Whether Racism Is Social or Biological in Nature - Essay Example

Introduction The United s comprises of very diverse groups with different national origins as well as race. This has created problems for US as well as most European countries who are often accused of racial discrimination. There are the whites, Indians, Asians, Hispanics, and African-Americans. The bible tells us that all human beings were created equal and in the image of God. So where did all these distinctions of race come from? Is race biological or socially constructed as Winant claims? These are questions that most sociologists are concerned with researching and analyzing. More so, these social theorists try to find out where or how race and racism originated and what can be done to solve problems associated with racism. Some believe that racism was a conception of the European voyagers in their discovery of the Americas while others like Oliver Cox believe in Marxist ideologies hence perceive racism as product of development of capitalism while yet others like Gunnar think it is the racial beliefs of Americans. W.E.B.DuBois also played an important role in conceiving the word color-line by describing the twentieth century problems as those of color-line. He broadened the concept of race beyond borders and beyond color to include class, race and gender. The concept of color-blind racism is also important in showing how the ideas of liberalism are used to justify racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America. This essay will discuss the sociological arguments about origins of racism and color line. According to Omi and Winant racism originated from the European explorers who saw Negroes as simply another sort of men (13-22). The Portuguese had gone to explore Africa earlier than Europeans and thus were accustomed to the Negroes and their habits. Colonialism and imperialism brought Europeans into this continent and to their surprise they found a very different type of people. The first thing they noted was the color of the Negroes or savages as they called them (Jordan 33-41). The Negroes were also different in other aspects such as religion, way of living, mannerisms, and dressing (naked). First, they preoccupied themselves by trying to explain what could have been the difference in color between them (whites) and Negroes (Black) especially since they realized that the Indians were of different color or complexion. Negroes skin was black and hair was woolen. On the other hand, Indians were brown and had silky long hair. So why were Negroes black? The first impression was that these Negroes had been scorched by the sun as it was very hot in West Africa (Jordan 36). But then Indians lived in the hottest part of the world and they were not black. Even so, if brought to cold areas, their blackness would disappear but this was not the case. They realized that these Negroes were different from them. However, the European voyagers were Christians and believed in the bible which claimed that all men were created in image of God hence are the same. They concluded that they were similar but different. The other difference was that Europeans were Christians while Negroes were heathens. As such, their way of conducting themselves was very different. The fact of these Negroes being black and un-Christian made them evil in the eyes of Europeans. The Europeans considered them filthy, sinful, devils, and ugly especially because the color red was associated with feminine beauty and Queen Elizabeth was a good example of beautiful woman (Jordan 35). The whites considered themselves pure, virtuous, beautiful, beneficent and Godly the exact opposite of Negroes. As such, Negro was an inferior race as evident in their manner of farming, warfare, clothing, language, morals, housing and mannerisms. Besides, they just looked like Apes which were very evil and full of sexual sin. This was the idea used to justify slavery of Negroes during the eighteenth century. These beast-like men had no intellectual and reasoning capacity that is why they were primitive like these man-like beasts called apes (Omi & Winant 13-22). This consideration of Negroes as the “other’ was be the beginning of racism as it justified treating the other race as inferior and unequal. This is what Winant called socially constructing race. Race according to Winant is not biological but socially constructed. The society in which we live in dictates what is good and bad and attach symbols to people and things. If one deviates from accepted norms and standards, then he/she is unfit in that society. If Europeans did not attach a symbol to Negroes then there would have been no problem. There was the obvious difference of color which is biological and other traits such as intelligence which can be considered biological but without attaching any symbol to the different other, them all would be the same and racism would not exist (Omi & Winant 13-22). Another perspective as to the origin of race and racism is the Marxist analysis. This sociological theory by Oliver Cox borrows from Marx analysis of capitalism and argues that class-based conflicts are inherent and fundamental part of social interaction and that racial and ethnic conflict is tied to class conflict (Cox 71-78). In this case the emergence of capitalism led to emergence of two classes of people: Capitalists (Bourgeois) and wage laborers (proletariat) with capitalists owning the means of production and proletariat offering labor power. In this case, capitalists were the dominant or superior class and proletariats the subordinate class as they did not own means of production. This form of production creates structures that produce racism. Structural conditions such as scarce resources, existence of unfree or slave labor, harsh class exploit, occupational segregation, differences in access to power, cultural diversity and limited group interaction portray the blacks and migrants as the underclass. European immigrants are white but they were also considered as the “others” not because of color but due to various differences such as religion and class. The white Protestants in this case are considered superior than other races. It is such conditions of the underclass that interact with actors definitions to produce racially structured social reality (Back 5). These underclass individuals do not make to interact with other races and better themselves but formed own organizations and continue to be underprivileged. The Atlantic slave trade and plantation slavery was a result of capitalism as these groups of people were considered inferior and exploited by providing cheap labor. Another perspective is that advanced by Gunnar Myrdal who believed that racial beliefs in America produced racism. African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans are viewed as inferior races because they are at the end of class spectrum (Myrdal 87-104). These peoples are believed to lack intellectual capacity, lack motivation to progress, or are slackers. This conception of these groups have sparked a lot of debate in the U.S over adoption of policies such as affirmative action. The whites believe that African Americans should walk their way up the ladder by working hard and not through preferential treatment; that is based on merit. They forget that these groups are disadvantaged at birth due to their class backgrounds or slavery and as such they are far much behind than whites and can never catch up with them unless affirmative action is taken to offer fair playing field. The European expansion brought with it the idea about race as “other” people but it is the work of DuBois that originated the concept of color line in the late nineteenth century. It was first mention in an article written by Frederick Douglas in the North American Review in 1881 but it was DuBois who popularized the phrase in his later works. In the First Pan-African Conference in London in 1900, DuBois asserted that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of color-line” and later used it in his book The Souls of Black Folk (1903) in the opening and closing statement which read: “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line-the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the Islands of the sea” (DuBois 1989 [1903]). He used this phrase to mean that the problem of racism had gone far beyond the United States and beyond color discrimination. This color line determines who gets what in the society thus strengthening racism. The color line is usually drawn by law and private institutions to deny others the share of resources. For example, the famous Jim Crow laws with the help of Supreme Court strengthened segregation in the US for decades until the 1960s when the Civil Rights Act was passed. The Dred Scott decision by Judge Taney in 1854 similarly drew the color line as it considered African Americans not citizens of America and as such not entitled to privileges enjoyed by whites such as voting. Institutions such as trade unions and businesses also excluded members from the wrong side of the color line from jobs. In the Pan –African address DuBois asserted that the color line is the basis of denying to over half the world the right of sharing the opportunities and privileges of modern civilization. As such, citizenship which is the color line in America was used to deny many races part of national cake (Newman, nap). In recent years there have been debates about immigrants with claims that they are tools of the corporate in provision of cheap labor especially the undocumented immigrants. These undocumented immigrants are not citizens and thus are not entitled to privileges like good well paying jobs. The same case applied to blacks who were used by Northerners to break strikes. According to DuBois such people were not racists but just using race as an excuse to advance their goals. Today, many jobs are contracted outside the country especially due to globalization as these African and Asian countries offer cheap labor for corporates. The government has no power to regulate these companies. Racism is thus spread across the globe by these corporations. When President Barrack Obama was elected the first African American president in 2009, Americans thought that they had put the history of slavery and racism behind them but they were far from reality. Even Thomas Friedman a renowned sociologist thought Obama’s victory was “the final chapter of America’s Civil War,” an end coming nearly 150 years after first shots were fired (Alba 1). But even today, the struggle for equal rights continues as evidenced by the high rate of incarcerations of black men, high poverty, low life expectancy, and less wealth. However, racism in not more pronounced as before instead, it is hidden in the foundation nation’s liberal principles of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. In this case, racism has become color-blind. According to Bonilla-Silva color-blind racism involves blaming the victim for their disadvantaged position thus hiding the fact of domination (73). This is though frames such as abstract liberalism, naturalization, and cultural racism. Abstract liberalism is characterized by individualism, egalitarianism, and meliorism. It is believe that blacks have low mental capacity and that they can be improved thus the justification for slavery and colonialism in the nineteenth century and exclusion of many white men and all white women and African Americans from rights of citizenship just because they are assumed to be sub-human. The white men excluded were the immigrants or natives such as the Mexicans and Asian groups since they are of low class and savages. Racially based policies enhance racism against such groups. Abstract liberalism also involves using political liberalist ideas such as equal opportunity and freedom of choice to further racism. Whereas equal opportunity policies are supposed to end racial discrimination, they are used by whites to argue for racism. For example, they would say blacks do not deserve affirmative action as everyone has equal opportunity to progress in life forgetting that blacks are far behind in terms of resource endowment and need pushing up (Bonilla-Silva 76). They would also use freedom of choice to assert that they have the right to choose to only associate with white colleagues or live in areas dominated by whites hence strengthening segregation. Naturalization on the other hand, involves explaining away racism as a natural phenomenon. For example, that the taste for white friends is just “the way things are;” it is biological (76). Cultural racism involves stereotyping. For example, ‘blacks have no initiative.” This will lead to blacks being denied jobs not because they cannot do it but because it is believed they cannot do it due to stereotyping. Using these methods, racism goes unnoticed or color-blind. Conclusion Racism is a problem especially in America which comprises people of many different races. In recent years it has become color-blind as it is explained away using the liberal principles entrenched in the constitution of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Blacks are thus blamed for their inferior position in the society. Racism originated with European expansion as European voyagers began referring to blacks as “others” due to the physical characteristics that differentiated the two groups such as color, mannerism, clothing, religion, customs, farming, warfare and savageness. Racism is therefore socially constructed and not biological in nature as the only visible biological trait was color but since all are from one descent, then color is not a problem. Racism is also explained in terms of class conflicts as a result of development in capitalism. These create structures that subordinate other classes and intensify slavery thereby leading to racism. The color line determines who are excluded from sharing national resources. Works Cited Alba, Richard D. Blurring the Color Line: The New Chance for a More Integrated America. USA: Harvard University Press, 2009. Back, Les and Solomos John (eds) Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2000 Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America. 4ed. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. Cox Oliver C. Race Relations. IN Les Back & John Solomos (eds) Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2000 DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. NewYork: Peguin, 1989 [1903]. Myrdal, Gunnar. Racial Beliefs in America. In Les Back & John Solomos (eds) Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2000. Jordan, Winthrop D. First Impressions. In Les Back & John Solomos (eds) Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2000. Newman, Nathan. The Border is the Color Line of the Twenty-first Century. August 18, 2005, Commondreams.org. Web. March 5, 2014. http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0818-32.htm Omi, Michael and Winant, Howard. Racial formations in the US : From 1960s to the 1990s. New York: Rutledge, 2010. . Read More