This page offers some perspectives on race and racism. A more detailed look at racism and how to challenge it is available in our publication 'Changing the Race Equality Paradigm, available here. They were mostly developed in the late 19th and early 20th century in Western Europe, and claimed that humans could be divided into racial groups based on physical and behavioural traits linked to ethnicity, nationality, and related concepts like shared language.
These theories were influenced by colonialism and imperialism, and the desire to show that non-white groups were inferior in order to justify the actions of Western nations. These notions influence all areas of life in Scotland to some degree, from social attitudes to the way organisations are run, making inequalities for Black and minority ethnic people continue over generations.
Their process of racialisation brought advantages rather than disadvantages. So, although there are stereotypes about white minority ethnic groups in Scotland and these groups can face prejudice and discrimination, we would describe this as xenophobic prejudice rather than racism.
CRER includes tackling inequality faced by white minority ethnic groups within our work where there is evidence to show they face a disadvantage, but our focus is primarily on tackling racism.
We can also stereotype people from different racial backgrounds as "lazy", "brainy", "aggro"… you get the idea. The way to beat the stereotypes? Don't judge a whole group.
Get to know people from different racial backgrounds and find out how much you have in common. When we feel angry or frustrated, we often look for someone else to blame for our problems. As a community, we can do the same thing. People who look or talk differently to us are an easy target. Congress began to take note of this movement and bills were written that would bring an end to slavery in America. Most of the northern states began to outlaw slavery, however, the southern states resisted.
The political arguments about slavery continued to heightened in Congress that ultimately led to the secession of the southern states.
One can read the history of the Civil War to discover who fired the first shot, however, my aim is not to give a history lesson here but to identify the basis of racism, particularly the racism many whites feel toward people of color. Think with me - southern whites were willing to die to protect their hold on slavery, at least it is fair to say that those whites with political and economical power were willing to sacrifice the lives of others to protect slavery.
Ultimately the south lost the war and thus national laws were implemented to protect the freedom of those once enslaved. This group of citizens was starting from scratch as a civilization within a highly educated civilization.
This is the first basis for racism - an inherited separation of culture, economics, and race. Ultimately these share croppers were almost always in debt to the plantation owner. There was never any proof of guilt. Jim Crow state laws began to be established throughout the south and a great separation occurred between the races. The mixing of races was strictly forbidden. Interracial marriage was a crime. Early theories of racism included the justification of the domination of one race over another because of the concept of survival of the fittest from Charles Darwin.
It was theorized that there was some survival advantage to being racist. However, modern hunter-gatherer tribes were not found to exclude out-groups people not included in a particular group , and this theory was rejected.
Then, race psychology theorized that there were brain differences between races and that intelligence tests and segregation were the answer. Later in , American psychologist Gordon Allport argued in his book, The Nature of Prejudice, that people use categories to understand their world better and that racism was simply an artifact of that process. Whatever the psychological history of racism is in the United States, the actual history of racism is that white people are afforded benefits in society because of a system that was set up for their benefit.
Racism is real regardless of whether white people recognize this to be true or accept this fact. Many people misunderstand the definitions of racism and prejudice; however, they are different.
While all racists are prejudiced, not all those with prejudice are racist. Prejudice is usually learned early in life and affects behavior in a more subtle way.
For example, a police officer with prejudice might assume that a person of color would be more likely to commit a crime. That belief would then affect the actions of the officer, even if it were in a subconscious way.
Prejudice still persists today even if this kind of thinking is no longer deemed acceptable within some systems and organizations. In contrast, racism is directed at a particular group and is generally more overt. An example of racism would be a shop refusing to serve patrons of a certain skin color. While most blatant racism toward BIPOC is no longer tolerated or viewed as acceptable in contemporary American society, we are not so far removed from the years of slavery and segregation.
For this reason, it is the case that prejudice is able to persist even though outward racism is no longer seen as acceptable. Are there ways that you think about racism that you don't realize are harmful? Most definitely the answer is "yes. With that statement, you are shutting down conversations about race or the fact that racism exists and is a systemic problem. This is especially true if you are white and are speaking to a person of color who is trying to explain their experiences to you.
While these statements are less overt, they are still hurtful because it invalidates other people's experiences. They are telling you that there's still a problem, no matter how much some people believe that there is not.
Ignoring racism doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. It just means that you have shut down the possibility of moving forward by having a conversation about what could be done. Many people across the U. Is it survival of the fittest like Darwin suggested, or a psychological defense mechanism to help people identify with their primary group and feel more secure? Below is a list of reasons why racism exists.
It's true that those who lack an identity of their own may seek out group membership. Sometimes, hostility arises toward those groups that have been alienated. While in a clique, people tend to begin to think and behave more like the people they surround themselves with. It becomes much easier to attack a group of people when you're among others who share the same viewpoint.
Two types of mental illness, paranoid personality disorder and narcissism , are both related to feeling insecure and may also make one more likely to engage in racism. Alienation of others eventually leads to less compassion for those who have been ostracized.
People begin to only show compassion and empathy for those they regularly associate with. An easy example is to think of television segments asking you to help feed starving children in Africa. It's easier to dismiss this group, because Africa seems so far away and you feel as though there isn't anything you, personally, can do about it.
This may not be overt racism, but it's definitely a loss of empathy. Sometimes when people feel bad about themselves or recognize their shortcomings, instead of dealing with them and trying to fix them, some people project their self-loathing onto others.
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