Racism - Prejudice

Prejudice

Commonly, there are two types of racism, the old fashioned racism and aversive racism (Crisp & Turner, 2010). Old fashioned racism is the blatant expression of negative views of prejudice towards a person or a group of people. Aversive racism is defined as racism where one has both egalitarian and negative attitude towards certain people (Crisp & Turner, 2010). This type of racism is the most common in the modern world. People tend to have a conflict in themselves about egalitarian values and negative stereotypes.

Many people unconsciously have racist attitudes and beliefs, even though they view themselves as tolerant and egalitarian. The research provided in the required readings showed that there are still many negative beliefs about the black. People are willing to tolerate racism but not stand against it (Crisp & Turner, 2010). The study is consistent with other psychology researches which points out that people are not skilled at predicting their own actions in socially sensitive situations (McLeod, 2008).

The type of prejudice I have selected is racism. Racial prejudice is to have a discriminatory attitude or unfavorable belief towards someone or a group of people based on their skin color or ethnicity (Chisom & Washington, 1996). Racism is a specific form of prejudice which involves prejudicial attitudes or behavior towards members of an ethnic group or skin color. The definition of race somehow varies. It commonly refers to an ethnic group coming from a particular continent such as people from Asia, Africa or Europe descent (McLeod, 2008). Example of racism is the case reported by The Guardian in 2005 where Antony Walker was brutally murdered by four white men in Merseyside. The college based incident was racially motivated (Crisp & Turner, 2010). Another definition is drawn from the social context area. This explains stereotypes and prejudice as pertaining to the entire group or as the book states "group-based thought" pp.362 (Hogg &Cooper, 2007).

Racism occurs within objective life conditions, popular culture, and religious and educational institutions. Racism is listed as one of the frameworks that determine the relationship between health and race. Racism explains other essential social determinants of health outcomes, which includes economic resources and the availability of medical attention (McLeod, 2008).

The research questions the author is covering are; why is it essential to reduce racism, what are the psychological factors that lead to racism and what are the impacts of racism? It is critical to reduce racial prejudice and racism because it impedes ones potential to achieving his or her full potential. Members who are racially discriminated lack confidence in achieving their goals (Crisp & Turner, 2010). This affects their life both at work and in the society at large. Racism prevents one from contributing fully to the society. Members who are racially abused tend to have impaired psychological functioning. Due to this psychological imbalance, their personal attributes such as hard work, confidence and so forth become affected. This affects their daily activities in life. It is critical to mitigate racism in the society for healthy living.

It is necessary to reduce racism because it leads to hatred and tension in the society. Racism increases the likelihood of retaliation by the people who have been racially abused. In America for example, racism has led to poor relationship between blacks and whites. This is not helpful for a healthy society.

It is also necessary to reduce racism because it is against the law and goes against the democratic ideals upon which the democracies of particular states were founded. Many countries have come up with stringent rules to curb racism. This will help in progressing towards a working nation with a common goal.

Even though, racism is as a result of deep rooted cultural and institutional forces, there are various psychological motives that contribute to racism. It has been reported that a number of people use prejudicial behavior to boost their own self esteem (McLeod, 2008). They appear to restore their self-esteem through prejudicial racism (McLeod, 2008). This is not a socially productive way to gain feelings of self-esteem, but it is practiced by some people.

Some people argue that racism may be driven by the basic survival motives. Since people live in groups, and groups compete over scarce resources, Groups may use racism to ensure their own survival. It has also been asserted that people who racially abuse could be driven by dominance motives (Routledge, C. 2010). Humans, like many other primates, are hierarchical animals. To maintain hierarchy, there must be social status differences among people. Racism helps maintain these social status differences as it mainly oppresses minority groups (Hogg & Turner, 2010).

Research has also shown that certain people discriminate against others because of positive distinctiveness. Since human beings are social creatures, people want to view their group being as powerful as others. The challenge with this is groups tend to overlook the others. People with different views about the group are viewed negatively. Psychology research has shown that people tend to treat other people favorably who have a common identity. This is considered a socially shared prejudice within the intergroups attitudes (Hogg & Cooper, 2009). This identity could be religion; tribe, race or simple the beliefs the group holds. It is through this type of social groups that individuals think along racial lines. Racism leads to social segregation which creates tension in society and leads to people engaging in separate groups. These groups develop negative views about the other groups (Hogg & Cooper, 2009). Racism also leads to political fragmentation. It leads to impairment of acting in unison for the best interest of a country or group. People tend to get politically divided through racial and ethnicity divides.

Racism has many negative impacts. Economically, it affects the productivity of people who are racially abused. It affects their morale