Racism And Prejudice Essay

Prejudice and Racism. Is racism an individual or social problem

Racism and prejudice are found in all public discourses not only in South Africa but also in other countries. It is universal, exists across cultures; emerges when there are perceivable differences among groups struggling for social power. Further, De La Rey & Duncan (2003) views racism as an institutional system which systematically marginalise or dominate another group. ‘Race’ is the dominant explanatory concept for the composition of South African society. Apartheid is one good example of a formalised racial policy developed by the state to discriminate blacks while benefiting the white population.

Prejudice on the other hand, is viewed by Allport (1954) cited in Foster

Racism as an ideology attempts to justify racial inequalities through the notions of inferiority and superiority of different races (De La Rey & Duncan, 2003). There are five forms of racism suggested by Allport; antilocution, avoidance, discrimination, physical attack and extermination. Apartheid embodied all five forms, reinforced as institutional racism and racial prejudice made to be a rule of law and social order. In South Africa, racism as a societal problem is a lived experience by most black people in institutions where people holding top position are still white. Blacks in this country are at the lowest quintile of education, employment and are subjected to forms of violence and poverty Racism as a social problem seems to be distorted by measurements of racism as an attitude, stereotype and prejudice which ignores the systematic nature and political character (Erasmus, 2010). While in the contemporary society, the old bigoted forms of racism are discontinuing, racism is being articulated within a discourse of culture and cultural difference. Cultural differences become cultural conditioning process that imbues within biases and prejudices, resulting in microaggressions such as it is your culture to live in shacks. Infact, Erasmus (2008) highlighted that in contemporary society race has been reproduced and spoken about