Marco Lopez
12/12/2016
Of the many issues facing society today, few come close to the controversy and debate that surround the idea of racism. Often, a significant part of the debate is what exactly constitutes racism. We need a clear definition of racism in order to know how to behave ethically. There is no way we can make ethical decisions if we do not have a clear idea of what is considered ethical in the first place.
Two well-known philosophers have conflicting viewpoints on what racism is. Jorge García believes that racism is ‘in the heart.’ He describes racism as racially based ill will. In this context, ill will is defined as having negative attitudes toward a person or group of people. Garcia states that individuals often …show more content…
In class, we discussed an example where a wealthy person may donate money and time to help low-income community consisting mainly of minorities. This person may feel that the people in the community cannot survive on their own due to flaws in their culture, and must depend on others to help and guide them. This person may truly believe that what they are doing is ethical. However, they are still stating that the minority group of people are inferior. While the wealthy person is not harming the others, I feel that this example is still an example racism, at least according to the views of Tommie …show more content…
Although the show was made in the 1970s, reruns are occasionally still aired on cable TV, and many episodes are available to view for free on YouTube. The situations the characters found themselves in are still relevant today, over 40 years later. The main character of the show is Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O 'Connor). Archie is a white man in his 50s who is struggling to accept the changes taking place in the world around him. He is portrayed as a racist and bigoted man. While that may be true some of the time, he is just reacting to events as those around him had for many years, even though the world was changing rapidly during this time in history. The fictional characters and situations in All in the Family were meant to portray real-world people and situations taking place in the 1970s. Archie Bunker was meant to represent the common, middle-age white American male during that era. Many of these men were indeed racist, but were not bad people. They did not have ill-will toward different groups of people, they were just taught and expected to believe that certain groups of people were inferior without ever questioning if this was
12/12/2016
Of the many issues facing society today, few come close to the controversy and debate that surround the idea of racism. Often, a significant part of the debate is what exactly constitutes racism. We need a clear definition of racism in order to know how to behave ethically. There is no way we can make ethical decisions if we do not have a clear idea of what is considered ethical in the first place.
Two well-known philosophers have conflicting viewpoints on what racism is. Jorge García believes that racism is ‘in the heart.’ He describes racism as racially based ill will. In this context, ill will is defined as having negative attitudes toward a person or group of people. Garcia states that individuals often …show more content…
In class, we discussed an example where a wealthy person may donate money and time to help low-income community consisting mainly of minorities. This person may feel that the people in the community cannot survive on their own due to flaws in their culture, and must depend on others to help and guide them. This person may truly believe that what they are doing is ethical. However, they are still stating that the minority group of people are inferior. While the wealthy person is not harming the others, I feel that this example is still an example racism, at least according to the views of Tommie …show more content…
Although the show was made in the 1970s, reruns are occasionally still aired on cable TV, and many episodes are available to view for free on YouTube. The situations the characters found themselves in are still relevant today, over 40 years later. The main character of the show is Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O 'Connor). Archie is a white man in his 50s who is struggling to accept the changes taking place in the world around him. He is portrayed as a racist and bigoted man. While that may be true some of the time, he is just reacting to events as those around him had for many years, even though the world was changing rapidly during this time in history. The fictional characters and situations in All in the Family were meant to portray real-world people and situations taking place in the 1970s. Archie Bunker was meant to represent the common, middle-age white American male during that era. Many of these men were indeed racist, but were not bad people. They did not have ill-will toward different groups of people, they were just taught and expected to believe that certain groups of people were inferior without ever questioning if this was