Has Racism in the UK Disappeared in the 21st Century - Essay Example

Lecturer: Has racism in the UK disappeared in the 21st century or merely taken new forms? Introduction Racism is a global issue that has been for decades experienced in many societies. Racism refers to the practices, which depicts the conviction that humankind is divided into dissimilar groups known as races. Therefore, people beliefs that these races share diverse attributes, which makes a certain group superior or inferior than the other group. Racism is somehow controversial to race because of some little conformity that it does or does not constitute discrimination. Discrimination comes in varied forms including discrimination against sex, color, ethnicity, religion and social status. These terms are used differently whereby others include prejudice by the Americans; hence making observations of racial distinctions as racism (Mullings (2005, p. 49). Therefore, racism in the UK has not disappeared but instead it has taken new forms and this is because of varied aspects including globalization, capitalism and political processes. How racism has Taken New Forms in the 21st Century in the UK Racism in the UK has not disappeared completely but rather taken new forms in varied ways. As the world moves forward into in the 21st century, there are rapid widespread confusion and changes about the meaning of race and this results due to rapid globalization. Globilisation, which is caused by rapid technological advancement, has been viewed as the cause for widespread confusion and the cause for new forms of racism (Reilly, Stephen and Angela 97). After the destruction of the European colonialism that gave rise to the civil rights movements and the surge for immigration due to globalization, the issue of race became the core subject (Enomoto and Genevieve 55). This contributed to a more critical analysis and creation of awareness of race, but focusing primarily on discrimination and prejudices (Darity 56). Extensive concepts of racial themes from both traditional and modern theorists have been applied in racial issues. The rapid globalization has contributed to varied changes due to modernization; thus racism has tended to remain a global issue even in the post-colonial period. Racism has also become popular, but it has emerged with new concepts and increased drastically; hence heightening the controversy over the meaning of race. Kundnani (41) argues that British racism is well understood not only by the context of conditions, in Britain but also through the global factors. Globilisation has been the key aspect for the rampart new forms of racism, in the UK. The author combines historical perspective with the assessment of current conditions such as the postwar immigration and the evolution of International Monetary Fund structural programs in the third world. Globilisation is the main cause for increased migrations, asylum and new evolution of markets. For instance, the author reveals the way asylums have been treated differently, and this is through making conditions difficult or unattractive for them. Kundnani (39) reveals the way anthropologists have attempted to link between modernization period and race. Other anthropologists argue that race has not vanished but it has been profoundly influenced by political process. The so-called classical theorists of sociology were concerned by offering an explanation on the emergence of modernity in Europe and the way these led to varied changes in the society. They understood the consequences of modernity and understood the meaning of the increased capitalism in the society (Chowdhry and Sheila 71). Racial theme became the central theme after the dawn of capitalism and the problem of dealing with the social problems emerged. Hence, varied changes among the nations and cultural understandings about the meaning of race have been explained by using comparative approaches (Gioseff 47). Additionally, in the new 21st century where there are new political processes, racism has not disappeared but changes; thus forming a new form. The political process that includes the civil rights and decolonization process drove away the theoretical perspective of racism and lead to emergence of new racism theories (Short and Helen 13). Therefore, racial theories have acquired a new predicament, which is difficult to tackle. The apartheid and empire have been abolished; thereby, new form of political structure with new government structure being formed. The question is that how the ongoing racial inequality and prejudices can be explained. Some scholars argue that since racism is diminishing, the race issue is now being obviated in the current 21st century (Boas 6; Farber 2011, p. 36). The global society and transitional culture will eventually achieve a new form of racial or ethnic. The issue of racism has been largely shaped by political processes and this is well explained by varied theorists (Harrison 12). For instance, Marx, the economist and classical theorist explains the ways racial segregation has been and still is a common problem in the current society. Under capitalism society, Marxist reveals the way rich people in the European society wanted to accumulate capital and racism was common in the capitalism society. He also constructs varied ideologies and race issues that obscures class relations; thereby hindering the formation of class consciousness. Another theorist known as Weber also treats the ethnicity as a social constructionist approach to race, but he does not provide a serious consideration of the imposing phenomenon. Moreover, others scholars notes that new situation of diversification or multiculturalism provides a new form of laissez-faire society, which will contribute to increased racial segregation and inequality (Eller 249; Joppke 238). Multiculturalism is a policy that aims to promote the interaction of people from varied cultures in order to increase the mutual respect for one another; hence promoting equal rights and opportunities. Multiculturalism has impacted many people across the globe and it has continued to create social, economic and political impacts (Laden, Anthony and David 91). Multiculturalism has significantly contributed to varied impacts in the UK economy, and it has mostly impacted many institutions including the education and employment sectors. The ethnicity in African anthropology has often focused on colonial and structural-functionalist (Haviland 98). Racism has been structured in human biological characteristics and classified in such a way as to characterize and construct distinguished social collectivities. Smedley and Brian (17) points out that race as biology is a fiction; hence anthropologists do not operate with the hypothesis of inborn biological causes for any social, economic or political aspects. Strom, Lee, Trahan, Kaufman, and Tiffany (122) also add that cultural traits can be best understood in terms of cultural phenomenon; hence ethnicity and culture are linked phenomenon, but the bear no innate connection to human biological variations or race. Angel-Ajani (37) argues that many black people are among the inhabitants who have been in most cases the victim of racism. They are segregated because of color and sometimes police forces are more likely to stop-and-search powers against black people than the white people. McGhee, (45) argues that multiculturalism is the cause for new form of racism in the UK society. This is because of the way the current society deals with the issues of multiculturalism whereby policies and attitudes of people involved have been inconstant examination; hence, policies have been progressively adjusted in order to suit the needs of every citizen. Despite the fact that multiculturalism has gone varied changes, the social inequality rooted from multiculturalism has continued its legacy up to the current 21st century (Hall 34). The issue of ethnicity and multiculturalism are linked with racism. For instance, the London riots, which took place in August and contributed to varied problems in the state is linked with racial issues. The inter-personal violence resulted in many cities including Manchester, London and Birmingham and these led to loss of poverty injuries and deaths of five people. The London riots are linked with the subject of social issues including unemployment, poor policy relations and endemic criminality. Behind these riots, racism and police violence are among the aspects that led London riots. The idea that multiculturalism allowed communities to self-segregate by encouraging self expression of their culture, and this is viewed as a cause for new form of racism. Multiculturalism in the sense refers to policies directed to abolishing of Africans and Asian cultures. Kundnani (56) noted that anti-racism in the contemporary society is lessened by a conflict-management exercise, which is carried out by the state government. One can argue that the state grasps the underlying causes of racism, but the distorted arguments have been integrated and included the issue of religious tolerance. Islamic religion is one of the multicultural religious groups with exceptionalities because they self-segregate themselves; hence have their own unique anti-democratic and authoritarian aspects (Meer and Modood 481). The relationships between multiculturalism aspects and Muslim religious issues have become highly interdependent in Britain due to varied reasons. The Muslim communities are perceived to be often with unique and contravention liberal discourses of individual rights and secularism (Message 467). Therefore, the antagonist within the British society is directly opposed to the enlightenment values, which defines rights and freedom enjoyed by the west. Race is viewed as a valuable model in the current society. The races do not exist in the society; thus people need to desist from the racial talk. The racial categories constructed should not be the basis for social identities in the society and these calls for persistent race talk. The United Kingdom state has implemented anti-racism policies and race relation legislations that aim to promote race equality (Haviland, Prins, McBride and Walrath 203). They are also other actions implemented during the US congress including the Affirmative Actions, which aim to abolish racism; thus promoting equal human rights to every citizen regardless of his or her sex, age, religion or culture. In some part like urban west, region, race and ethnicity have been for a long time treated together as one thing, though, with varied implications. The anthropologists have a tempted to focus on ethnicity in varied regions such as Britain and many others. Delgado-Romero, Marcy and Nallely (560) argue that ne-racism in the 21st century is no longer about inferior intelligence of particular races; hence they emphasize on cultural differences. Therefore, multiculturalism have been a detain issue, which aims to understand the issues of racism in the current society. Racism is not obvious but it certainly persists in the current society. Racism can be linked with the youth work and racial inequality is nowadays common in some public places. For instance, the Black British were being harassed by UK police services, but this was replaced later by the Identity Code, which is replaced the race code. (Back 6). From the ethnographical research perspective, racism is rampart across UK education system. The National Union of Students report that was released last week revealed that racism in UK education system is widespread and this has created barriers to the participation of black students in their further and higher education. The report from BBC news also revealed that supply of teachers agencies in the outskirts of London seem reluctant to recruit ethnic minority teachers and one the schools is the London Teaching Pool where this case was noted (Coughlan 2013). In smaller scale; there is manifestation of white racist talk in multi-racial adolescent during peer interactions. The author argues that racist name calling is common phenomenon where name calling incidents are documented in a series within which the race context is evoked. Therefore, there is need for youths to develop anti-racist initiatives and effective strategies that can help in prohibiting this kind of abuse. Developing a sensitive awareness of race issues in the lives of youth in the working place can contribute to effective work performance. Developing anti-racism strategies and re-articulating cultural practices will reduce issue of racism in the society. Conclusion In conclusion, racism in the UK has not disappeared but instead it has taken new forms and this is because of varied aspects including globalization, capitalism and political processes. There are widespread issues of racism and this has resulted due to rapid globalization. Political processes have also shaped racism and this is well explained by varied theorists including Marxist and Weber. Moreover, others scholars notes that new situation of diversification or multiculturalism provides a new form of racism. The idea that multiculturalism allowed communities to self-segregate by encouraging self expression of their culture, it was viewed as a cause and effect for new form of racism. However, racism is not obvious but it certainly persists in the current society. Thus, implementing anti-racism strategies and re-articulating cultural practices will lessen racism issues in the society. Work Cited Angel-Ajani, Asale. "Diasporic Conditions: Mapping the Discourses of Race and Criminality in Italy." Transforming Anthropology. 11.1 (2002): 36-46. Print. Boas, Franz. "Race and Progress." Science. 74.1905 (1931): 1-9. Print. Back, Les. Racist Name Calling and Developing Anti-Racist Initiatives in Youth Work. Research Paper in Ethnic Relations No.14. (1990): Print. Chowdhry, Geeta, and Sheila Nair. Power, Post colonialism and International Relations: Reading Race, Gender and Class. London: Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2004. Print. Coughlan. S. (March 13, 2013). Supply teachers face racism from schools, says agency. Retrieved on May 3, 2013 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21744766 Darity, William A. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Detroit, Mich: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. Print. Delgado-Romero, Edward, Marcy Rowland, and Nallely Galvan. "The Continuing and Evolving Challenge of Race and Ethnicity in Empirical Counseling and Counseling Psychology Research." The Counseling Psychologist. 33.4 (2005): 559-564. Print. Enomoto, Randy, and Genevieve F. Johnson. Race, Racialization, and Antiracism in Canada and Beyond. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. Print. Eller, Jack D. "Anti-anti-multiculturalism." American Anthropologist. 99.2 (1997): 249-256. Print. Farber, P. L. (2011). Mixing races: From scientific racism to modern evolutionary ideas. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Gioseffi, Daniela. On Prejudice: A Global Perspective. New York: Anchor Books, 1993. Print. Haviland, William A., Prins, Harald E. L., McBride, Bunny, & Walrath, Dana. Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge. Wadsworth Pub Co, 2013. Print. Haviland, W. A. (2013). The essence of anthropology. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Hall, Stuart. Modernity: An Introduction to Modern Societies. Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell, 1996. Print. Harrison, Faye V. "The Politics of Antiracism & Social Justice: the Perspective of a Human Rights Network in the U.s. South." North American Dialogue. 11.2 (2008): 7-17. Print. Kundnani, Arun. The End of Tolerance: Racism in 21st Century Britain. London: Pluto Press, 2007. Print. Message, Kylie. "Representing Cultural Diversity in a Global Context." International Journal of Cultural Studies. 8.4 (2005): 465-485. Print. Joppke, Christian. The retreat of multiculturalism in the liberal state: theory and policy. The British Journal of Sociology. vol, 55, Issue 2. (2004): 237-257. Laden, Anthony S, and David Owen. Multiculturalism and Political Theory. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. Neville, Helen, and Robert Carter. "Race and Racism in Counseling Psychology Research, Training, and Practice." The Counseling Psychologist. 33.4 (2005): 413-418. Print. Mullings, Leith. "Interrogating Racism: Toward an Antiracist Anthropology." Annual Review of Anthropology. (2005). Print. McGhee, Derek. The End of Multiculturalism?: Terrorism, Integration and Human Rights. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press, 2008. Print. Meer, Nasar and Modood, Tariq. The Multicultural State We’re In: Muslims, ‘Multiculture’ and the ‘Civic Re-balancing’ of British Multiculturalism post: Political Studies: vol.57 (2009): 473–497. Print Reilly, Kevin, Stephen Kaufman, and Angela Bodino. Racism: A Global Reader. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2003. Print. Smedley, Audrey, and Brian D. Smedley. "Race As Biology Is Fiction, Racism As a Social Problem Is Real: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives on the Social Construction of Race." American Psychologist. 60.1 (2005): 16-26. Print. Strom, Thad, D Lee, Emily Trahan, Aimee Kaufman, and Tiffany Pritchett. "The Use of Race- Related Variables in Counseling Research." Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. 42.2 (2009): 121-133. Print. Schech, Susanne, and Jane Haggis. Development: A Cultural Studies Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002. Print. Short, Nicola, and Helen Kambouri. "Ambiguous Universalism: Theorising Race/nation/class in International Relations." Journal of International Relations and Development. 13.3 (2010): 2010. Print. Turner, B. S. (November 01, 2006). Citizenship and the Crisis of Multiculturalism. Citizenship Studies, 10, 5, 607-618. Trotman, C J. Multiculturalism: Roots and Realities. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 002. Print. Werbner, Pnina, and Tariq Modood. Debating Cultural Hybridity: Multi-cultural Identities and the Politics of Anti-Racism. London: Zed Books, 1997. Print. Read More