Seen through the eyes of a Black man
Racism is a shameful practice, which violates fundamental human rights and freedoms. Racism hurts those, who support it, and those, who suffer from it. Despite years of fighting against racial discrimination, racism is still presented in the contemporary society. At this point, it is vital to distinguish factors, which cause racism. Knowing these factors, it will be possible to provide an adequate remedy against this humiliating and shameful practice. Scientists, psychologists, social psychologists offer different ideas about why racism exists. It is essential to study the problem from different perspectives to understand the full picture. "The causes of racism are upbringing, stereotypes, unfamiliarity …show more content…
People learn from the surrounding, and when they see manifestations of racism, they acquire such behavioral patterns. Jennifer Richeson, a social psychologist from Yale University, points out, "In some ways, its super simple. People learn to be whatever their society and culture teach them. We often assume that it takes parents actively teaching their kids, for them to be racist" (Wan & Kaplan). Children acquire new behavioral patterns from the environment. For the present moment, the environment is full of manifestations of racism. Psychologists and social psychologists note that even when children see no open signs of racism, they may get information from non-verbal information, such as gestures, body language and of non-verbal sources of information. Children copy and follow not only conscious patterns, uttered by grownups. They also follow hidden and non-verbal information they see in their …show more content…
An "us-them" division is a part of human biology. People tend to make a distinction between other people they meet. They try to distinguish whether everybody, which surrounds them, belongs to the same group as they do. Eric Knowls from the New York University argues, "There's a lot of evidence that people have an ingrained even evolved tendency toward people who are in our so-called 'in group" (Quoted in Wan & Kaplan). The race often becomes that distinguishing factor, which helps people distinguish group belonging. All people, who do not fall into the category of "us," automatically fall into the category of "them." That is the reason people of one race may feel hostility towards representatives of other races. The need for belonging makes people seek support from the group to which they belong. The same need to feel belonging makes people experience negative feelings toward the representatives of other groups.
Chauvinism and supremacism make people believe in the supremacy of their race. Since people of white race historically had more resources and privileges, they came up with an idea about the superiority of the white race (Banton, 1992). These ideas were used to justify racism. It is worth to remember the time of slavery when slave owners justified owning slaves by the sense of their mental inconsistency. Slave owners also stated that people of black race could not take care of themselves and white slave owners
Racism is a shameful practice, which violates fundamental human rights and freedoms. Racism hurts those, who support it, and those, who suffer from it. Despite years of fighting against racial discrimination, racism is still presented in the contemporary society. At this point, it is vital to distinguish factors, which cause racism. Knowing these factors, it will be possible to provide an adequate remedy against this humiliating and shameful practice. Scientists, psychologists, social psychologists offer different ideas about why racism exists. It is essential to study the problem from different perspectives to understand the full picture. "The causes of racism are upbringing, stereotypes, unfamiliarity …show more content…
People learn from the surrounding, and when they see manifestations of racism, they acquire such behavioral patterns. Jennifer Richeson, a social psychologist from Yale University, points out, "In some ways, its super simple. People learn to be whatever their society and culture teach them. We often assume that it takes parents actively teaching their kids, for them to be racist" (Wan & Kaplan). Children acquire new behavioral patterns from the environment. For the present moment, the environment is full of manifestations of racism. Psychologists and social psychologists note that even when children see no open signs of racism, they may get information from non-verbal information, such as gestures, body language and of non-verbal sources of information. Children copy and follow not only conscious patterns, uttered by grownups. They also follow hidden and non-verbal information they see in their …show more content…
An "us-them" division is a part of human biology. People tend to make a distinction between other people they meet. They try to distinguish whether everybody, which surrounds them, belongs to the same group as they do. Eric Knowls from the New York University argues, "There's a lot of evidence that people have an ingrained even evolved tendency toward people who are in our so-called 'in group" (Quoted in Wan & Kaplan). The race often becomes that distinguishing factor, which helps people distinguish group belonging. All people, who do not fall into the category of "us," automatically fall into the category of "them." That is the reason people of one race may feel hostility towards representatives of other races. The need for belonging makes people seek support from the group to which they belong. The same need to feel belonging makes people experience negative feelings toward the representatives of other groups.
Chauvinism and supremacism make people believe in the supremacy of their race. Since people of white race historically had more resources and privileges, they came up with an idea about the superiority of the white race (Banton, 1992). These ideas were used to justify racism. It is worth to remember the time of slavery when slave owners justified owning slaves by the sense of their mental inconsistency. Slave owners also stated that people of black race could not take care of themselves and white slave owners