Race Relations in the USA - Essay Example

?Your Full Your Teacher’s Your and Number November 29, Race Relations in the USA Whether it was the mistreatment (to put itmildly) of the Native Americans in its earliest days, the dark days of slavery, the years of segregation after the Civil War or the World War II internment of the Japanese Americans, our nation has always been embroiled in issues related to race. These days, most of our nation feels that racism and the connotations thereof are a thing of the past – we have Affirmative Action, which seeks to bring the nation’s ethnic minorities, especially the African Americans, out of the disadvantages a systematic discrimination has led them into, what is more today an African American is our nation’s President. Clearly, this shows that there is no systemic discrimination against the non-whites in our country, as the whites have ceded the power they once wielded. But just how true is that? Just a little inspection reveals that while it is true that there is no institutional racism in the United States, and overt racism is not tolerated at all, there are still racial undertones to almost all aspects of life. Admittedly, these racial undertones are present in relations between non-whites themselves as well, but while we cannot define the race relations completely, it is still a “white” issue. These days when most of the overtly racist tones of our country have been buried and when overt racist actions and speech are not only frowned upon, but also punished, there is a more pervasive form of inherent bias that exists within us. Most members of our society have implicit biases – which is to say that they have biases without consciously being aware of them. A lot of the time, people do react in a certain way when dealing with people of other ethnic communities without even realizing that they are showing a hidden bias. The Social Psychology Network has set up an Implicit Association Test online whereby they have assessed a large number of people regarding their hidden biases with regard to Whites and African Americans. The results of the tests are astounding: 73% of the total test takers show an automatic preference of varying intensity for White people, with only 16% of the test takers showing any kind of preference for the African Americans. The bias is so well hidden that we do not even know it exists, and yet the test results clearly show just how insidious and wide spread it is. Another factor that complicates race relations is the fact that we have a phenomenon called “White Privilege” that is very pervasive, but which we do not admit to. According to Robert Jensen, the United States is shaped by White Privilege; he talked to a conservative white student of his who also agreed that in a world run by white people both of them had often benefitted by the fact that they were also white (“White Privilege”). However, there is a trend to ignore the fact that the world is tilted to favor a certain race in our country, and there is still stress on there being equal opportunities for all citizens irrespective of caste or creed. According to Jensen this is the ultimate white privilege: “the privilege to acknowledge you have unearned privilege but ignore what it means” (“White Privilege”). This does not mean that white people abuse the rights of others to be where they are right now, but that there are doors that are opened to them more readily because of the color of their skin. Peggy McIntosh, in her essay “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” has not only talked about how there is need for us to address the white privilege, but has also identified and listed 50 things that she, as a white person, gets to experience, which other ethnic minorities do not get to experience most of the time. It is simply eye opening, to say the least, to read about all the everyday things where White people have an invisible advantage or privilege over members of other ethnic communities. For instance, according to the list, McIntosh can readily ignore “the perspectives and powers of people of other races” simply by being white (4), which is simply not true for a non-White. The fact is that decent and honest white people are involved in racism, wittingly or not, when they completely ignore the fact that just the color of their skin affords them certain privileges that are denied to people who do not share their skin tone (or even when they are confronted by this fact, they deny it). To pretend that a non-White is not doing well in a society because s/he did not try hard enough and that the White person him/herself is doing well solely because s/he is hardworking is perhaps the most toxic form of racism. It completely invalidates the non-white experience, and tends to force the white perspective on events. In the movie, The Color of Fear, a group of racially diverse men sat down to talk about racism. It was interesting to see that a white man named David simply refused to see the point of views to life of the non-Whites. To him, their perspectives were not only false for him, but he claimed that they could not be true at all. It was enough for him that he was successful and did not have any prejudice against non-Whites. For him, it was clear that as long as he led a moral and unprejudiced life, it was enough – that there was no racial prejudice around him at all. He felt that it was the duty of the non-Whites to try a little harder to become more like him instead of trying to make him see life their way. Interestingly, for David there was no bias in our society because of the fact that he had never experienced it. The fact is that his bias is well hidden in the sort of life he has led so far, and that is why for David the only true experience is the “White experience” so to speak, and he refuses to see any other experience as true or relevant. What is more, even when he was told about the strife of other racial groups, by people of those groups themselves, he refused to believe them. While it is true that there is interracial strife between members of other ethno-racial groups, however, it would be apt to say that racism is essentially a white problem. Whether we like it or not, it started as soon as the White arrived on this continent. Even before the blacks were enslaved and brought to America, the Native Americans were discriminated against, to the point of almost near extinction, based on the color of their skin and their different customs and religions. What happened during the slavery is lined up in bookshelves all across the United States: both the horror and the inhumanity. While prejudice within people of color exists, it is, in effect, present because the prejudice they faced at the hands of Whites put it there. Because, for instance, whites will not go into his Chinese restaurant if there were blacks present, the father of the director of The Color of Fear, would insist that blacks not be allowed within. Essentially, just like discrimination between whites and colored people, discrimination within people of color causes them to be degraded with regard to the whites; even when the whites are not in the picture, the discrimination causes the colored people to be brought down in status, all the while maintaining the supremacy of the Whites. It is easy to see that while race issues are hard to define, and while there are racial prejudices found within all ethnic communities against other ethnic groups, there is a certain sense of White Privilege in our society still that makes racism a “white” issue, which not only needs to be addressed but resolved. Works Cited “Implicit Association Test.” UnderstandingPrejudice.org. Social Psychology Network. n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. Jensen, Robert. “More Thoughts on Why System of White Privilege is Wrong.” University of Texas Web Service. University of Texas. 1999. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. Jensen, Robert. “White Privilege Shapes the U.S.” University of Texas Web Service. University of Texas. 1998. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” http://IWS2.collin.edu web server. Collin County Community College District. 1990. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. The Color of Fear. Dir. Lee Mun Wah. Perf. Roberto Almanzan, David Christensen, Gordon Clay, Victor Lewis, Yukata Matsumato, Loren Moye, Hugh Vasquez, Lee Mun Wah. Stir-Fry Productions, 1994. DVD. Read More