Barajas
Barajas
Laina
ENGWR 300
November 11, 2021
Racism
Racism is the belief that other races have different characteristics, features, and abilities, which makes them inferior to others. It can also be referred to as the marginalization of persons of color based on a social, racial hierarchy that treats white people with privilege (Burt et al., p. 648). On the other hand, the race concept is defined by a common population’s inherited features and biological and genetic makeup. Racism has been propagated by stereotypes, the upbringing of people, and segregation witnessed for centuries, where blacks were treated inhumanely and regarded as savages. The U.S. is characterized by widespread racism described into two dimensions that are; systemic and institutional racism. Institutional racism is discrimination propagated through institutions’ policies, activities, and procedures, while systemic racism is evident in the laws, rules, and norms that guide the social systems. Systemic racism results in an uneven distribution of economic and political-social resources among racial groups. Racism in the United States is increasingly becoming a threat to minority communities, and integrating racial justice, and equity into the United States Foreign Policy Goals would be an effective way to end racism.
All these forms of racism lead to adverse implications such as marginalization of the minority communities, low self-esteem, segregation, limited access to critical services, and widespread hate. Today, the United States is facing racism against minorities such as African Americans, Mexicans, and Asians due to stereotypical tendencies, where people’s minds categorize people in different ways hence building attitudes, prejudice, and mostly negative perceptions (Priest et al., p. 7). More often than not, the negative stereotyping of Black Americans has hurt them, as seen recently in the Black Lives Matter movement where George Floyd was killed by a policeman (Gorski, p. 408).
Combating racism needs aggressive actions and policy changes to be taken to reduce the adverse effects. Together with other minorities, African Americans are victims of the widening wealth gap, healthcare, and educational access inequalities. The United States has used various methods to eliminate racism among its people. The first one is seeing to enforce systemic equality by the human rights organizations and unions. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the American Civil Liberties Union has pursued to see to light various administrative and legislative campaigns targeting the end of racism. Similarly, through its Racial Justice Program (RJP), the union has led a team to litigate, publicly educate, advocate, and create awareness to break barriers to ensure all people have equality (Beversluis, p. 400). The program’s agenda is to establish a country where each individual can attain their greatest potential, undeterred by any form of racism, whether individual, structural or institutional racism.
The U.S. government has spoken openly and condemned the vice that leads to death, violence, and inequality. The condemning was seen in various incidences where minorities were either killed, brutalized, or went missing. However, this has not helped much, especially after various police brutality and killings against innocent minorities. Political leaders and activists have pushed for change in the United States police force after many racially instigated killings and violations of human rights. The bodies have unanimously endorsed using body-worn cameras by police on duty, going through de-escalation training, using early intervention techniques, and forbidding chokeholds on victims and civilian oversight after the 2014 tragedies (Peeples, p. 23). Also, the collection of data of cases of racism either from civilians or police officers has made tremendous steps in reducing racism. Such data-gathering processes in the police force have made the officers more accountable.
Today’s anti-black racism has increased due to the many cases of racist tendencies and behaviors. Citizens have held protests, several petitions, and campaigns geared towards ending racism and petitioning the government to act decisively. Black Lives Matter is one of the movements or initiatives calling for dignity and respect for African Americans in the U.S. and the entire world. For instance, The National Football League had in the past stated that they would place fines on teams if their members knelt were to kneel during the national anthem (Anaedozie, p. 126). However, after George Floyd’s death, protests began, and they changed their stand and became part of the Black Lives Matter movement (Glauser, p. 48). Anti-racism activism, campaigns, and protests have yielded some attention to the government and created awareness to the mass on the need to respect and uphold the rights of everyone, including minorities.
I propose the enforcement and the integration of racial justice and equity into the United States policy goals. Unfortunately, the policy does not include racial equality for those deemed minorities in the country. The United States has focused mostly on securing its national security against terrorism, has encouraged international trade with many countries, fostered world peace, and promoted the democratic rights of all people. However, the U.S. still lags in promoting the end of racism in the country. When anti-racism policies and agendas are made part of the U.S. foreign policy goals, I believe that there will be a significant reduction in racism in the country and its related disparities and effects. Systemic racism will be a thing of the past, especially in institutions that have propagated employee discrimination and unfair policies to minority groups. The integration of end to racism into the country’s policy will be instrumental in creating awareness on organizations, institutions, and individuals to focus on ending racism.
Racism is the marginalization of persons of color based on a racial social hierarchy that treats white people with privilege. Racism has been propagated by stereotypes, the upbringing of people, and segregation witnessed since the 1800s, where blacks were treated inhumanely and regarded as savages. Integrating anti-racism policies and goals in the U.S. policy will be an instrumental step in reducing and ultimately ending racism. There will be many benefits, such as creating awareness by the government and organizations alike, respect for every person, and a deliberate effort to protect and uphold the goal as a fundamental part of the policy. Activism and protests leading to anti-racist organizations such as Blacks Lives Matter resulted from racial discrimination against the many black people in America. I desire to see the end of racism against African Americans, Asian descent people, and Mexicans, among others that have been victims of this human right violation.
Annotated Bibliography
Anaedozie, Emeka C. Africans at Home and in the United States: One People, One Problem, One Destiny. Lexington Books, 2021.
Beversluis, Joel, ed. Sourcebook of the world’s religions: An interfaith guide to religion and spirituality. New World Library, 2011.
Burt, Callie Harbin, Ronald L. Simons, and Frederick X. Gibbons. “Racial discrimination, ethnic-racial socialization, and crime: A micro-sociological model of risk and resilience.” American sociological review 77.4 (2012): 648-677.
Gorski, Philip S. “When Sorrow Comes: The Power of Sermons from Pearl Harbor to Black Lives Matter, by MELISSA M. MATTHES.” Sociology of Religion (2021).
Peeples, Lynne. “What the data say about police brutality and racial bias—and which reforms might work.” (2020): 22-24.
Priest, Naomi, et al. “Stereotyping across intersections of race and age: Racial stereotyping among White adults working with children.” PloS one 13.9 (2018): e0201696.
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