Seminar 1 Topic of the Week

Seminar 1 Topic

Soc. 321

May 14th, 2012

Allan Mooney

Seminar 1 Topic

2. What are the costs of racism? How can individuals and communities fight racism?

The costs of racism are many. According to Racial and Ethnic Groups racism is defined as “a doctrine that one race is superior” (Schaefer, 2011). This attitude is destructive to society. One of the costs of racism is a failure to use the resources of all individuals (Schaefer, 2011). Racism limits the pool of available workers and ideas that companies and society have available to draw from. As an example Dr. Emmett W. Chappelle is a biochemist, photo biologist, and astrochemist - who also happens to be black. He has pioneered ways to immediately detect bacteria in water, which has directly led to early detection of infections in urine, blood, and spinal fluid (Sammons, 1998). If racism had stopped Dr. Chappelle from going to school, teaching, or researching -society would have lost his contributions to science and suffered for it. Another cost of racism is that racism aggravates social problems such as poverty, delinquency, and crime (Schaefer, 2011). Racism prevents those who are being discriminated against from being able to grasp opportunities that those who are not being discriminated against take for granted. Education and employment are just two areas where racism leads to greater social problems. With a lower level of education, or a poorer quality of education, individuals within a population are more likely to live in poverty and turn to crime to support themselves and their families.

The best way to fight racism is with education. Individuals and communities can fight racism by starting early teaching with their children, both at home and at school. Children learn by watching others, so demonstrating non-racist behavior will teach them how to treat other people. Another way communities can fight racism is by having multi-cultural festivals and fairs so that people who live in the same community...