Racism and Prejudice - Essay Example

Racism is an act of systematic oppression and exploitation of human beings based on their belonging to a particular racial group. From this definition, it entails overlooking the status of a whole group rather than an individual. It also involves the societal practices and policies which are pervasive and overlooks the rights of a certain racial group whether intentional or local (Andrzejewski 56). For this purpose, it can be stated that racism is indeed a societal prejudice based on power. Prejudice is an irrational or negative attitude directed towards a specific group based on real or alleged physical and cultural characteristics. Unlike racism, it is based on the attitude and perception that people have towards a certain group. The perception, irrationality and negative attitude are developed as a result of either real or alleged characteristic that can be associated with people from a certain culture. The main difference between prejudice and racism is that prejudice is based on both physical and cultural characteristics while racism is based on the racial color of a group in context. Furthermore, racism gives power to one group while prejudice is purely perception (Andrzejewski 56).

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Red lining is the act of segregating certain areas based on their conditions. As a result of red lining, people from a specific region or area in the society are unable to access certain facilities and services being offered by various institutions. For instance, banks tend to designate the underdeveloped areas and rural areas due to the possible risks involved in mortgage loans. As a result, people from these areas are unable to access mortgage loan from banks (Andrzejewski 56).

White racism is the situation where the white get attention and power to dominate over the blacks and other races. By so doing, the whites tend to deflect attention away from the primary concerns of people of color (Sleeter 288). In most cases, the White focuses on the differences in ways that simplify and devalue others while making whiteness itself to be invisible and superior. In another perspective, it involves the lack of will and intention to talk about racism by white people as a result of the privileges that they enjoy courtesy of being white. For instance, white people can discuss family history, religion, and ethnicity but not talk about their whiteness and the gains they receive from white racism (Sleeter 289).

White privilege is a phenomenon that arises from the racism that put white people at an advantage over people of colored skin. It gives white people an invisible package of earned assets which they can count on cashing in each day for their benefits. This phenomenon is alive and real in its effects in the society; it is mostly protected and denied by those enjoying the benefits (Macintosh 294). For instance, a white person can rely on their skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability due to white privilege. As a result, white people can dress in second-hand clothes, be late for meetings and not answer letters without it being attributed to the bad morals, poverty or illiteracy of their race. Therefore, in essence, white privilege gives white considerable power and advantage to choose what to do unlike the other races (Macintosh 295).

White privilege is enjoyed by all individuals who belong to the white race. However, men tend to have more privilege than women even in white privilege due to male privilege. For instance, men can choose to either support or oppose women studies because in either way they have nothing to lose (Macintosh 296). There are several other privilege systems in the society which need to be understood so that people can be enlightened on how these privileges damage them differently from the victimized group.

Colorblindness is the intentional ignorance to acknowledge and affirm ones racial identity. In this case, a person is only seen as a human being and cannot be identified by the skin of their skin. The author opposes the notion of colorblindness and considers t bogus due to two reasons. First, people with colored skin have made steps in affirming their color in the society. Colored skins have been embraced by the people and are proud of it. As a result, the notion of colorblindness will not work in reducing racism but will make the people of colored skin feel less important because people will no longer see the strong determination and affirmation that the colored skin people have had in trying to make sure there are appreciated. Secondly, colorblindness among whites is a way of denying race and racism in the society. As a result, individuals with colored skin will not be appreciated in the society due to colorblindness, but the whites will have a way of denying the existence of racism (Seldon 297).

According to LaDuke (300), the sustainability of society relies on the environment. The current environmental and economic crisis being witnessed around the world and in North America is centered on people managed of the environment. A society based on conquest can be blamed for these crises in the world. Conquest based society is a system that of capitalism and industrialism that lacks respect for indigenous people and their environment. In a conquest society, there is an unstable quest for resources without accountability to the natural law which is key to sustainable society. Furthermore, reciprocal relations between the humans and the ecosystem lacks in a conquest based society. As a result, the balance of nature interferes with hence the society becomes unsustainable (LaDuke 300). Therefore, conquest based society cannot be the same due to the values of capitalism and industrialism that are entailed in the society.

Racism has had an impact on the education system of US. US children tend to be miseducated due to racism as a result of myths about the United States that they are taught instead of the historical facts. Black people contributed a lot in the US history, and not all were slaves like the education system end to teach students (Tripp 316). However, these historical facts are mostly ignored due to the reality that has been created by the myths. The racial idea that black people are unable to do things for themselves has influenced the perpetuation of these myths so as to point the whites as the savior and leader of black men. Therefore, the education system in the US tends to hinder racial harmony by portraying blacks as inferior beings who need the guidance and help of the whites (Tripp 321).

Native Americans face cultural racism mainly through stereotypes. The stereotypes affect Native Americans through lack of personal awareness (Pewewardy 327). The education system seems to perpetuate Indian stereotypes which create a self-fulfilling prophecy of academic and social failure among the natives. Therefore, cultural racism makes Native Americans to have a distorted attitude toward a specific group of people hence segregating themselves from the rest of the population (Pewewardy 334).

Studying and understanding racism and other forms of oppression and social justice is imperative because it will help me to know ways that can be used to eradicate this social oppression. As an individual of colored skin racism has affected me directly through poor services that I have received from some institution. The lack of education due to poor historical facts combined with American myths has also limited my knowledge about the US. Therefore, understanding the issues of racism may be valuable in my future endeavors of eradicating them from the society.

Works Cited

Andrzejewski, Julie. Oppression and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks. Needham Heights, MA: Ginn Press, 1993. Print.

LaDuke, Winona. "A Society Based on Conquest Cannot Be Sustained." Oppression and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks, edited by Julie Andrzejewski, Needham Heights, 1993, pp. 299-306.

Macintosh, Peggy. "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies." Oppression and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks, edited by Julie Andrzejewski, Needham Heights, 1993, pp. 294-297.

Pewewardy, Comel. "Native American Mascots and Imagery: The Struggle of Unlearning Indian Stereotypes." Oppression and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks, edited by Julie Andrzejewski, Needham Heights, 1993, pp. 327-335.

Seldon, Horace. "On Being Color-Blind." Oppression and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks, edited by Julie Andrzejewski, Needham Heights, 1993, pp. 297-299.

Sleeter, Christine. "White Racism." Oppression and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks, edited by Julie Andrzejewski, Needham Heights, 1993, pp. 288-294.

Tripp, Luke. "Blacks in America: American Mythology and Miseducation." Oppression and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks, edited by Julie Andrzejewski, Needham Heights, 1993, pp. 316-322.