firing a gun then we would be alright. Even though MLK speech helped us to get somewhere in today’s society, the black people still go through racially profiling and segregation.

In today’s society, racism is a common factor in many violent and disturbing events, and is also a subject that has been discussed for many years. In Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s The Invisible Weight of Whiteness, he describes various ways racism is integrated into society, such defining elite white people of Europe as the universal person, and “[idealizing] the desire for whiteness and [devaluing] the presence of blackness” (178). This results in the media putting more emphasis on the white race rather than giving all races equal attention; when white people are in danger, the media gives a lot of attention, whereas a non-white individual will get little to no attention on the media. On the other hand, in Making #BlackLivesMatter, Kashif Jerome Powell tackles the issues revolving around the deaths of black individuals caused by police. In particular, Powell focused on how Michael Brown and Eric Garner’s death “[became] the surface upon which black life is made to matter” (255), and how their deaths encouraged black people to form protests to fight for their rights. At the same time, in Racism and Police Brutality in America, Cassandra Chaney and Ray V. Robertson concluded that the concept, “Negrophobia”, plays a role in police brutality, as white individuals fear “being victimized by Black, [which] can result in White shooting or harming an African-American based on criminal/racial stereotypes” (482). This idea is often used by white people to justify their actions, and

The opportunity for everyone to be treated fairly and have the same rights is something that many have fought for. Many such as Martin Luther King, Jessie Jackson, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X are some of the most prominent people who fought for the freedom and for all to be treated fairly. Webster defined discrimination as a positive or negative attitude toward an individual based on his or her membership in a religious, racial, ethnic, political, or other groups. When reviewing the definition of the word, one can say that this subject still exists, it is now just considered as stereotyping. Years before the 21st century racism and segregation was a problem that African Americans and other ethnicities dealt with segregation from the white community, some still question whether racism still exist in schools, on the job and especially in communities where they live.

In order for one to adequately understand the concept of racism, one first must understand the complex meaning of race. Race is usually defined by a set of shared physiological traits within a group of people such as skin color, hair color, eye shape, or other defining characteristics. Race is often viewed as a paradox of sorts because although humans may look different on the outside, we share the same DNA, the same internal organs, and the same blood. Race is interesting because on one hand it is useful for identification (that person is white), but on the other hand it can be used as justification for the lack of status in society. Racism can be subdivided into three further topics: prejudice, discrimination, and institutional racism. Prejudice covers the negative feelings attributed with one race. Discrimination covers actions that either grant or take away certain privileges based on race. Finally, institutional racism refers to inequality or injustice based upon race. This paper will focus mostly on prejudice but will mention the other two as well.

For many years, groups of people have been demonized because of their race. One of the most heinous examples of this was in the 1930’s when Adolf Hitler convinced millions that Jewish people were inferior and should be done away with. Here in America, the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese military led to the imprisonment of Japanese Americans and nationwide prejudice against the Japanese. After the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, thousands of Arabs and Muslims were victims of secret detention with no access to loved ones or lawyers, and some were even victims of deportation. (Stein) Muslims and Arabs still face prejudice in 2017. In the United States of America, the government has been able to use racism to construct enemies of people based solely on their race.