Ethics Paper: Leadership Studies

Ethics Paper: Leadership Studies

Introduction

Ethics are referred to as the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity. Ethical issues, on the other hand, are the obstacles that may lead to moral conflicts thus must be addressed to maintain the balance of order (Cooper, 2012). Ethical issues occur in different areas, for instance, in business, in leadership, and also in management, among others. These conflicts may arise in workplaces, institutions, and even organizations basing on the scenario where the ethical issue arises. However, there are major real-world issues related to ethics, such as racism and discrimination, among others. This paper will focus on racism as one of the real-world problems that are related to ethics, how it can be solved, and how it could have been avoided.

Brief Review of Racism

Racism has been there since the slavery era, where the whites enslaved the people of color to work for them and fight their wars. Even though slavery was abolished in the 19^th century, racism, however, did not end. Up to date, people of color are still being discriminated against in the United States and other places as well. Racism has its roots everywhere in every service branch in the world. It is being practiced in schools, in the health care services, in the judicial system, and the business world, among other areas. However, despite racism being an ethical issue in the various areas mentioned above, it is still being suppressed and not being dealt with accordingly. This arrogance has led to more damage as people fail to identify the issues, thus unable to prevent or even manage it. In the health care sector, for example, racism is witnessed in the offering of services. However, as people of color undergo discrimination while receiving health care services, this issue is poorly addressed when mentioned or when someone raises a complaint (Johnston & Kanitsaki, 2010). This leads to most people dying due to poor health services or no services at all.

In the judicial system, for instance, racism is blamed on its roots that began in the slavery era. Even though racial discrimination is unacceptable, and some laws state that racism in courts and judicial hearings is still evident up to date. Today in the United States, people of color are sentenced to prisons for crimes they did not commit just because they loo guilty and are capable of crime, basing on their history. If they did the crime, the judgment done on them is considered unjust and unfair, even with the public. This is a clear indication of racism in the judicial system.

Racism, generally, has caused the people of color a lot when it comes to receiving any services in the United States. The high rate of unemployment among the people of color is alarming, while the number of people of color in prisons is also high. People of colour lack employment, receive poor health services and judged unfairly in courts due to racism. Racial discrimination is a major real-world ethical issue, and it needs to be addressed in detail.

How Racism Could Have Been Professionally and Amicably Solved

            Since racism is an ethical issue, this means that it is based on one’s moral principles that govern their behaviors. Therefore, it is a behavioral issue caused by someone’s actions towards somebody else. These actions can be through verbal, by use of words, or physical, which might involve physical harm to someone. The issue can be solved by changing people’s perspectives and talk equality into existence, and by helping those undergoing the ethical issue. Some researchers suggested unions as a way of protecting the people of color. Just like gender discrimination, racism involves a lack of equality among the people of color. Therefore, associations should be created to represent such persons (Woojin & Roemer, 2006). These unions should be responsible for the people of color in terms of employment, representing them in courts and when offering health care services. With such unions at their disposal, the fear of unemployment among the people of color could reduce as they can quickly secure a job, just like the white people.

Other scholars claim that the solution to racism begins with you and me. This is to say that, in cases where one is a victim or a witness to racism, one should stand up for them or the person being victimized (Woojin & Roemer, 2006). By standing up against racism, this means that people should report cases of racism and not accept to be oppressed by it. People of color live in fear due to racism, thus the reason behind the oppression. However, this can change if the people of color stand up and speak or even act against racism. This might not be a guaranteed solution, but it is better than nothing.

How Racism Could Have Been Avoided

            Since racism is an ethical issue, that means it is related to one’s behavior and action. The beginning of racism was in the slavery era when people of color, especially the blacks, were sold to the whites as slaves to work for them in their farms and fight their wars. The only way racism could have been avoided was if slavery never happened in the first place in the 17^th century. The moment the white man found privilege over the black man, that was it and the beginning of racism. Racism is all about racial discrimination, where one race (mostly the whites) feels superior over another race (the people of color), thus leading to unfairness in the real-world activities. If the white man had considered the black man as also being human, therefore equality, then racism could have been avoided.

Today, racism can be avoided if people stop talking about equality and start practicing it. Most whites today are against racism, so they claim, as most are into the equality talks and support between the whites and the people of color. However, when it comes to acting out these actions, most of them do not, as they still feel superior over the people of color.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, racism is a real-world issue connected to ethics at all levels. It is based on one’s actions and behavior towards another person, thus making it an ethical issue. As discussed above, racism can only be solved if the measures stated are taken seriously and acted upon. The avoidance of racism goes back in history, but I guess we cannot change history. However, the new solutions to racism, that is, unions and acting on equality is the only way racism can be avoided in the future.

References

Cooper, T. (2012). The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role (Sixth Edition). Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA.

Johnston, M. & Kanitsaki, O. (2010). The Neglect of Racism as an Ethical Issue in Health Care. J Immigrant Minority Health 12, pp. 489–495.

Woojin, L & Roemer, J.E. (2006). Racism and Redistribution in the United States: A Solution to the Problem of American Exceptionalism. Journal of Public Economics, 90, Pp. 1027-1052.