Why Racism Should Not Occur - Essay Example

Why Racism Should Not Occur Introduction Racism is something that is experienced every single day in the American society, and the consequence has been the marginalization of certain communities, especially the minority groups. It is not often uncommon for a policeman to stop a group of African American teenagers and ask to see their train or tram ticket, while all the time there are hundreds of passer’s by who are roaming around freely, but they are not being stopped. There are many factors that inform the occurrence and the prevalence of racism. The historical discrimination of the African-American people throughout the history of the nation’s slavery marks the begging of the racial prejudice and discrimination that presented the blacks and the other minority groups, especially the immigrant minorities, as inferior (Tiffany Gee & Takeuchi, 2008). Thus, due to the social status they held during the period of American colonization as slaves, the prejudice, stereotyping and color bigotry has continued to rule the mind of many, resulting to the persistent increase in the reported cases of racial hate incidences throughout the country. On the other hand, due to the identity that such minority groups have been given as inferior throughout the history, they have also turned against the dominant groups, by discriminating and prejudicing against them as well (Kivel, 1996). However, the most disturbing thing about racism is that it does not appear to be perpetrated by individuals alone, but also the media that is a very influential tool in the society. The media has been seen to contribute to racism through biased reporting in relation to the prevalence of high crime rates in the minority groups as opposed to the dominant groups (Banton, 1988). This has resulted in unbalanced social construction, with the minority groups, most especially the African Americans being stereotyped as crime-prone than the rest of the communities. The impact of this is that such minority groups have in turn adapted crime as the tool for revenge against the marginalization. One can be forgiven for asking the question; where does racism happen? The answer to this would also be equally disturbing, because racism is all over the society, whether in the schools, on the streets, in churches and even in the high political offices such as the parliament and the congress. It is shocking to realize that even in the 21st century, racism is still being used as the basis of supporting or rejecting certain policies and legislations within the law-enacting bodies, while cases in the judiciary are also being determined in a manner that is perceived by the society to biased, also based on the color orientations (Tiffany Gee & Takeuchi, 2008). The school environment is even the worst hit by incidences of racism, with approximately 89% of students between the ages of 13 to 17 years reporting having faced a racially biased incidence in the course of their school lives (Rory, 2013). Thus, racism in schools has been rated highly than in other social contexts, at 43%, which is closely followed by racism online, which ranks secondly at 33% (Tiffany Gee & Takeuchi, 2008). It is also shocking that even in the elite levels of sports, racism has not been defeated, and there are many incidences of sports racism and sports biases throughout the country. Discussion Reasons why racism should not occur While racism is so much prevalent in the American society, the truth is that there is no excuse for racism, and it is just wrong. Ethnic identity is a tool that has been adapted by the minority groups as a protective means against racial discrimination by the dominant groups, which are perceived to enjoy most of the societal privileges (Hacker, 1992). Nevertheless, while being applied as a tool for protecting against racial discrimination and biases, the effect has been the exacerbation of psychological disorders amongst the minority groups, with high prevalence of psychological and mental disorders being observed among the Latinos, the Asians and the African American minority groups in the USA, compared to the rate of prevalence amongst the whites (Tiffany Gee & Takeuchi, 2008). In the year 2012, the FBI report indicated that crime incidences in the USA had slightly declined, but hate crimes accounted for the highest percentage of all crimes committed in the USA in 2012, accounting for 50% of the total crimes (Rory, 2013). According to the same FBI report, the victims of hate crimes reduced slightly compared to the previous year with 7,164 in 2012, compared to a total of 7,713 in 2011, which comprised of the individuals, businesses and institution victims (Rory, 2013). The report further indicated that amongst the 5,331 known offenders who perpetrated the hate crimes, 54.6% accounted for the white offenders, while 232.3% accounted for black offenders (Rory, 2013). The prevalence of the white-offender hate crimes in this case can be used to explain the reason studies have found the minority group highly prone to psychological and mental disorders. This because, being the most targeted groups for hate crimes, and considering the fact that they form the large percentage of the victims of hate crimes, it is only logical that such minority groups, most especially the victims and their families will suffer from stress, which turns into depression and later into major mental disorders (Tiffany Gee & Takeuchi, 2008). According to FBI 2010 report on hate crimes, there were 6,628 hate crimes reported in 2010, which is a slight increase from the 6,604 incidences of hate crimes that were reported in 2009 (Dembly, 2011). Further, this report also indicated that 47% of all the crimes that were reported in 2010 accounted for hate crimes. This is an indication that the prevalence of hate crimes and racism in the society is increasing, with 6628 incidences in 2010 that can then be compared to the 7164 incidences in 2012, to show the exponential rate of growth of racism and hate crimes. Further, the statistics have pointed to an increase in the total race-based crimes from 2010 to 2012, at 47% and 50% respectively (Rory, 2013). The effect of this increasing racism and associated race-crimes is that the overall state of health of the society is affected, with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes being on the rise, due to the high rate of stress and depression that the American society is facing, which in turn results to an increase in the chronic illnesses, especially amongst the minority groups (Tiffany Gee & Takeuchi, 2008). Education is the other social setting in the USA where racism plays a major role in denying the minority groups and people of color an equal opportunity. The vast of the USA education system discriminates against the minority and people of color, and this is most especially for the people who are poor (Kivel, 1996). Such students are denied entry into major institutions that have higher reputations. Further, multilingual and multi-curricular systems have not been adapted by a vast majority of the higher and middle level educational institutions, which in turn serves to deny the minority and the people of a color an equal opportunity in education (Hacker, 1992). Additionally, the minority groups are neither represented equally at the faculty and the staff level nor at the administrative levels of the higher education institutions. The programs centered on minorities are also scarce both at the higher institutions of learning and the middle level colleges, which leaves the minority and the people of color marginalized intellectually (Hacker, 1992). The effect of this is that inequality is created even at the employment levels, considering that the dominant groups are the only ones that emerge as qualified for various professions that are highly paid, while the minorities are left to contend with the low paying jobs, since they did not get equal opportunities in education. The overall effect of this is a social construction that entails social and economic inequalities, which increasingly serve to marginalize the minorities (Banton, 1988). Housing is yet another area where racism has caused inequalities, with the people of color having little choices of where they can live, while they are forced to pay high rent for less adequate housing (Tiffany Gee & Takeuchi, 2008). The whites are always privileged in the estates that they live, and rarely are the people of color allowed to share such neighborhood with the whites. Mortgage lending is also biased against the people of color, with redlining being an illegalized practice that is often practiced by the mortgage lending firms (Kivel, 1996). There has been a high rate of racial discrimination that has been reported against the African Americans and the Hispanics by both the landlords and the housing institutions, which range from denying such groups access to housing, to charging them exorbitantly (Banton, 1988). The discouragement of such minority groups from renting or buying houses in certain neighborhoods have served to create a highly segmented society, which represents a society that is completely detached in terms of racial and ethnic diversity (Hacker, 1992) the impacts of such social segmentation is that the minorities are isolated to the filthy and poor neighborhoods, while the dominant groups live in privilege in the more urban and developed neighborhoods. The problem of racism is also widespread in the heath services sector and in the social service provision, despite the fact that the minority groups needs such service more than does the dominant groups (Tiffany Gee & Takeuchi, 2008). Thus, owing to all these social ills that are caused by racism, racism should stop, if a balanced and healthy society is to be established. References Banton, M. (1988). Racial consciousness. London: Longman. Dembly, G. (November 15, 2011).FBI: Hate Crimes Target Blacks In 70 Percent Of Race-Based Cases. The Huffington Post. Accessed < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/15/fbi-hate-crimes-target-bl_n_1095465.html> Hacker, A. (1992). Two nations, black and white, separate, hostile, and unequal. New York: Ballantine Books. Kivel, P. (1996). Uprooting racism: How white people can work for racial justice. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers. Rory, C. (November 25, 2013). FBI statistics show US hate crimes decreased in 2012. The Guardian. Accessed < http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/25/fbi-us-hate-crimes-drop> Tiffany Y., Gee, C. & Takeuchi, D. (2008). Racial Discrimination and Psychological Distress: The Impact of Ethnic Identity and Age among Immigrant and United States–Born Asian Adults. Development psychology 44(3): 787–800. Read More