“The first thought that goes through your mind is what you have been conditioned to think; what you think next defines who you are.” This quote seems relevant as we examine the root causes of racism and what we can do about it.
To understand the causes of racism, we must fully understand the definition of racism. Although it seems fairly simple to comprehend, as with most issues, there are more sides to it than it may originally seem. So, what exactly is racism? It can take on many different forms. One form, prejudice, is where a person dislikes other groups of people based on their differences. Another form, stereotyping, is something most of us do at some point or another. We assume things about someone based on our preconceived notions …show more content…
For example, while reading a story that has pictures of children of different races, the racist parents may point out the Caucasian children while ignoring those of other races (Jackson, 2011). They never told their children that they didn’t like the other races but through subtle actions, the children pick up on the fact that the parents don’t care enough to even mention the other races.
In addition to picking up these attitudes from parents, media and culture are just as much to blame. Our media and culture are very bad about stereotyping. Children pick up on this and use it to discriminate. For example, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush used language such as us versus them, these people, and evil to describe people of Arab or Middle Eastern backgrounds. This had a negative effect. In a review of more than 1,000 Hollywood films, more often than not, Arabs are depicted as hostile, murderers, rapists, and religious fanatics (Jackson, …show more content…
Because of this we thrive on belonging to groups. When referring to this sort of pride and belonging in one’s own country it is known as Nationalism (Cullingford, 2000). This in and of itself is fine, but it can lead to discrimination of those outside the group.
Yet another theory is that of individualism. People believe that everyone should be self-reliant. They think that if someone needs help they are pretending to victims of circumstance or ask for favors. Those that promote individualism fail to understand that there are some people who would like to be self-reliant but simply cannot, such as those with disabilities and those discriminated against because of race. People rallying behind the idea of individualism lack empathy for those less fortunate than themselves (Roth, 1990).
We are racist in various forms. Most of them are in the form of communication. Some are more outright such as hate speech, discriminating policies, and symbols such as swastikas. But are some are more subtle such as body language, interrupting, or using condescending
To understand the causes of racism, we must fully understand the definition of racism. Although it seems fairly simple to comprehend, as with most issues, there are more sides to it than it may originally seem. So, what exactly is racism? It can take on many different forms. One form, prejudice, is where a person dislikes other groups of people based on their differences. Another form, stereotyping, is something most of us do at some point or another. We assume things about someone based on our preconceived notions …show more content…
For example, while reading a story that has pictures of children of different races, the racist parents may point out the Caucasian children while ignoring those of other races (Jackson, 2011). They never told their children that they didn’t like the other races but through subtle actions, the children pick up on the fact that the parents don’t care enough to even mention the other races.
In addition to picking up these attitudes from parents, media and culture are just as much to blame. Our media and culture are very bad about stereotyping. Children pick up on this and use it to discriminate. For example, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush used language such as us versus them, these people, and evil to describe people of Arab or Middle Eastern backgrounds. This had a negative effect. In a review of more than 1,000 Hollywood films, more often than not, Arabs are depicted as hostile, murderers, rapists, and religious fanatics (Jackson, …show more content…
Because of this we thrive on belonging to groups. When referring to this sort of pride and belonging in one’s own country it is known as Nationalism (Cullingford, 2000). This in and of itself is fine, but it can lead to discrimination of those outside the group.
Yet another theory is that of individualism. People believe that everyone should be self-reliant. They think that if someone needs help they are pretending to victims of circumstance or ask for favors. Those that promote individualism fail to understand that there are some people who would like to be self-reliant but simply cannot, such as those with disabilities and those discriminated against because of race. People rallying behind the idea of individualism lack empathy for those less fortunate than themselves (Roth, 1990).
We are racist in various forms. Most of them are in the form of communication. Some are more outright such as hate speech, discriminating policies, and symbols such as swastikas. But are some are more subtle such as body language, interrupting, or using condescending