Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Racism can be viewed as beliefs of the superiority of one race or ethical group. Racism between different groups has been used to exercise inequality as the perpetrators believe that the differences between the groups are genetic. Prejudice, as the name suggests, is a prejudgment where an individual or a group has a negative idea about another individual or a group based on generalization or stereotypes. Prejudice is known to be a significant factor that leads to discrimination. Discrimination is unequal treatment of members of a social group. Therefore, racism, bigotry, and discrimination lead to unequal treatment of especially minority groups in society such as blacks.

One of the significant factors that lead to augmentation in racism, prejudice, and discrimination is social beliefs on the superiority of a particular group (Iheed, 2014). Through these social beliefs, the majority group will tend to prejudice and discriminate on the minority group, thus acting as a significant factor for the concepts — also, the presence of policies and laws that foster discrimination and reinforce inequalities in society. For example, Jim Crow laws that were passed in the US promoted the unequal treatment of black people in the US. Another major factor that has contributed to prejudice, discrimination, and racism is socialization (Fiske, 1998). Many of the prejudices are usually passed down from the parents to their children. Moreover, the media has been involved in fostering stereotypes against some ethnic minority groups.

Conforming behaviors has also been another significant reason that has led to prejudice, discrimination, and racism. This is because following such actions will lead to support from substantial others while rejecting such behaviors may mean losing support from family members and relatives, thus losing the necessary social support (Plous, 2003). Moreover, augmentation to discrimination, racism, and prejudice have been contributed by individuals seeking economic benefits. Nevertheless, ethnocentrism has been a significant contributor to bigotry, racism, and discrimination. It means that an individual evaluates the cultures held by other people based on their own learning (Plous, 2003). Also, such people often tend to have a suspicion of outsiders, and this is usually supported by stereotypical thinking.

Group closure has been one of the means through which prejudice, discrimination, and racism has been perpetuated. Group closure involves a process where an individual group sets clear boundaries that will separate the particular group from other groups (Fiske, 1998). Through the process, the group sets regulations that will ensure that individuals in the group do not intermarry with other groups. Nevertheless, prejudice, racism, and discrimination may be propagated through conflict theory. This means that the privileged group in society will work on ensuring that there is no competition for resources that arises from the minority group in society. The privileged group may use extreme means of violence to exert control on the underprivileged group. However, the disadvantaged group may reiterate with disorder to improve their circumstances in society.

Contrarily, various techniques may be employed to reduce prejudice and discrimination. One of the ways is through increasing intergroup contact. This means that through this approach, group closure will be overcome, and members of different groups will easily intermarry and interact (Plous, 2003). Nevertheless, through the self-esteem hypothesis, individuals will be able to raise their self-esteem, and thus it becomes easier for the members to interact with members of different groups effectively. Moreover, individuals can take up the legal hypothesis through which legislation can be enacted to ensure that there is an elimination of discriminative behaviors. This means that the bill that has been passed ensure that there is equal treatment of all the parties in society. For example, the enactment of the Equal Rights Act in the US enabled abolish some of the legislation that had been enacted through the Jim Crow laws. Another example was the enactment of laws that prohibited apartheid in South Africa.

Another remedy would be through the cooperation hypothesis that ensures that parties can be able to cooperate by laying aside their differences. This can only be achieved through ensuring that the parties are educated on the need to lay aside their differences and work for a common good. Contrarily, I think that prejudice and discrimination are decreasing (Plous, 2003). This is because many organizations have come up with diversity policies that ensure the inclusivity of all the people in the society. Also, discrimination against black people has decreased in many parts of the world. For example, the US had its first black president Barrack Obama who was a great achievement. Other great celebrities such as Oprah Winfred have risen above racial prejudice to prove their worth to the entire world, making a difference in their respective fields.

In a nutshell, racism, prejudice, and discrimination have been a significant source of unequal treatment of different groups in society. However, through collaborative efforts by various groups, including human rights groups, the world has achieved high marks in ensuring that discrimination, prejudice, and racism has been overcome. Many minority groups are no longer treated as outgroups, and discrimination and racism have been criminalized in different countries. Nevertheless, more is yet to be achieved, especially with the continued perception of the black people in the US with the stereotype that young black men are thugs, drug addicts, and criminals. This has been portrayed with the rise in police brutality that has led to the killing of innocent people. However, with better mitigation of racism, discrimination, and prejudice will be eliminated.

References

Fiske, S. T. (1998). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. The handbook of social psychology, 2(4), 357-411.

Iheed. (2014, February 27). Race, Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination – What Are They? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=188&v=Jt0f5WyAoGU&feature=emb_title

Plus, S. E. (2003). Understanding prejudice and discrimination. McGraw-Hill.