The sociological imagination is the process where all types human behavior patterns are observed, and discern connections among them previously unseen, noting the comparisons in the action of individuals with no direct knowledge of one another, and finding indirect forces that mold actions of the people (Conley, 2011). The sociological imagination focuses on all aspects of the society and relationships among individuals thereby studying the behavior of the crowds. Sociological perspective helps us to find out how people do things they do. In this topic, we shall focus on how sociological imagination influence racialism in this country especially black and white racialism. For many years the blacks have been the most victimized group in this country, and social imagination has a great contribution to this matter.
Racialism has been practiced in this country for many years. The blacks have been on the receiving end of racialism for a very long time since the era of slavery. Despite the government and other institution efforts to eliminate racialism, it only evolves from one form to the other. The government has made laws that prohibit racialism, but the proprietors always find new ways of practicing it.
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Personal Experience on Racialism
In the current times, racialism against the blacks is widely practiced by law enforcers and vigilantes mostly through extrajudicial killings. The country has experienced many such cases where blacks are killed without trials for crimes they are thought to have committed. I remember one incident where the police killed a young guy, who was my neighbor for the crimes he was suspected to have done instead of being arrested.
It was around midday on a Saturday, and the most of the people in the neighborhood were in weekend mood entertaining themselves in different ways. My neighbor, who was a guy around 30 years of age, had arranged a party and had called several of his friends, I included to the party. The guest comprised of women, men and children and it was an outdoor invent. Just as the event was progressing, a police car pulled in and two white cops got out and headed towards the party. One of the police seemed angry with our party and started insulting us in reference of our race. He said that the blacks were like parasites in this country, partying and enjoying the freedom that was bought by the blood of their forefathers. He described that the blacks were a burden to the countries economy and that we contributed nothing to the growth of the nation, and that we should be shipped back to Africa. My neighbor, who was short-tempered, confronted the cop and in the process, they short him injuring him severely.
Later as we were recording our statement, we discovered that cops had altered their statements indicating that my neighbor was suspect for a robbery that had taken place sometimes back, and when they came to arrest him, he attacked them, and they had to shoot him. Later, he succumbed to injuries, and his case was terminated without getting justice as the cops were not charged with killings because their reports indicated that my neighbor was a dangerous criminal to the nation.
Sociological Imagination of This Case
According to chapter 9 on “race,” Conley explains different theories and concepts applied to spread or practice racialism. They include; the myth of race, ethnocentrism, eugenics, and social Darwinism, and they result to prejudice and discrimination of individuals of a particular race by another. The myth of race was first sociology imagination to be applied in this case. Despite being 99.9% genetically identical, humans are still classified using their color as being different from each other. The police officer referred to us as an inferior race who cannot contribute anything positive in this nation. He described us as parasites who have to depend on other races (white) for survival.
The officer used the ethnocentrism against us. He used his own standards and values to classify us the way he did. Instead of doing a little research on everyone around to know their occupation, he assumed that everyone was jobless and that we were celebrating using crime money. My neighbor was in the taxi business, and just because he was suspected of taking part in a crime that had been committed sometime back, the officers concluded he was guilty just because he was black and did not give him a chance to face trials.
Backers of eugenics is another sociology perspective that was used in this case. We were born in the United States, and my parents and their parents were also born here. But just because we have the inheritable trait of color black, the officer indicated that we were polluting the native (white) population. According to his understanding, this country is supposed to be for the whites, so all the blacks should be removed and taken back to Africa. My ancestral home is America so when the officer described that Africa should be our home and that we should return there, angered me because I felt discriminated against and insulted by those remarks. It indicates that despite being born here, the whites see us as immigrants who are unwanted in this country.
Social Darwinism is a theory that some races evolved more than others and that they are better fit for survival, and they can even rule over others. In this case, the police officer indicated that the whites form a stronger race, and therefore should be the one to lead this nation. He also described the blacks as an inferior race that cannot survive on its own without the help from the whites. Despite studies showing that blacks are better in most things than whites, most white people still think they have the upper hand when it comes to knowledge. Most people who were present at the party were senior officers in their organizations, commanding both whites and blacks below their ranks, and when the officer classified all blacks as inferior, angered them.
According to chapter 10 on “poverty,” blacks are associated with poverty. It explains that on average, black Americans earn less than their white counterparts. Influx of poor black immigrant into the country has pushed index of poverty among the blacks higher. It is for these reasons that the white cop referred to us as poor people who cannot take of themselves. He generalized us by assuming that all blacks are poor. Since poverty is associated with crime especially among the blacks, the officer assumed that for us to hold a party, the owner must have gotten the cash through crime.
According to chapter 3 on “Culture and media,” the topic on ‘racialism in the media’ explains how media can play a big role in spreading racialism either deliberately or undeliberate. The media reported this case by saying that another black guy has been shot by a white police officer instead of reporting that a police officer has shot a citizen. By media describing people according to their race especially when something bad happens, fuels racialism. When media reports something about a person from a particular race, it causes people to believe that, that particular trait is common with the whole race. For example, media associating black Americans with crime and drug use has painted a bad picture where most blacks are presumed as suspects. Therefore, the media acts like a catalyst in prompting racialism especially when it classifies certain negative traits toward a particular race.
Social Treads
Lack of accountability for these extrajudicial killings have risen the racial tensions which may lead to ethnicity between races, and this may trigger a lot of problems to this nation. Since most blacks believe that they cannot get justice in this country especially when the case involves the white, they have started taking the law into their hands. They have also developed a negative effect on law enforcers, and the white officers have become targets. It is now likely for law enforcers to be attacked by the locals in a black neighborhood because they are classified as their enemy. These attacks are because of the unexplained extrajudicial killing and by associating black with crime.
Black lives matter movement was created as a response by the African-American community due to many deaths of blacks at the hands’ police officers, and vigilantes across the country (Dunham, & Petersen, 2017). The movement engages in fighting against the discrimination of black American by law enforcers or by the white population. They advocate for rampant violence against the blacks to stop, and normal procedures be used for every citizen. Victimization of black people for many years has contributed to the formation of numerous organizations that advocate for black Americans rights. These organizations have contributed a lot in making sure that the blacks get the same treatment as other citizens. Some have sponsored youth empowerment programs for young people across the country.
Conclusion
This case has proved that we can use sociological imagination to predict the behavior pattern of people in the society. The people actions, in this case, being racialism, color act as the connection that brings similarities in the action of individuals who have no direct knowledge of one another. The second police, even though he did not speak anything ill about the blacks, he covered his partners act of killing an innocent person just because his partner was white and the victim was black. The case also indicates that the first officer presumed that all blacks have the same character, therefore, instead of addressing a specific problem to an individual, he addressed it as if it was a racial problem. This case also proves that sociology imagination can be used to predict human behavior patterns. Racialism, especially against the blacks, have been banned in this country but humans have evolved new ways of doing it. Instead of openly discriminating against blacks, they have evolved to extrajudicial killings.
References
Conley, D. (2011). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist . WW Norton & Company.
Dunham, R. G., & Petersen, N. (2017). Making Black Lives Matter: Evidence ‐ Based Policies for Reducing Police Bias in the Use of Deadly Force. Criminology & Public Policy , 16 (1), 341-348.
