Conflict Perspective & Racism
Racism has deep roots in U.S. and international history. Longstanding problems remain among individuals and groups of different races, and these conflicts are not easily or quickly resolved. Racism puts forth the idea that certain characteristics and attributes can be applied to a specific group of people based on that group's race. Racism has long been used to remove power from those being discriminated against, and to empower those who are discriminating, in order to inspire fear and hatred during times of conflict.
Other People Are Reading
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History
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According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created in 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." The declaration goes on to state that "... recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." The United States has participated in its share of racial discrimination in its history: the killing of American Indians, the enslavement of blacks and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Geography
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According to GloblaIssues.org, systematic racism has occurred in the following areas: The emergence of Nazism and neo-Nazism in Europe; white settlement in Australia; colonialism, imperialism and apartheid in Africa; resentment toward Americans and other Western cultures by groups in the Middle East; and extreme class discrimination in India and other Asian nations. All over the world, and throughout history, peoples and societies have discriminated based on racial and ethnic identification.
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Expert Insight
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In 1963, U.S. writer and philosopher Ayn Rand published an article called "Racism," in which she explored the philosophical ramifications of racism. Rand asserted that "racism invalidates the specific attribute which distinguishes man from all other living species: his rational faculty" and goes on to argue that "racism negates two aspects of man's life: reason and choice, or mind and morality, replacing them with chemical predestination." In essence, racism assumes that humans are made up of all of their external qualities, rather than internal qualities.
Considerations
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Racism, conflict and discrimination will continue, according to GlobalIssue.com's Anup Shah, as long as globalization continues and more immigrants move to new countries. Continued globalization, Shah argues, leads to sustained inequalities, which can result in xenophobic behavior among individuals and groups of various races. Immigration policies will then become more strict, jobs will become more competitive, and people will find it harder to emigrate.
Relavance
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An Arizona law that was signed into law in April of 2010 requires immigrants to carry documents proving their citizenship or they can be detained on suspicion of being in the country illegally. According to AmericanProgress.com, a liberal website, the law "essentially legalizes racial profiling" and "undercuts the Constitution and imbues local police with federal authority" by allowing them to determine whether an individual is illegally living in the United States. This kind of law brings up some serious questions about equal rights of all citizens in the United States.
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References
- Photo Credit african american man image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
