Racism in Society, Its Effects and Ways to Overcome

Executive Summary

It seems that racism has always been a part of human life. It has plagued the minds of every society in the past and has driven said societies to committing plenty of atrocities, causing havoc in their path. It has held humanity’s social development down to a turtle pace. The purpose of this research essay about racism in society was to find the different ways our society is being affected by racism and what steps and measures the society is taking to overcome racism. Our hypothesis is that “Racism is a vile malignance that is leeching our society of its life-blood. However, as time has passed, the society has formed a kind of anti-body against racism that is crucial for its development. ”For this purpose, we carried out a survey at FAST-NUCES. We randomly asked 30 people to fill the questionnaire and give their views on the current state of racism in our society.

More than 75% people responded that they strongly condemn racism. Even though they have seen racism in their society, these participants have barely tried anything to stop racism at all. They show respect to ethnic groups but rarely stand up for them. From these findings, it is clear that the society is getting more aware about this problem and that the stage is set for the people to step forward and derive racism out of the society. However, this will require a lot of time and plenty of initiatives against racism before the people are finally comfortable being vocal about this problem. In addition, when the people are finally vocal and passionate about equality and the dangers racism presents to that equality, the aforementioned anti-bodies of the society will turn into full-fledged defense mechanisms.

The effects of racism in today’s world (essay)

Racism is the prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. It is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. Racism may be defined as the hatred of one person by another — or the belief that another person is less than human — because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. Anything that might be used to discriminate against a group or an individual that is not under one’s own control falls in the domain of racism. Ethnicity, race, religion, region and language are some of the few factors that people use to discriminate against other people. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.

A person that believes in the idea of racism, that humans are somehow divided into exclusive biological entities and can be termed inferior or superior to each other on the basis of certain biological traits, are leaches that are depriving our societies of countless extraordinary and brilliant individuals. People are termed incapable or unqualified for something just because of their race despite after decades and decades of research, science has been unable to provide a single concrete proof that supports these claims. Racism has existed throughout human history. From the abuse of Native Indians, “The Redskins”, to the horrifying atrocities suffered by the African Americans, “The Blacks” or “The Negroes”, at the hands of the self-proclaimed superior race, are all part of the history of this vile and abusive belief. And until now, African American argumentative essay topics remain one of the most popular and relevant topics for written work.  All of these victimized groups had no other fault than to not share a skin color with white people. Racism has been employed as powerful weapons repeatedly, for encouraging fear and hatred in others in times of conflict and war, and even during economic downturns.

Racism causes harm to those who are on the receiving end. It hurts individuals, communities and our society. People are not born with racist ideas or attitudes; rather racism is something that is learned. People often associate racism with acts of abuse or harassment. However, it does not need to involve violent or intimidating behavior. Racism can be revealed through people’s actions as well as their attitudes. It includes all the barriers that prevent people from enjoying dignity and equality because of their race. ExplanationRacism has existed in all areas and at all times where different races or cultures of humans have encountered each other. Research indicates that the places where racism is exercised often include the local neighborhoods, shops, and in the workplaces. It can emerge in other spaces such as on public transport, sporting events or at schools. Expressions of racism can also be found in media. This happens when, for example, racial groups are represented in an unfair or negative light in news reports or commentary.

Many regard the lack of cultural diversity represented in media as another form of racism. In recent years, racism has even translated to a problem online. Whether it is offensive comments on social media, inflammatory memes or hateful videos, cyber-racism has had a significant impact on the growth of racist attitudes in different ethnic groups. Those spreading such racist impulses often do so under the comfortable veil of anonymity. It is an unfortunate legacy of ancient days that humans are still inclined to judge groups by surface appearances.

A few people today still believe that some ethnic groups are superior to others while some people believe that such racial groups should not merge. Some individuals strongly condemn judging a person by his or her race but are still not sure about allowing a cultural diversity in their own society. Racism can also hurt a person’s freedom and dignity. Those who endure racism can be made to feel they have less freedom, or are second-class citizens. The effects of racism are not confined to individuals, however. It has the potential to affect all of us. Racial hostility creates a society where mutual respect and trust among people is scares to none. It challenges our society’s values of equality and fairness. Many people experience racist bias against them. Studies show that experiencing racial bias has had profound effects on people’s health and welfare. The effects can include feelings of sadness and anger, even anxiety and depression.

The regular experience of racism can lead to people withdrawing from work or study, and diminish their quality of life. However, there are a few examples where racism has fueled someone’s drive to excellence, for example, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. The more such people are discriminated upon, the more firm their stance grows against it. The dominant groups and classes also play their major role in racism. These groups enjoy their lives at the expense of less privileged. These groups are the major source of racism in our societies today. Implementing their rules and regulations upon the less privileged members of the society.

Each member of a society is entitled to equal rights. Countries like America and Europe face issues like racism. In America, there is a huge racial gap between black and white people. Racism will never truly leave this society and will continue to effect it in some way or form, be it direct or indirect. Islamic tradition known as Hadith states that in his final sermon the Prophet Muhammad, Allah’s Blessings and Peace be upon him, said: “There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a non-Arab over an Arab. Neither is the white superior over the black, nor is the black superior over the white — except by piety.

“This point of view that was portrayed nearly 1400 years ago, is logically so accurate and precise, it needs to be adopted by the people, in-cooperated into the societies and included into the cultures of today, whether they believe in other Islamic traditions or not. PredictionsAfter going through various studies and conducting several studies and surveys of our own, we feel like we are in the position to make certain predictions of our own with respect to racism and its future. However, these predictions are not written in stone, but after studying different cultures and the patterns growing inside them, it is safe to assume that these predictions are not entirely without any basis.

• The current platform of social media has given many of the minorities their voice; they can make sure that the world can hear them and their opinions are made clear. This phenomenon is only going to rise with the rise of social media in the coming years.
• The diversity of race, culture and ethnicity that has been seen as a cause of rift and disrupt in the society in the past, will act as a catalyst for social development sooner rather than later, with the decrease in racism.
• Racist view of an individual are not inherited, they are learned. With that in mind, it is fair to assume that the coming generations will not be as critical of an individual’s race as the older generations have been.
• If people dismiss the concept of racial/ethnical evaluations and instead, evaluate an individual on one’s abilities and capabilities, the economic development will definitely have a rise.
• A lot of intra-society grievances and mishaps that are caused due to misconceptions of an ethnic group can be reduced as social interaction increases.
• As people from different ethnic backgrounds, coming from humble beginnings, discriminated throughout their careers, manage to emerge successful to the public platform, the racist train of thought is being exposed and will continue to do so. This will inspire people from any and every background, race, language, ethnicity to step forward and compete on the large scale.
• Racism and prejudice are at the root of racial profiling and that racial bias has been interweaved into the culture of most societies. However, these chains have grown much weaker as time has passed, to the point that they are in a fragile state.
• Another ray of hope that can be witnessed nowadays that people are no longer ashamed of their cultural identity. People now believe that their cultural background is in no way or form inferior to another and thus, worth defending. This will turn out to be a major factor in minimizing racism in the future.
• Because of the strong activism against racism, a new phenomenon has emerged that is color blindness, which is the complete disregard of racial characteristics in any kind of social situation.

This, in our opinion, is not the solution to racism as by refusing to address the racial and cultural differences, color blindness only works towards highlighting the patterns that boost the tendencies responsible for racial bias. We do not want to ignore racial disparity; rather we need to accept it. I only see this phenomenon as increasing with the passage of time, as speaking against such a crucial issue is a problem for some people so they opt to ignore the whole topic altogether. Also it is a form of abstract liberalism which can only be seen as increasing with time.

• The world is definitely going in the right direction concerning the curse that is Racism; however, it is far too early to claim that humankind will completely rid itself of this vile malignance. PrescriptionsRacism is a curse that has plagued humanity since long. It has been responsible for multitudes of nefarious acts in the past and is causing a lot of harm even now, therefore care must be taken that this problem is brought under control as soon as possible so as not to hinder the growth of human societies. The following are some of the precautions, so to say, that will help tremendously in tackling this problem.
• The first and foremost step is to take this problem seriously both on an individual and on community level. Racism is something that can not be termed as a minor issue and dismissed. History books dictate that racism is responsible for countless deaths and will continue to claim the lives of more innocents unless it is brought under control with a firm hand. The first step to controlling it is to accept racism as a serious problem.
• Another problem is that many misconceptions or rumors that are dismissed by most people as a trivial detail are sometimes a big deal for other people, which might push them over the edge to commit a crime or some other injustice. So whenever there is an anomaly, a misconception or a misrepresentation of an individual’s, a group’s or a society’s ideas or beliefs, try to be the voice of reason rather than staying quiet about it. Decades of staying silent over crucial issues has caused us much harm and brought us to this point, staying silent now can only lead us to annihilation.
• One of most radical and effective solution to racial diversity is to turn it from something negative to something positive. Where previously, one does not talk to someone because of his or her cultural differences, now talk to them exactly because of that. If different cultures and races start taking steps, baby steps even, towards the goal of acquiring mutual respect and trust, racism can be held in check.
• On the national level, contingencies can be introduced and laws can be made that support cultural diversity and preach against anything that puts it in harm’s way. Taking such measures will make every single member of the society well aware of the scale of this problem and people will take it more seriously rather than ridiculing it.
• Finally, just as being racist was a part of the culture in the older generations, we need to make being anti-racist a part of our cultures. If our children, our youth grew up watching their elders and their role models dissing and undermining racism at every point of life, they will definitely adopt a lifestyle that will allow no racial discriminations in their life.

Hypothesis

Racism is a vile malignance that is leeching our society of its life-blood. However, as time has passed, the society has formed a kind of anti-body against racism that is crucial for its development.

Methodology

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in FAST-NUCES. The participants were randomly chosen. We assured them that personal information will be kept confidential and their responses will be only used for data analysis.. We first introduced ourselves to the participants and told them the purpose of research. Random data sampling was used to assure unbiased results. It took us two days to complete this survey.

Findings and Results

1. Is racism justifiable?
2. Is the current trend of racism increasing in your country?
3. Do you have any acquaintances or friends that belong to a different ethnical background?
4. Would you ever use someone’s race against them to win an argument?
5. Would you agree to work in a diverse racial environment?
6. Will humankind ever rid itself of racism?
7. Have you ever taken any measures to abate racism?
8. Racism has changed the relationship between people?
9. Racial discriminations are apparent in our everyday life.
10. One racial/ethnic group can be superior to another
11. Racial/ethnic factors can change your perception of a person.
12. Racial diversity can cause problems in one’s society.
13. Racial or Ethnical conflict should be in cooperated into the laws of one’s society.
14. Are you satisfied with the way different ethnic groups are treated in your society?

Conclusion

From our studies, it is apparent that as long as humanity is in the grasp of racism, there can never be true equality of people, no true judgement of an individual’s worth or capabilities. A person coming from a region with a history of violence will always be considered hostile by other people. This and many other such examples are simply the result of years and years of racial discrimination, that has been imprinted and engraved into our cultures, beliefs and norms. If history is any guide, racism, even though it has been part of the whole of human history, it has never worked towards development. From the view of Greek, that considered the “Barbarians” as they referred to the non-Greeks, slaves, to the modern shape of racism, racism has only acted as a hindrance and has demotivated us exponentially.

Therefore, it must be abated and minimized at all costs, as soon as possible, lest it halt our development even further. The current state of the world, where nearly every belief is backed by scientific proof, something as backward and groundless as racism has no place. To the newer generations, even the utterance of a concept similar to racism is absurd which shows that our society is growing and its racist designs are remnants of past generations, long dead and forgotten. Thus, an awareness must be spread in people that clinging to the ideas of a society long dead is not only harmful but also stupid.

Works Cited

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