Argumentative Essay on Racism vs Biology: Why Racism Is Just an Ideology

Introduction

According to biological studies, the genetic composition of human beings is similar with very little variations. Racism in essence cannot be explained using biology because of the similarities in genetic composition. Racism can be said to be an ideology that is propagated by mostly white people and is built on falsehood. It is based on discriminating a particular group of people and making them feel inferior and worthless in the eyes of others. Such discrimination and stereotyping can be explained as the reason why slave trade existed. It involved the use of black people on the farms of white people with no compensation. Blacks were viewed as objects to produce cheap labor for whites because they were viewed as worthless. This stereotype has been shared from generation to next and exists to this particular day.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The question that has been asked time and again is why people continue to be racist despite biology showing that there is no biological difference in people and that no race is superior to the other. There are several explanations to why people continue to have racist attitudes. First, the environment in which people are brought up in determines whether people will be racist or not. If a child is brought up in an environment where people despise a certain race, they are likely to grow up inhibiting such resentments. Such attitudes might change for others while some grow up with them and never drop them. Secondly, human beings tend to interact with people whom they share a background, culture and language. Through these interactions, we may develop attitudes that our groups are better than others and such attitudes might be based on things such as language, color or even ways of clothing. Another thing is that human beings are quick to judge at times. The judgment is mostly directed at groups and people take little time to understand a single person. Such generalized judgments may perceive people from a certain group being lazy, intelligent or even"agro". These are stereotypes that are directed at people and they make them feel discriminated or superior to others. Lastly, there are attitudes of blaming people for our problems and this makes people having resentment to the people they feel that undermine them. When this attitude persists over time, people develop negative attitudes towards a group of people which translates to discrimination.

Racism exists at three levels which are institutionalized, person mediated and internalized. These levels are connected and interdepented to a great extend. Institutionalized racism exists in the systems of a nation like the constitution, work places or structures. It basically creates a structural barrier to access of services or even food for some people. Among other things that are affected are healthcare services, job opportunities and access to transportation. Like aforementioned, this type of discrimination exists in systems where a certain race has more privileges compared to another. The other type of racism is person mediated racism and this has to do with the attitudes of a person. It is all about what the opinion of a person towards a certain race is and the resulting attitude. It is based on prejudice and discrimination where a certain feeling is communized for a particular group of people. It is also exposed when one gives different treatment to people based on their race. If it is a race they favour, the treatment is better and vice versa. The last level of racism is internalized racism; this is where a certain group of people believe what is thought of them by others. They believe that they are second fiddle to other races and accept the roles that the society defines for them. An example is when one turns down a job application because they believe there are better people suited for the job out there.

Conclusion

Racism like earlier mentioned has been a big issue in the world from the age of slavery. The people of Arabic and western origin used black people as their sources of labour without sufficient compensation. Black people were subjected to hard labour and worked in deplorable work conditions. They were whipped and even denied a chance to see their families so as to remain productive at work. Prejudice and discrimination exist to this modern era and people are treated differently basing on the color of their skin. This discrimination exists in schools, sports and even work places where some races are treated better than others.