The Exploitation of Race and Ethnicity in Society
In the United States, there is a stark racial divide that has been going on for decades and continues to exist today. For example, a black male in America is 21 times more likely to be shot and killed by the police than a white male. Statistics like that pop up in the news every so often, promptly when a young, unarmed, black American is shot to death. I continue to ask not only why black Americans are killed so much more than white Americans, but why, in general, does this country have such harsh racial inequities? It also makes me wonder why we classify people based on their race and ethnic background and why people are exploited because of those factors. There is no finite answer to these questions as I’ve learned through my own research and through discussions in this class. The role of race and ethnicity in society and the reason why we use constructs to justify inequality between different groups of people are unresolved issues we face.
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Many people fail to recognize that racial meaning is dynamic, fluid, and historically situated. These people, most of whom are white, tend to ignore what race means in the context of how it was constructed over the years. It’s much more than just a skin color but for some reason that skin deep difference is what fuels many different forms of injustice in society. Daniel Martinez HoSang and Oneka LaBennett described in their article, Racialization, about how race is used to justify many forms of social hierarchy and power. This process of racialization highlights human difference through hierarchy based solely on race, creating “superior” and “inferior” races with no biological basis. Racialization then alludes to a cultural dominance where an “inferior” race or culture is exploited by the “superior”
The definition of race changes constantly, and as such, race can be said to be neither static nor biological. After years of research, scientists have failed to prove any biological relationship between race and anatomy, proving that the motives behind racializing people must be political. The white race relies on this sense of racialization in order to maintain its socially constructed supremacy over so-called “non-whites”; therefore, settler colonialism acts as justification for racial inequality, and people of color are forced to seek equality through intersectional approaches. A racial project consists of representational strategies that artificially produce concepts of race in American society.
Throughout history, race has been an ongoing theme. Race was used to define a person as well as the rights that they held. People of races other than white were given little to none respect and were not treated as human beings but instead property. It was a constant battle between races, therefore forming a them versus us society. Through history there were many people who were treated based off their race, there were many different government made laws and documents that defined and laid out the rights of those certain races.
Society creates racial formations because despite the concept of race being problematic and contradictory, it plays an important role in representing social structure. We “utilize race to provide clues about who a person is” (Omi & Winant 24), and without this ability to quickly judge someone, we become discomforted. This is one of the ways racial formations are perpetuated: by stereotypes. We expect people to act a certain way based on their racial identities and are perplexed when they don’t. Religion, science, and government also sustain racial categories.
In our society, racism is deeply ingrained in America. The U.S. has had a history of oppressive race-based legislation; these include slavery, concentration camps that held Japanese Americans, as well as Native Americans forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. These examples encompass a theory known as the Critical Race Theory (CRT). Following months of appeals for racial equality and anti-racism efforts, a debate over CRT erupted in 2020 about whether the concept should be taught in schools and questions arose about what the theory truly teaches. CRT can help trace racism throughout America’s history and determine how it can affect minorities through cultural perceptions of race.
While some argue that race is a biological concept, many have rejected that view and instead view race as a social construct. This revised viewpoint stems from the
Solommon Yohannes October 5th, 2017 Sociology& 101 Mr. Woo Racial Inequality Viewed Through the Conflict Perspective Lens The racial inequality that we have in modern day blossomed from the historic oppression and comprehensive prejudice of minority groups. From the very beginning of “American” history, other groups of people who were not of European decent were discriminated against and treated inhumanely and without the smallest regard for their lives. Native American populations were decimated by diseases brought oversea by Europeans and forced from their ancestral lands by settlers to make room for their expanding populations.
I think this is incredibly important to understand because it takes a deep dive into the construction of inequality. For those who do see the world as black and white, and not a mix of hundreds of ethnicities or backgrounds, I think the idea that race was only created by racism can challenge a lot of notions on what “race” really means. Further, it is vital to acknowledge that the terms “black” and “white” are so general and cover hundreds of different cultures and identities; they should not be the only defining terms to one’s
In this paper, I will be critiquing these articles and films in order to evaluate the purpose of these readings and how they have helped further develop race in America. But most importantly, whether the author has achieved its purpose to inform readers about CRT, whiteness, and racial inequality. First article, I will be analyzing is Critical Race Theory: An Introduction by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. Both authors explore Critical Race Theory in detail. As I previously mentioned, CRT is one of the most important developments mainly in the legal studies department.
I had always thought of race as a biological construct, but Takaki's argument that whiteness is a social construct created to maintain power and privilege for white people challenged my understanding of race in society. He challenges the previous understanding of race and how it operates in society by explaining how different ethnic groups were considered "non-white" but eventually assimilated into mainstream American society by adopting whiteness. Takaki's exploration of the concept of whiteness is particularly insightful as it reveals how social constructs can be used to oppress and marginalize certain groups. This idea highlights the importance of understanding the ways in which power and privilege operate in society and how they affect different communities. Overall, Takaki's chapter serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of recognizing and celebrating the diversity of America's history and the ongoing struggle for social
The relationship between race and racism is due to the fact that there are racial categories created, in order for particular social groups to be on top of the hierarchy. For example, the white group, which is on top of this racial hierarchy, established the notion of race in order to benefit themselves, which has led to racism among other minority groups. The ideology of a group being superior than others leads to racism. Ultimately, race is the product of racism, and racism is not the product of race (25).
In keeping point of views like this alive in society, we are making those races that are seen as second rate, have no possibility of amplify their status. Realizing that there are no natural elements improving one race than another. Race, which prompts injustice, is basically something that is in use to establish brutalities, merciless and unforgivable treatment of persons all around the globe. Racism should be congested.
Racial identity plays a role in the physical and psychological features of humans. Physically, humans in different parts of the globe endure different conditions and environments. Humans adapt to their environments and obtain different physical traits, henceforth, these physical traits have become adjacent to race. Psychologically, ancestral prejudices and influences throughout history have lingered through the generations and have impacted modern racial identities and tensions. Ethnic conflicts of the past such as the Social Darwinist theory of a "superior race" are morally refuted in current times, but that assumption had a brunt impact in which the world is still repairing today.
Race, nationality and ethnicity Race and ethnicity are seen as form of an individual’s cultural identity. Researchers have linked the concept of “race” to the discourses of social Darwinism that in essence is a categorization of “types” of people, grouping them by biological and physical characteristics, most common one being skin pigmentation. Grouping people based on their physical traits has lead in time to the phenomenon of “racialization” (or race formation), as people began to see race as more of a social construct and not a result or a category of biology.
This chapter explains the difference between race and ethnicity and how they came about. It also explains the advantages and disadvantages some have due to the creation of race. Race and ethnicity have strong foundations not only within countries, but between them. Globalization has increased the individual’s ethnic identities, but has also put some at disadvantages. Having different races and ethnicities is not an issue, but ranking the different races and putting others at disadvantages creates issues.
Racism: a curse for the society INTRODUCTION:- "Racism is an ideology that gives expression to myths about other racial and ethnic groups that devalues and renders inferior those groups that reflects and is perpetuated by deeply rooted historical, social, cultural and power inequalities in society." Racism is one of the oldest truth around the world .Racism, is said to be as old as the human society. Racism is nothing but only the belief that all members of each race possess the characteristics, abilities, or qualities which are specific to that race, especially, so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. And this differentiation change the people’s mentality and bring death among themselves.