Social Science and Race - Essay Example

Social science and race Introduction It would not be a mistake to suggest that living in society should be considered to be an irreplaceable prerequisite for the development of the inner potential of a person. Indeed, if it had not been for this environment, a considerable number of features which are regarded as characteristic to the mankind would not have developed. Nevertheless, it must be noted that under certain circumstances, the society might feature oppression with regard to a part of its population. Thus, there are numerous examples when one particular group of people was able to dominate the entire social environment, basing one’s supremacy on various claims. This paper will analyze the way race was used in such context and the manner in which it was viewed by social science in general. Race versus Ethnicity To begin with, it may be particularly important to define the major term which will be used throughout the paper, namely race. As various scholars point out, this concept is extremely complex; that is why it is almost impossible to narrow it down to one single definition (Malik, 1996, 71). Indeed, the idea of race might be broadly divided into two meanings. The first one is race as a general category that is applies to human species, outlining the most common features, often based on the color of skin for distinction. Indeed, in this cases, one can easily talk about white (Europeans), black (African), red (Native Americans), yellow (Chinese) or brown (Asian Indians) race. The next meaning of race which was developed by social science refers to one of the aspects of the very word “race” that was often used with regard to ethnicity. In this race, one might talk about the war of races in Europe – the idea that does not make sense if the concept of race is use in the first meaning. Racism as the basic issue in social science It is quite understandable that when it comes to viewing the concept of race from the point of view of social science, the issue that comes to mind easily is racism. The latter is a particular world view that is based on various prejudices, according to which not all races of people are equal, while some are inferior to others. As one can easily see, the fundamental aspect of racism is focused on the prejudice of inequality. In spite of the fact that there is no scientific evidence of such inequality whatsoever, racists genuinely believe that they are not oppressing others, but rather restore universal justice. The next important aspect which is often analyzed by social science with regard to race and social environment is the phenomenon of hate crimes. The latter constitutes a peculiar group of actions which are forbidden by the government and are punished stricter that conventional crimes since there is a particular social aspect involved. Hate crime is an umbrella term which includes crimes that are directed against a minority based on a variety of characteristics. That is why it is not only racial discrimination, but also sexual or religion discrimination that should be taken into account. It must be noted that over the years the social science was able to come up with various concepts that were able to contribute to the security of the place of race in the social environment. For example, it is often thought that the most adequate way to incorporate different races into one effective community is to promote the appreciation of diversity (Henry, 2012, 9). That is why sociologists argue that diversity should become an effective answer towards the challenges of racism since it allows people to escape the framework that was formed by prejudices and develop a new understanding of their place in the multicultural society. Finally, it is particularly important to make a clear differentiation between two seemingly equal terms such as racism and ethnic nationalism. As it has been mentioned, the formed is based on a wrong assumption which states that people who belong to different races are not equal and, therefore, a master race is allowed to dominate which is justified by their supremacy. Contrary to that, the idea of ethnic nationalism is completely opposite: first of all, it is focused on appreciation of one particular ethnicity and does not expand its scope to other; secondly, it is concerned with appreciation and development rather than criticism and oppression. That is why the social science should view the former as a negative phenomenon which has a harmful influence on the social environment in general while the latter might become a driving force of the entire society. Racial segregation as an ineffective way to organize multicultural society One would make no mistake suggesting that the concept of race as well as all the issues which are associated with it have been analyzed by the social environment for a considerable time; so, there are several models which were implemented and are able to show advantages of a particular approach. Thus, once there were countries in the world which featured social environments that were composed of different races and featured the phenomenon of racial segregation. The essence of it is often conveyed in a simple statement: separate, but equal. While it may sound acceptable in theory, the reality shows that one particular race would dominate in all the areas. For example, in the United States of America, education for white students and black students was divided by a significant gap which was reflected in their performance (Gibbon & Edwards, 1997, 14). If one considers the history of the above mentioned country from a sociological perspective, one will be able to view racial segregation as a concealed form of slavery. Indeed, in spite of the fact that the latter was abolished early in the history of the United States, it was not until the second half of the twentieth century that African American were truly granted equal rights. In other words, it must be noted that the negative social phenomenon of slavery should not be associated with a particular form of it, but rather with the state of affairs where one particular race dominates and oppresses the other. It would be quite a logical action to analyze the evidence that was presented as a support for racial segregation. Thus, the major claimed focused on the fact that in a multicultural society races had always been separated to a certain extent; so, mixing them was viewed as destruction of the established order of things. For example, in World War II the United States had different corps for white and black soldiers; so, after the victory when they returned home, the public saw racial segregation as the basis of it prosperity despite the fact that the conditions of living of different parts of the society were not equal. Academic racism as an example of corruption of science No matter how sorrowful it may be, but prejudice about a race has often been supported in the academic circles, including people who were able to have a tremendous impact on science in general. For example, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel who was a German philosopher and is famous for shaping this area of human knowledge in a way that the mankind knows it today, expressed rather racist opinions with regard to Africans. Thus, he is often quoted saying that Africans have no “sense of personality; their spirit sleeps, remains sunk in itself, makes no advance, and thus parallels the compact, undifferentiated mass of the African continent” (Sani, 2013, 56). As one can easily see, all these assumptions are clearly wrong, but, being made by a famous philosopher, were able to shape the public opinion. Speaking of other people who are known for a major contribution to science as well as their racist views on other nation, one can not help quoting David Hume. This person is often seen as one of the most influential scholars of his time was quite straight in expressing his prejudice: “I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the Whites” (Sluby, 2004, 7). In this quote one is able to see that some of the best minds of Europe did not find any problem in considering the nations of Africa inferior to them. Indeed, such allegations are not based on any scientific fact, but rather ignorance which is rather surprising in such a well educated person. If one analyzes the phenomenon of academic racism, one will be able to see that it can be easily explained by the Eurocentric approach towards the social environment. Thus, for centuries, technological and industrial development has been at the heart of European culture. That is why there is no wonder than when Europeans encountered other nations who have existed for numerous centuries, but were not able to come up with any sophisticated technology, the former viewed the latter as inferior. In addition to that, in terms of social organization, the Europeans are known for their strict and detailed hierarchy, while other nations did not develop a similar approach towards social structure which resulted into viewing them as less developed. Nazi Germany as a society based on racism There is no doubt that when it comes to viewing the connection between the social science and the concept of race, the experience of Nazi German is often addressed in order to show the worst extreme. Indeed, this society was based on the idea that the Aryan race which German were thought to belong to is the master race and its dominance is historically justified (Lee, 1996, 52). There were numerous laws which aimed at cleansing the German nation from any inclusions of foreign element, particularly Jewish one. Indeed, the lineage of a citizen of the Third Reich could not include a Jew or other nations, like gypsies or Slavs up to several generations. It must be noted that from a sociological point of view, the actions which were carried out in Nazi Germany made sense. The government was able to control all the power in the society and found a scapegoat who was to be blamed for all the failures of Germany. In addition to that defining an enemy was designed to unite the nation and encouraged people to work harder on restoring the prosperity of their defeated state. This means that in certain conditions speculations about racial inequality might appear to be quite useful for political forces that are willing to move the social environment in a particular direction. Nevertheless, their struggle for political power is not able to justify oppression of other races. If one analyzes the ideology of the Nazi Germany through the prism of sociological imagination, one will be able to see that there are numerous flaws that are evidence for any person who is not engaged in this framework. For example, the Aryan race truly existed, but it was never located in the northern part of Europe, but in Asia. In addition to that, they did not swastika as one of their national symbols, but only because they were of Indian cultural background. Finally, the ideal of an Aryan man, according to ideology developed by Hitler, was tall and fair haired. That is exactly the kind of man who was depicted on every poster. Nevertheless, not only Hitler himself, but also high rank officials did not have any features that could allow acknowledging them to be true Aryans. The relationship between race and social science in general Having performed the analysis, it would not be a mistake to point out that the issue of race is an extremely important element of social science that can not be viewed in one dimension only. Thus, race should be seen as an aspect that a person is born with, but which is later adjusted by the social environment. For example, one is not capable of choosing own race and in theory belonging to one should not have any significant influence on the experience that a person will gain in the society. Nevertheless, the examples of various nations show that social structure that is based on prejudice is corrupted. In addition to that, in the course of writing the paper in question the author was able to see that social science have not always retained a neutral position on the issues of race. Indeed, such sorrowful examples as academic racism suggest that people who were able to accumulate a considerable amount of knowledge and make an important contribution towards various areas of knowledge may not be completely free of prejudices which casts a shadow on their legacy. Indeed, social science should be seen as an area of human knowledge which is able to maintain objective view on such controversial topic as racism. That is why scholars of the future should pay particular attention towards the possibility of developed biased views. Conclusion As one can easily see, the connection between race and social science should be seen as extremely important since it often reflects the state of affairs in the society. Thus, in order to develop a proper understanding, one should acknowledge different meanings of the concept of race. In addition to that, racism may be regarded as the framework which features the negative influence of prejudices with regard to other people. However, a clear distinction between racism and ethnic nationalism should be made. Finally, it may be important to take into account some of the examples from the world history, such as racial segregation, existence of academic racism as well as the experience of Nazi Germany. References Gibbon, C., & Edwards, T. (1997). Separate But Equal? Academic and Vocational Education Post-16. Hoboken, NJ: Routledge. Henry, J. (2012). Diversity vs. racism: A challenge to mankind. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris. Lee, S. (1996). Weimar and Nazi Germany. Oxford: Heinemann. Malik, K. (1996). The meaning of race: Race, history and culture in Western society. Washington Square, NY: New York University Press. Sani, S. (2013). Hatred for Black People. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris. Sluby, P. (2004). The inventive spirit of African Americans: Patented ingenuity. Westport, CN: Praeger. Read More