Racism And Racism Essay

In its most basic definition, racism is defined as “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” The phenomena of racism is often linked to racial discrimination and racial inequality, though they are analytically different from one other. Racial discrimination refers to the unfavorable treatment of people based on the physical characteristics of race, whereas racial inequality is concerned with unequal outcomes in spheres such as income, education, health etc. Racism is often and rightly implicated in both the phenomena of racial discrimination as well as racial inequality. However, the prevalence of these phenomena in today’s society

The first phase characterized racism as an overt and individual attitude, and considered a direct relationship between racism and racial inequality. This phase in the sociology of racism lasted only till the mid-twentieth century due to factors such as the Civil Rights Movement, increase in immigration, fall of colonialism (abroad) and economic development of developing nations, which led to a sharp decrease in overtly racist attitudes. This decline in overt racism led to the birth of the second and contemporary phase of racism which considers racism not only as an explicit attitudes but also considers other factors such as implicit biases and processed that are constructed and enacted at various micro and macro levels. This second phase did not consider a direct relationship between racism and racial inequality, but also considered the interaction of historical, institutional and unconscious forms of racism with racial

An implicit bias refers to the attitudes and stereotypes that affect our behavior in an unconscious manner. Though we are not consciously aware of our implicit biases, these can impact our actions and be revealed in our interpersonal interactions. Because these biases do not show up on a screen or a survey, psychologists created an Implicit Association Test which studies the association between race and judgements. Work by psychologists on this test revealed that individuals associate positive attributes and stereotypes with whites than with people of color. Psychologists also revealed that many minorities often hold implicit biases against their own, despite explicit beliefs in racial equality. This can be seen as internalized racism, when members of a racial group accept negative stereotypes and attitudes towards their own group. These people would be more willing and acceptable of the racial inequalities that persist today and less willing to take up measures to correct them. Another interesting approach to solving the paradox has been to focus not on the things that perpetuate racism but rather on those who experience it. As a result of implicit bias, those who experience racism may accept racist ideologies and in turn engage in interactions that extend their subordination. A study by psychologist Philomena Essed examined how racism affects the interactions of black women in