Definition of Racism - Essay Example

The influence of environmental factors such as the family, school, and religion which all played a part in molding the characteristics and traits of a person are downplayed; the characteristics of a person have already been determined by his/her race. Connotative Meaning The definition of racism above connotes that a specific race will have a specific set of qualities and characteristics which make it different from other races. That difference can be interpreted as superiority or inferiority depending on the person who looks at it.

Some races, then, are simply superior to other races; they possess the genes that establish the superiority of their race even before they were born. Racism in this sense is a work of nature rather than a construction of culture and society. The belief that certain races are better than other races is another connotation of racism. It is a belief system that people hold about different races that influences how they see their own race and its relation to other races. This definition shows that races fall on a hierarchy; it could be a hierarchy of class, intelligence, or political power that guides people’s beliefs about their own and other people’s races. . Racism can also lead people to discriminate against other races.

This refers to the behavioral manifestation of racism. While other people keep racist ideas in their minds, others would act out those ideas and display racist behaviors. When people hold a belief of superiority or inferiority of other races, this could result to a discriminating or a hostile behavior towards people belonging to other races. Since a person believes that his/her race is better than others, he/she would tend to treat people belonging to a specific race unfairly and unjustly. The next connotation of racism that I’ll be tackling is about the distorted belief system that people hold against other races.

First, there is no verifiable evidence which supports the idea that race predetermines the traits and characteristics of the people possessing it. There are just too many factors that influence people’s traits and characteristics. Attributing those traits and characteristics to race alone seems illogical. Second, there isn’t a single race that excels or performs best in a specific area such as business, sports, or politics, for instance. Successful people in those areas mentioned may come from different races (e.g. African-American Kobe Bryant and Argentinean Manu Ginobili for basketball).

Racial differences are always present but these differences, however, are cultural in nature. A person’s accomplishment and achievement are only partially influenced by the culture he/she belongs to. Family, religion, education will have bigger influence than race in how a person grows and matures. It doesn’t follow, then, that differences in race will create superiority in a particular race. This notion of difference and otherness is another connotation of