The Origin of Racism as a Cultural Phenomenon | Essay Writing
In the simplest terms,
racism can be defined as a practice in which one race is believed to be more
superior to the other race or races. Racism often results in the phenomenon of
prejudice and discrimination. Various instances can be observed in which various
instanced of discrimination and prejudice are caused due to racism. The term
‘racism’ also has many other definitions depending upon the situation or the
individual who is defining this term. There
are also many ideologies which the readers will be able to learn in this essay
writing piece about racism as a cultural phenomenon. Readers will also be able
to learn about the different historical and cultural phenomenon which
eventually leads to the origin of racism.
The
Meaning of Racism
All ideologies of
racism are based on the main idea that all human beings can be divided into
various groups depending upon the physical characteristics, innate capacities,
or social behavior of all those human beings. All of those different groups
could be considered either superior or inferior depending upon the various
characteristics which are mentioned above. There are also many historical
events which are considered as some of the biggest examples of racism. And some
of those historical events include the Holocaust, slavery in Latin America,
segregation and slavery in the United States of America, in South Africa the
apartheid, and many other examples. A reader can choose to read the essay
writing pieces which are written on all those topics to understand the concept
of racism in a better manner.
In the 19th
century, many scientists believed that all human beings should be categorized
into various groups or races. This term ‘racism’ also serves as a noun for
describing somebody who is racist. One of the biggest consequences of racism
has been the fact that various political ideas, rights, and privileges which
have been distributed unequally throughout the different races. The exact
origin or root of the ‘race’ has not been that clear. However, there are many
scholars who believe that this word has Arabic roots. And it is derived from
the Arabic word ‘ra’s’ which means to begin, grow, or head. All social
scientists, behavioral scientists, legal experts, and humanities professionals
tend to look at the concept of racism as a cultural phenomenon in different
lights.
Aspects
of Racism and the Origin of Racism
In this section of this
essay writing piece, readers will be able to learn about the different
ideologies which are related to racism and how those ideologies relate to the
social life of any particular individual. And all those ideologies are
mentioned below.
1. Aversive Racism
This is a form of
implicit racism in which an individual is not really consciously aware of his
or her persistent avoidance of various racial groups or racial minorities. This
type of racism is more complex as it is harder for any social group to fight.
This ideology is further characterized by ambivalent attitudes and expressions.
This ideology is also somewhat similar to the ideology of modern racism. There
are many essay writing pieces which are written on this topic.
2. Color Blindness
The color blindness
ideology basically states that an attitude is adopted by individuals in which
they completely disregard any sort of racial distinctness or characteristics
which might be have been easily observable in any common social interaction. There
are also many critics of this ideology who basically argue that even if an
individual refuses to attend the differences between all the races or social
group then that result in the individual unconsciously repressing all that
information which could further result in implicit racism. This is also a
rather commonly observed cultural phenomenon.
3. Cultural
This ideology states
that all sorts of racism practices have firmly taken hold all across the globe
after the World War. According to this ideology, there are many social beliefs
and customs which promoted racism and the notion that some culture or tradition
or even language can be superior to some other culture, tradition, or language.
This is one of the most common topics for various essay writing pieces.
4. Economic
According to this
ideology, social disparity and historical economic conditions have to be blamed
as the causes of racism. These historical reasons also result in a disparity
amongst various children in terms of their formal education. All of these
reasons can contribute to a society becoming more racist and intolerant of any
other culture or race.
Apart from these major
ideologies of racism, there are many other ideologies which students can study
to learn more about the concept and practice of racism.
Cultural
Phenomenon
Leading to the Origin of Racism
As it was mentioned in
the cultural ideology, there are many historical events which took place after
the World War which has resulted in the practice of racism. And it is important
for all readers to learn about those historical events to understand racism as
a cultural phenomenon. And all those historical events are mentioned below.
The
Problem of Labour, Enslavement, and the Slave Trade
All the three
historical events which are mentioned above have been interlinked together to
explain the roots or the cause of racism. To understand the social phenomenon
which actually took place behind these events one must first begin with an
understanding that it all started when the need for labor was felt. The idea of
slavery did not take place in the middle ages on its own instead it all started
when every nation wanted to develop but there was a lack of manual labor for
that development to take place. This eventually led the people from Europe to
forcefully take people from Africa back to their country and put them to hard
labor. This was obviously not ethical but it had started sometime around the
fourteenth century.
It is also important
for the readers to know that slavery was not a new idea at that time instead it
has existed in the world for over thousands of year. However, it was only
during the fourteenth century when this idea became more systematic and
defined. There was also a growing demand for sugar in Britain which led to the
development of the slave trade. And by the eighteenth century, Britain had
become one of the richest nations which traded in slaves. Irish merchants were
also a vital part of that trade. The largest numbers of slaves, during that
time, were being from African and Asian colonies to all parts of America and
Europe. And even though with great efforts the slave trade was stopped but
there are still many ways in which racism and slavery continue
to exist in some part of the world today. There are many essay writing pieces
which are written on this topic.
The
Conclusion:
Racism can be defined
as the practice or concept in which one culture is believed to be more superior
to some other culture. The exact origin of the word ‘race’ is not known but it
is believed that it has Arabic roots. There are many ideologies which are
related to racism and some of those ideologies are aversive racism, color
blindness, cultural, and economic. The cultural ideology thinks of racism as a cultural
phenomenon. There are also many events in the history of the world which led to
racism. And some of those events include the lack of labor, the enslavement,
and the slave trade. It is important to appropriate steps to ensure that racism
can be eradicated. To learn more about this topic, students can read more essay
writing pieces.
The References
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