It is an interesting question. The definition of Racism as we know it today came about through the rise of the slave trade in the USA and the expansion of the European slave trade in the New World, Africa, and Asia. Racism at this stage was described as”a prejudice against a racial or national group.” This definition is extremely subjective and isn’t consistent across nations and times. Even in nations there may be tremendous differences in the way one feels or thinks about a specific racial or national group.
Racist views are not limited to the way right, moderate right, or left. Racism could be expressed at any moment, anywhere, and by any member of any group. Some definitions even describe a nation as with a racism problem because of the ongoing difference between the cultural values of most white majority ethnic groups along with the minority black or fawn majority.
A fantastic example of the ongoing struggle between nearly white bulk ethnic groups along with the minority non-white or black majority is found in the USA. Even the US government’s current definition of racism has it,”A individual commits or demonstrated hereditary intolerance whether or not she’s capable of harboring such notions based solely on a negative motive.” This definition is quite vague and leaves much open to interpretation. What exactly is being implied here is that a person could harbor a negative view of somebody because of their race or nationality without being able to point to any motivation other than their own race.
A different way to check at racism is that it is an effective view of how the world works. Where there is a structural racism, it usually means that there is a system of unequal treatment of some type. Structural racism is usually the result of the ability of some group to dominate over other groups. This might be cultural or ethnic or it could be the consequence of historic events such as slavery. A more refined type of structural racism is known as ideology racism since it is a particular political ideology that disrupts the practices of racism.
The difference between a ideology or structural racism and what’s sometimes known as a personal bias against a specific group, is that it doesn’t have a psychological element to it. In order to fall in the category of racism in healthcare what’s known as personal bias, the person should have an emotional investment from the opinion that the minority ethnic group is being treated unfairly. It’s important to point out in the US, it’s almost impossible for a person to assert that they have never experienced a type of institutionalized racial discrimination since there are so many cases of it. A employer from discriminating against a worker because of his race or nationality is so flagrant.
What is racism has been the topic of much controversy through time. There are many definitions on what is racism that agree about the core meaning but not the details. The main thing is to remember that nobody can let you know what’s wrong or right as a human being, because every individual has their own unique cultural identity and experiences that make them different from everybody else. Knowing this is one method to make sure you do not participate in what’s known as cultural Appropriation that has nothing to do with race in today’s sense of the word.
Leave a Reply