The Term of Racism - Essay Example

The term racism is used to denote the negative attitudes and ideas that people from one particular group or race may hold for people belonging to another group or race (Reilly, 2003). The main cause of the existence of racism within society is that individuals belonging to one race may perceive their race to be superior as compared to people belonging to another racism. Negative attitudes towards a particular race may be developed since birth and over time due to interactions with people from other races. Individuals belonging to a particular race are educated about their race and are taught to perceive their race as the superior one as compared to the other races (Bhavnani, 2005). Due to this, at a very early age, a child develops a negative perception of other races. Another reason for the development of racist attitudes is that a person may repeatedly have experienced negative events due to their contact with people from another race and they may develop a general negative perception towards the people of other races. The outcomes of racism are quite devastating for individuals as well as the overall society. In certain nations, one race may form the majority of the population of the nation and may try to overpower people of other races and try to control all the resources of the society. Due to this people belonging to the minority race may not be able to attain equal opportunities that are being enjoyed by people belonging to the majority race. Read More