Systemic Racism A Theory of Oppression - Research Paper Example

Racism Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 3 Conclusion 6 References 7 Introduction The term ‘racism’ refers to discrimination and prejudice that is based on some form of social perceptions that is acquired through biological differences between individuals. Racism often results into some kind of social actions political systems, beliefs and practices that consider different races on basis of rank where one individual is treated to be superior while the other to be interior. Though in certain parts of the world the concept of racism has totally faded but in some regions it still exists. The concept of racism has its origin from the historical times and it affects different people differently. In context of history the factor of racism was the major force behind the slave trade. The racial segregation was observed in the nineteenth as well as in the twentieth century in USA and also in South Africa. Discussion Racism can be considered to be a belief through which one individual is considered to be inferior or superior to other. Through this concept moral and social traits of an individual is ignored and more focus is on the biological characteristics of the person. Racism gives birth to hatred towards another individual and is a kind of belief that states that one person is inferior to another in terms of skin color, birth place, language customs or any such kind of factor that highlights the nature of an individual. The concept of racism can be well determined on basis of two elements such as power and prejudice. This is simply because if there is no support in terms of economical or political power then such a prejudice would not be able to survive as a social, cultural or institutional phenomenon. 1The major question for this thesis would be to “state the historical origin of racism and to reflect on the path that is how the concept of racism has changed over time”. The entire discussion would be centered towards these two elements to highlight the basic approach of racism. The concept of racism had gained its importance way back during the time of African slavery. Throughout the history there have been many individuals who were enslaved though there was no such imposition in context of racial ideology. During the 17th century the scenario in America was completely different before there was any such law that was formulated legitimizing the concept of slavery of Africans. The first major group who the Englishmen treated as slaves were the Irish people, there was some form of hostile relations between the two since the period of time century. Majority of the English people has formulated law in order to enslave people majorly the poor who lived in England and in the surrounding colonies so as to force them to work for long extended hours. Most of the slaves who were present in the English plantations in Jamaica and Barbados were Indians and Irish people.2 The major factor that was responsible so as to treat them as slaves were their color, economic factors, birth place and the cultural background. There has been evidence given by many historians that the white servants as well as the Africans were often treated in a similar fashion. This argument can be well supported by the incident of Bacon’s Rebellion that occurred in the year 1676, which was a measure that was taken so as to oppose the strict laws that were formulated by the colonial government.3 Since the past 1000 years the concept of racism has been a vital part of Westerners attitude towards Non Westerners that makes up much of the facts that is found in the history which was not the scenario with any other form of racism. The most critical and notorious example of the concept of racism that prevailed in the West was that of slavery. The factor of enslavement had aroused because it was believed that the Black Africans because of their color and cultural background were less human in comparison to the White Europeans and their fellow descendents.4 The origin of this slavery started way back in the 15th centuries when the Portuguese sailors explored Africa and they identified that the places and empires out there were as established as their own since then there was a strong rivalry amongst both the parties. There were also many Africans who were involved in selling their people to the Europeans indulged into the act of slavery trade. As per Rattansi, the concept of racism exist in various forms in today’s scenario such as that of ethnic cleansing too that of cultural imperialism that is observed in everyday life. Though there has been civil rights movement but the factor of racial stereotypes and prejudices remains engraved in the Western culture5. There have been certain changes in the concept of racism amongst regions with the passing time frame. In the post civil rights era the framework of racism has been to a great extent eliminated from the society. 6The civil rights movement that was started helped in imposing certain laws that has taken away the enslavement act and given equal rights to the ‘blacks” to live a life of dignity in the society. In the 1960s the understanding towards this concept that prevailed has become very much deficit and at the same time there has been evolution of new laws that has been able to change the racism concept totally. There were majorly two elements that formed the basis of the civil rights movement, firstly were passing off the act of brotherhood through which no individual would be considered to be inferior or superior to one another. Secondly was the act of prohibiting discrimination amongst the society through which there would be no such racial discrimination amongst the society and all of the individuals irrespective of their color and creed would be given equal right towards job, education, and even accessibility towards public accommodations7. Later in the 1960s there were major riots that had taken place which denoted the black power and they had been creating adverse effects all over the world and the major reason was the social injustice that prevailed in the society. The US society after the civil rights movement had undergone a diverse change in the form of more mobility of minority groups and totally elimination of the concept of racism from the entire society. At the same time Indians as well as Irish people has been given the same opportunities for growth and to develop themselves. In the present scenario it can be said that though in some regions the threat of racism is still prevalent but in the maximum portion of the world the idea of racism has been totally diminishing. There are even examples of “blacks” forming a major part of the government as that observed in the history of USA. The “new right” that was formulated post era of civil rights movement clearly indicates that what is hegemonic in the present scenario. This has even resulted into making the concept of racism totally marginalized8. Conclusion The concept of racism in the current scenario is regarded to be an artifact that existed in the past. The hierarchy of social structures that was created on the basis of racial categories had given rise to a lot of unrest across the globe. As a result of such a concept there were groups of people who were considered to be superior and some were treated to be inferior to the extent of abolishing their basic rights. The factor of slavery become prevalent and existed across many regions of the world majorly because of the racial discrimination. However with passing time and the conditions after the civil rights movement such discrimination has totally been eliminated from the society. References "2." Fatal Impact. Directed by David Olusoga. 2007. United Kingdom: BBC Four. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdBDRbjx9jo. [Accessed on 24 Jun, 2014]. Feagin, Joe. Systemic Racism: A Theory of Oppression. USA: Taylor & Francis. 2006. Fredrickson, George. Racism: A Short History. USA: Princeton University Press. 2009. Kivel, Paul. Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. Canada: New Society Publishers. 2002. Lipsitz, George. How Racism Takes Place. USA: Temple University Press. 2011. Rattansi, Ali. "Imperialism eugenics and the holocaust." In Racism: A Very Short Introduction, Chapter 4. London: Oxford University Press, 2007. Rattansi, Ali. "Racism and racists some conundrums." In Racism: A Very Short Introduction, Chapter 1. London: Oxford University Press, 2007. Rooney, Anne. Racism. London: Black Rabbit Books. 2006. Read More