Racism

RESEARCH PAPER “RACISM”

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

In this paper I am going to discuss racism, the history of racism, and how it has affected society. According to Ponds Kenneth, racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racial separatism is the belief, most of the time based on racism, that different races should remain segregated and apart from one another. It 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, and place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.

Racism assumes the superiority of one group over another, an attitude of arrogance and ignorance. Racism extends beyond personal values and beliefs. The broader societal systems support supports the notion that whiteness represent superiority and non-whiteness signifies inferiority. Systemic racism disadvantages people of color and operates to the advantage of whites, whether or not they are aware of the privileges or even want them (Glasswing 2012).

Racism and its counterpart’s xenophobia, prejudice and discrimination are being increasingly implicated in racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care and in disparities in the safety and quality of health care of ethnic minority groups. (APHA 2013).

This belief of racism was not automatic; that is, Africans/ blacks were not originally considered inferior. According to New York Times, when Portuguese sailors first explored Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries, they came upon empires and cities as advanced as theirs, and they considered Africans to be serious rivals. Over time, though, as African civilizations failed to match the technological advances of Europe, and the major European powers...