Social Problems Due to Racism - Term Paper Example

Social Psychology-Social Problems s affiliation Social Psychology-Social Problems Introduction Most of us have witnessed racism in one form or the other. Most people do not believe that race is not a biological category. The issue of race has come about socially due to how various populations and people perceive faces and ideas that they are otherwise not used to. The word race has various definitions depending on where this word is being used. The meaning of the category ‘white’ has varied over time in the U.S history (Driedger, & Halli, 2000). It has been expanded to include other words like Jews, Irish and Italians. The other groups which mainly included Latino, African and American Indian have found it difficult for worldwide social acceptance. The ethnicities border affects economic and educational opportunities income as well as political representation. How it all began There are many theories and ideas that attempt to explain where and how exactly racism began. This can be explained by looking at mankind’s history. In the past, way before the improvement of means of transport, people mainly stayed in the same geographical locality with predominantly the same types of people. These closed societies feared to engage with things that were different and also lacked the power or courage to face these different kinds of things. All this changed with the advancement of humans and technology, but this inner fear never left us. Humans always fear change and especially the unknown hence we can say that the issue of racism came to be when people interacted with these different races Racism Theories Social Identity Theory Social Psychological theories on racism are useful in order for one to discuss the common reasons for racism and how to combat the same. The social identity theory is the main theory that is utilized in the study of racism. It is based mainly on four main assumptions. It asserts that group and interpersonal behaviors are completely different phenomena. It also claims that cognition in humans is designed to help in streamlining initial perception of society in a meaningful manner (Driedger, & Halli, 2000). This theory is very important in the racism discussion. It helps in contributing towards deeper understanding of racism. It shows us that the way to simplify one’s perception of the world is through relating things to power and status. This theory supports the general assumption that society in general is split into very distinct categories. These different categories tend to be hierarchical in terms of status and power. Examples of these categories cane be, women and men, whites and blacks, and Protestants and Catholics. People who subscribe to this theory tend to accept the general assumption that human beings have a craving or need for positive self-esteem. This positive self-image is often achieved by such individuals trying to create an identity that is greatly influenced by the person’s membership of a particular social group. This is quite different from the notion of personal identity (Koopman, 2012). This is part of the self-concept that derives mainly from personality traits and the sort of personal relationships or interaction that one has with other individuals. In other words, the theory mainly concentrates on how humans behave within certain social groups. An example can be seen in the notions of ethnocentrism, inter-group differentiation and perception of self and fellow in-groupers in relative to those who are out-groupers. In-group favoritism and ethnocentrism refers to the way members of a certain social group evaluate themselves relative to other members of other groups. This aspect of this theory can be used to explain the existence of racist behavior in the society. The group belief that one group is inferior to the other is the main pillar of racism. This is because it leads to a general belief that the other group is inferior or less favorable (Driedger, & Halli, 2000). These assumptions can lead to one group acting in prejudice and or discriminatory fashion towards the other. Psychodynamic Theory This theory helps one to better understand the psychological and personal reasons as to why a particular individual may choose to act in a racist manner. This theory assumes that there is a fixed amount of psychic energy available for the human mind to accomplish psychological activities, after completion of the psychological activity, the aroused energy is dispelled and returns to a state of equilibrium. Personal goals require one to have a sort of psychological arousal so as to aid in the attainment or achievement of the said goals. There are, however certain instances when one fails to attain the said goals while the psychological energy still remains activated. This psychological state is referred to as a state of disequilibrium and some psychologists believe that this state can only be rectified through aggression (Koopman, 2012). This can be explained in the context of racism in that, if a certain group or race gets frustrated in their pursuit certain goals by another more powerful group that cannot be aggressed against, their aggression can get redirected to a much weaker group like an ethnic minority group. Canadians can get by the fact that their unemployment situation is not getting any better. This may lead them to target the many asylum seekers to release their aggression on. We can be able to better understand and tackle the scourge of racism by doing a discourse analysis and keenly looking at the discursive theory of racism. This analysis will involve the dismantling of the of stereotypical groups or classifications that have been developed due to a society’s usage of select wording in the mass media, through education, politics and laws as well. The existence of cultural racism is mainly based on the principle of inferiorisation leading to the so called ‘inferior’ culture assuming a subordinate level as compared to the called ‘superior’ culture or even put in segregation from the ‘superior’ culture. Social Problems Due to Racism Poverty Racism has various forms. There is the aspect of institutional racism .This refers to a general pattern of public or private institutions of bad treatment to a group of the society mainly based on their ethnicity and race. This will inevitably lead to inequality and denial of opportunities to the said group of people. This can be in form of baring certain races from attending chosen schools and colleges. This aspect will lead to there being an invisible ceiling on the dreams that this particular race are allowed to have. This lack of opportunity to access educational and economic opportunities will contribute in there being disproportionately high levels of poverty in the said community or race when compared to the national average. This can also apply to discrimination of these individuals in terms of promotions or wages (Koopman, 2012). They can end up getting paid a much lower salary than their peers with similar qualification and experience. Prejudice and Racism The word prejudice refers to a not so positive view of a group of people, mostly of one particular race. This kind of view is based mostly on their belonging in a particular group of people that are different from the others. The terms racism and prejudice seem to accompany one another. This is because racism involves prejudicial behavior or attitudes that are directed at a group consisting of members of a particular ethnic group. Stereotyping and Racism The term stereotyping tends to accompany racism almost everywhere. This term was initially introduced by a journalist by the name of Walter Lippman in the 1920’s. Stereotyping of people involves the attribution of certain traits to them that is based on the trait being common in members of a certain ethnic group. Examples of stereotypes include the common belief that librarians are seen to be introverts, Hispanics on the other hand are viewed to be macho by nature, and people of Asian origin are generally viewed to be nerds or hardworking in whatever they do. The issue of stereotyping tends to deny people tend to overlook the individuality aspect of people. This is because most of the stereotypes are based on negative assumptions and this eventually grows into prejudice. Human cognition involves a fundamental aspect tendency to classify our experiences. Human beings tend to create concepts that are solely based on making sense of the complexity of human existence. In dealing with social categorization, we tend to place other human beings into categories. Without this, our entire existence and life would be a maze of confusion. Human beings have a tendency to view people that are from out of their normal social interaction negatively. This kind of perception easily fuel stereotypes that are negative towards a particular group of people or race as we may refer to them. How Racism Affects Society Members of ethnic and racial oppressed groups will always fight and struggle for equal opportunity and access especially in times of economic hardships like the great depression. During these times racism often compounds the already difficult task of finding a job that is well paying or even decent accommodation (Koopman, 2012). Increased participation of labor unions has resulted in some sizeable gains in this aspect affecting racial minorities. There is however significant gaps that still remain in the labor market. The issue of racism is very prevalent in many sectors or areas of employment. These racial and ethnic minorities always tend to experience and economic depression in one way or the other even during economically good times. Several studies have indicated that people of color are mostly the last to be hired but on the other hand, the first to be shown the door if need be. This shows that they are the most affected during budget cuts and downsizing in a company. In the year 1995, the unemployment rate stood at 10.1 percent for black Canadians as opposed to just 4.7 percent for white Canadians. (Leo, 2000). Among the adolescent population, unemployment rates in populations of color stand at our times that of their white counterparts. Among the unemployed populations, the vast majority of these are black even though they are a minority race. This disparity can also be observed in the levels of incomes for the employed segments with Latinos and blacks having lower income compared to their white counterparts with similar jobs and skills. It has also proved difficult for people of color to get a house and also keep it. Racist landlords make it unnecessarily difficult for people of color to get houses. This is fueled by their preconceived thoughts and conclusion about the characters of people from these ethnic minorities. This prevalent discrimination in North America is often at times referred to as a national problem. People see the only solution to this problem as the formulation of new and appropriate policies by the government to tame and eventually fix this problem. Housing segregation in North America is slowly turning into a major problem. By Canadian Law, landlords are forbidden to set varied conditions for rental or sale of property, impose different rates or discriminate in making property appraisal based on the ethnicity of a client. Even though these laws exist, they tend to be very vague making them difficult to enforce on the ground. On average, Hispanics and blacks tend to get less favorable mortgage conditions and also higher rates of rejection than their white counterparts with the same or even worse credit ratings and characteristics (Ross & Yinger 1999). Studies have also shown that black minorities, on average pay up to half a percent higher interest rates on their mortgages than their fellow white mortgage takers. People of Color had a much harder task of getting past financial hardships during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. This was due to the racial and ethnic stereotypes that had been circulated around before the great depression. In the end of 1930’s, unemployment rates among the black communities were about four times higher than the rates in white communities. (Whitewash Race, Michael Brown) Very few individuals in the Black communities had any savings to cushion them from the hard times brought upon by the great depression. The few blacks that had a job before this economic meltdown faced an even harder challenge securing work now with a much bigger chance and probability of failure. Throughout history, the scourge of racism has existed. In its basic definition, it means the belief that another human being is less of a human due to his skin color or even place of birth. People who buy into this ideology, do so based on failure to understand the concept of race. Some scientists argue that the classification used today is not adequate and instead that there can be more accurate ways to be used in classifying the human population. They argue that characteristics such as hair, skin color and shape of the face are not very significant scientifically. It has also been discovered that there exist very similar biological characteristics between people of two different races. In fact, it can even be greater than between people of the same race (Koopman, 2012). There can be very similar genetic characteristics between populations in China and Nigeria for example. One of the reasons why people become racist is often rooted in the fact that they have learnt to hide fear with racism. A lot of human beings will mostly react with being fearful towards other individuals that appear or look different from them. This inner fear leads us to feel uncomfortable. This leads us to want to defend and protect ourselves. The racist individual will do this by making the other person feel pain or discomfort by way of words or action directed at them. This way dealing with people that are different from us creates a wall between the two races .This wall will always stand in the way of agreement and union between the two races making it virtually to ever agree on something. Racism and Self Esteem Racism is relatively easily encountered in North America. This can even be encountered amongst law enforcement in form of use of excessive force or brutality of the police when dealing with people from minority groups, excessive racial profiling of foreign looking residents and so on. Many social and personal problems can often be explained away by citing low self-esteem of the offender being the reasons for one to act in a certain way. Psychologists that have done studies on racism and racial behavior have come to the realization that it is mostly about real power and is not just a random thought or idea that sprouts out. Racial groups tend to have characteristics that are distinct to the. Most of these groups always dwell on the negative distinctions of the other groups as opposed to the positive distinctions. It is common for human beings to try and emphasize and hold onto certain stereotypes that touch on most closely held personal values. Most racists use racism that puts the other groups down and in the process end up feeling better about themselves hence boosting their personal self-esteem in the process (Driedger, & Halli, 2000). They constantly highlight the negatives of the other groups as opposed to their own positive features that may or may not be even backed by scientific fact. Most of these groups and the followers that subscribe to their ideology mostly exaggerate the amount of positives that are present in their racial group. Most of these exaggerations came to be mainly due to absence or availability of little information Racism can develop because of limited information. Racism helps us to avoid challenging our minds and thinking and only accept information that makes us feel better about ourselves (Koopman, 2012). This occurs because racist groups rarely take or accept criticism even if the same is factual and actually true .This is because they do not want to challenge their thought process and thinking. This is actually an escape mechanism to guard their self-esteem. Conclusion The hard to swallow fact is that humanity will not be able to adequately address the issue of racism during this generation. Different individuals were born quite differently and human beings tend to act or negatively to whatever they are not used to, people included. Even in the animal kingdom, there is always an instinct in animals to preserve their own and further their genes even if it comes at a cost to a different animal species (Koopman, 2012). This simplistic view of animal interaction can also help to explain the very essence of racism and prejudice amongst the human population. The way of human thinking becomes ever increasingly complex as mankind progresses. The surrounding world and societies also tend to grow ever more complex also. This progression does not in any way indicate that the values one once had have been completely forgotten. These values are merely replaced by the newly acquired values .However, deep down and at the back of the human mind, these former values still reside and may spring back to life if one undergoes certain events or experiences a change in condition (Driedger, & Halli, 2000). Even though they can re- emerge, these values are not a dominant as they previously were. One can acquire new values through education, interaction with other people from different backgrounds and so on. This, in my opinion is the most realistic way to fight the scourge of racism. References Driedger, L., & Halli, S. S. (2000). Race and racism: Canadas challenge. Montreal [Que.: Published for Carleton University by McGill-Queens University Press. Jackson, A. (2010). Work and labour in Canada: Critical issues. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press. Koopman, M. J. (2012). Economic analysis of neighbourhood quality, neighbourhood reputation and the housing market. Amsterdam: Delft University Press. Read More