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Racism

The Concept of Racism Essay

May 20, 2022 by Essay Writer

The internal differences in our modern world sometimes arise from uniqueness in the physical appearance of people. For instance, skin color, texture of the hair, as well as shape of the face and body are some of the major determining factors that divide people across the world.

Some individuals tend to believe that these factors improve the level of ability and intelligence of an individual. However, biologists have proven that the genetic differences among different races are negligible. As such, the biological differences among various groups of people from different ethnic groups are mainly distinguished by their physical appearances.

I have carried out a sample case study and discovered that throughout human history, the concept of racism has been evident as a social reality. It varies from one racial background to another. The prevalence of racism has been used to legitimize unequal distribution of society’s resources.

In particular, various forms of wealth, prestige and power have been distributed along racial lines. Therefore, certain races are sometimes regarded to be more superior than others. The latter has led into the division of humanity as well as exploitation of the races that are perceived to be inferior.

Although racism has been experienced in most parts of the world, some regions are grossly affected. For example, there is dominance of the Whites in countries like the United States. There are some Whites who consider the non-whites as people who do not qualify to belong to their race.

This has been attributed by their differences in physical appearance. In addition, there are those who perceive themselves to be in a position to perform certain tasks better than the rest. This may not necessarily be true because race identity does not add value to an individual’s intelligence.

In a case whereby Whites are considered to be more intelligent than other races, there is a likelihood that an environment of mistrust may blossom. Any kind of discrimination may make other races to feel uncomfortable working in the same environment under the same conditions. As matter of fact, there may be less community facilities and resources allocated to other races especially if policy makers assume that such resources would be wasted if they are offered to certain races.

On the other hand, Robert Redfield noted that racism is not dependent entirely on scientific factors. It is also a creation or psychological modification of human beings. Hence, it is also influenced by our habits, customs and attitudes toward other people. For instance, racism in our country is expedited by the political, economic and social forces. People use various criteria to classify themselves under different races. The latter has resulted into some form of political struggle.

Finally, culture is considered to be an important element in the formation of an ethnic group. Members of a certain ethnic group view themselves as a common entity with a unique origin. Hence, they share some kind of affinity among themselves. Ethnicity largely arises from cultural differences in society. Therefore, race can be conceptualized as a key component of ethnicity.

An individual can become a member of a particular ethnic group due to his or her social circumstances. Similarly, the minor ethnic groups are discriminated by major races. For example, the ethnic hierarchy in the United States is ranked in such a way that the Whites always come first. It is then followed by other ethnic groups and finally, the Blacks appear at the lower level. However, this trend has been changing rapidly over the recent years.

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