Race and Culture: A World View - Essay Example

? full number) Race and Culture: A World View This paper talks about the difference ofrace and culture, and how culture, instead of race, should be used to determine a person’s world view. It is my belief that the incorrect distinction between these two has lead to the idea of racism or white supremacy, but that this mistake is already being rectified as peoples around the world are starting to come together in the hope of bringing a new future into a reality. In this world of contradictions, where production of food far exceeds that of the past but still many are hungry, where resources can be utilized at their optimum but many are still poor, I believe that racism is still prevalent, but people are waking up and it is my hope that it will come to an end. This, I believe is the essence of the Occupy Movements. The speed at which it was picked up by citizens of the United States shows that more and people are waking up to the reality of oppression, and though the issue is centered mainly to the economy, it is my hope that the issue of racism will again, be condemned and be discussed in a more in-depth manner. Corporate greed has become a major contention point but white supremacy still happens in the workplace and even in universities, but as people become aware of the issue of marginalization, soon, racism will again be tackled. As an African-American, I, myself have experienced racism. For example, in college, I received partial scholarship white Caucasians garnered full scholarships despite the fact that I received better times. Moreover, I know several black Americans who failed to receive a promotion despite receiving better performance reviews simply because they were competing with a white American. While it is true that many black Americans are still suffering from poverty and discrimination, like Martin Luther King, I believe that white supremacy will come to an end, not because it was mandated by law, but because people today know better. I think that the problem will go beyond race, to become a class struggle. The ultimate enemy is no longer the white man, but rather, the corporations who are taking over the lives of the people. The perennial emphasis on the need for money and profit have served to oppress not only the blacks, but also the whites, which has then led to a mass uprising. The Occupy Movements are not just asking for economic change, they are asking for a reformulation of the society so as to recontextualize economics and politics, after all, both of them were developed to serve humanity. This paper is divided into two sections – the first covers the connection between race and culture and why it is important to discuss this, while the second one talks about my own view of racism and white supremacy. It uses several sources ranging from press releases from local, national and international organizations to books written on the topic at hand. In the past, race was defined based on where a person came from – Chinese, German, Japanese, Africa, etc. Over the years, however, its definition has evolved. Thomas Sowell uses the term “race” to mean “ethnic groups of various sorts – by race, religion or nationality…Race is one of the ways of collectivizing people in our minds” (xii). Race is often used to treat people differently. It was seen as a “natural and separate [division] of the human species based on the visible physical differences” (AAA). We know about the genocide which happened during Hitler’s time and the oppression and humiliation experienced by African Americans in the era of slavery. We have heard about the story of lynchings in the early 1950s which served as a protest among the white people of the impending racial integration. Yet, despite the whole ruckus attributed to race, researches show that conventional racial grouping are 6% different from each other and 94% of the difference lies within the racial groups (AAA). This essentially means that the physical distinctions among the human race has no meanings except social attributions.. Race is a social phenomenon with a biological component. Race is a biological concept because it tends to differentiate people based on the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes, etc (Sowell 6). Meanwhile, the term “ethnicity” was used to refer to different groups within the Caucasian, Negroid, Mongoloid races. Yet, the differences between these two are imprecise, hence it is best to use the term “race” in its broad sense, as defined by Sowell. It is a social concept which has been a powerful force in uniting or dividing people (Sowell; AAA). Race as an ideology of human differences has pervaded the world, and it constituted prejudgments that distorted our idea of individual differences and group behavior. We have been led to believe that biological variations and cultural behavior are genetically determined. But this is where we have been wrong. Studies have shown that cultural behavior is learned. “No human is born with a built-in culture or language” (AAA). Whatever a child learns can be unlearned in adulthood. Furthermore, studies show that it is culture, not race, that forms the reality of who we are as human beings. “Our temperaments, dispositions, and personalities, regardless of genetic propensities, are developed within sets of meanings and values that we call ‘culture’” (AAA). Having said that about culture, we also have to recognize that there really are cultural differences among people of different races, but the nature of this difference is often has geological basis rather than biological. Culture is developed according to the environment where it exists. The Industrial Revolution happened in Europe because this is where there is need for it, meanwhile, the greatest of all religions developed in the East because this is where people had a greater connection with nature. “Whether visible on the physical surface or simply felt in the emotional depths, race provides the cohesive groupings in which cultures have been concentrated, transmitted, and carried around the world” (Sowell 6). But it must be noted that culture is a living tradition – it changes in order to adapt to a new environment. This is a reality among black Americans whose current culture have merged both the African tradition passed on from generation to another and those they have developed when they have reached the Americas. In her book, Practicing Our Faith, Dorothy Bass gives an insight as to how a new culture was developed among African Americans: “Even before coming to America, Africans were a religious people, with divinities, rituals, prayers, songs…Marginal experience in America gave birth to new experiences of fear, love, joy, hope, sorrow..Throughout their history and today, these realities have shaped the lives of African American people” (92). Having said that, I now come to my own experience. As an African-American, I have been brought up analyzing racism. In school, I had to do a number of researches on black slavery and lynchings. It is my personal view that these acts are repugnant, but then, I see it as part of the world process. It was an episode of history brought about by people’s lack of knowledge. As we all know, man has a knack for fearing something he/she doesn’t know. Faced with black men and women from unknown parts of the world may have triggered the white man’s reptilian brain and led him to a fight or flight response. I think that people who practiced slavery did so because of their own convictions that the black man from Africa was a lower class being. Slavery happened because man did not know any better. If slavery was to happen again today, with all the advanced equipment for communication and research, then that would be another matter. I’d say, it was pure disrespect for the human that a person can practice such an act. But slavery rarely happens today, and when it does, those who experience it knows that they can seek for relief through the help of other people. The preference for Caucasians in universities and the workplace are beliefs left over from the old era, but I think that there are less people who discriminate because of color. I think that my view of racism and black slavery is different simply because I am in a different setting. I condemn it as an act, but like I said, I cannot blame the white people of the past for doing what they did. Perhaps they only wanted to protect their families, and most people would do everything they can to achieve such feat. But I was not subjected to such an era, I grew up at a time more respectful of diversity so race has not been a major issue for me, though I see that there are problems arising from it. Of course, I’d have to say that the customs and traditions of old are still important for me because it helps me connect with my family. Much of who I am today is because I was raised by my parents who had their own beliefs. I have to say, however, that the kind of values I have now may be different from those of my ancestors, though there are still resemblances. This, I attribute to the fact that I have been educated and socialized in a different setting. Aspects of the culture upheld by my grandparents may still be alive in me today simply because I still have use for them. I am respectful to my parents because I know they are an important part of my life. I pray to God because this is the only way I can connect with nature and my fellow human beings. These values are alive in me because I was socialized in this kind of culture, not because of my race. Works Cited AAA. “American Anthropological Association Statement on ‘Race’.” American Anthropological Association 1998. Web. 12 Nov 2011. Bass, Dorothy. Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People. Second Edi. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2010. Print. Sowell, Thomas. Race and Culture: A World View. New York: BasicBooks, 1994. 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