Durkheim And Racism

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Register to read the introduction… A particular example of social fact is racism.
Racism is described as the belief in racial differences, which can cause discriminatory acts – where a distinct biological group is described as inferior; the members of a particular race are commonly faced with derogatory racial based comments, stereotypes and non-equal treatment.

One of the main causes of racism is an individuals surrounding factors during their years of development and education – the passing down from generation to generation. Humans are not born racist; racism is a characteristic that is learnt, becoming intrinsic to the individual. Just as Durkheim explains there are no psychological or biological factors associated with the racism, hatred and stereotyping that an individual encompasses, but it is established from an outside
…show more content…
The white men believed that they were superior to the Middle Eastern men, this was based on the idea the comprised that to be an Australian one must be of Anglo descent and anyone that was not was not fitting of their stereotype and therefore not welcomed into Australia. This is derived from the historical “White Australia Policy” put in place in the nineteen hundreds, passed down through generations and expressed by these young men after man years of developments in multiculturalism and the end of the White Australia Policy.

Durkheim’s concepts of social facts are relevant in every society in contemporary society as everyone experiences the effects of social facts in the sense that we follow in the direction that is provided to use through our support systems; we adapt to the ideals passed down throughout generation’s, Durkheim shows us that social facts are based on and interrelated with others around us. His notions can be applied to every individual and used as a methodology for explaining issues such as racism.
The example of racism is negative effect of social facts, despite the concept of social facts and the passing down of ideals and perceptions, every individual has the ability to change and therefore their developed ideals of racism towards particular races can be conformed by other social

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