Can Racism in The U.S. Ever Be Fully Cast Off?

Introduction 

The society in the United States together with the global population at large have gone to great lengths to attempt to decipher the aspect of racism and the nature of its embeddedness within the modern society. It is keen to note that while racism is a vice that is acknowledged to have existed and deeply embedded within the culture and mentality of individuals in the United States, it continues to prevail even within the current societal dispensation. A wide myriad of individuals of different races in the United States admit to being subjected to racial profiling, prejudice or stereotyping every so often due to their races. Additionally, a wide array of individuals from different races have come out to point to being subjected to oppression, segmentation or discrimination on the account of their race with this going to the extent of being denied access to resources or opportunities. 

Research and studies that have expounded on the issue of racism prevalently describe racism as a social construct that has been traced back to several centuries ago when the white man interacted with various populations around the world. Prevalent findings indicate that the interactions inspired great European interest in the aspect of ethnic and physical diversity of different individuals from different regions and concurrently led to the establishment of racist attitudes. Studies that were conducted on individuals of other races by European and American scholars and researchers often delineated to individuals of European and Caucasian descent as being superior to other races with influential figures emphasizing that the findings were scientific and factual. Additionally, preconceived negative notions about immigrant groups into the United States who were either non-European and non-Caucasian have been revealed to play a part in the construction of the prejudices and stereotypes that have been formulated towards people of other minority races. 

History of racism and discrimination towards minority races in the United States 

The first group to ever feel the wrath and effect of racism upon a society of individuals was the native American Indians who resided in the United States prior to its discovery and subsequent occupation by individuals of European descent. Upon the discovery of the United States, the 17 th Century witnessed the massive immigration of Europeans into America in addition to their settlement and subsequent formulation of a government, constitution and state under the sovereign rule of the British monarchy. The arrival into the United States and the settlement was hampered by the indigenous Indian populations which inhabited a majority of the lands in the Northern part of America. Through the establishment of treaties and ordinances, the European immigrants adopted various strategies which resulted in the formulation of treaties, conflict and war together with the establishment of trading relations with the native Indians. 

However, the good relations that were established between the government and specific portions of the Indian populations were quickly relinquished as the Indian tribes and communities begun to be subjected to discrimination including forcible eviction from their lands. Additionally, their titles to land were revoked as the trusteeship over the land of the Indians was handed over to the government resulting in conflict between the aggrieved Indian communities and a rapidly expanding and industrializing white population. The government further laid down policies to ensure that the native Indian populations were relocated to make way for the European settlers in addition to laying down regulations to stifle traditional Indian cultural practices and encouraging the reeducation of Indians. The emerging clashes led to a rapid decrease in the population of the Indians who previously occupied the American lands. Laws that were passed during the early 20 th century were also discriminatory and oppressive towards Indians for instance, stipulations were passed and imposed to westernize the Indian communities and displace traditional social and political organization and leadership. 

The middle of the 19 th century in the US saw to a proliferation of Asian, specifically Chinese, immigrants in the United States who came in as immigrants from China given the political turmoil and economic upheaval that affected China during the period. Moreover, the prevalent stories of the land of opportunities reached a majority of Asians who decided to migrate to and settle in the United States of America. However, the settlement in the United Sates became an unprecedented uphill task for the new Asian Americans given the racial prejudices and stereotypes that the Asian Americans found within the United States. 

The Asian American population was immediately subjected to oppressive and discriminatory treatment with regard to the access to opportunities as they were left to do detrimental menial jobs that the Irish population had begun to move away from. The Asian Americans were subjected to low pay in addition to being alienated from access to the more rewarding opportunities which led to the minority Asian population in the United States being impoverished and constantly oppressed. Moreover, research findings point to the oppressive laws and regulations established which subjected the struggling immigrants to punitive taxes and stipulations which denied individuals of other races American citizenship. 

Additionally, individuals of African American identity in the United States have been subjected to racial segregation and oppression since the advent of slavery and its institutionalization in the United States largely to facilitate the industrialization of the US. Research findings indicate that African Americans have for long been subjected to racial oppression given the need to identify them as a slave population to serve the interests of the enterprising European settlers both in Europe and in the United States. African Americans during their slavery were forced to abandon their culture and religion being forced to adopt a new language and the religion of their European slave masters. Moreover, the Africans were constantly subjected to dehumanizing treatment with some individuals unable to endure some of the ruthless acts and treatment which led them to succumb to death. In addition to this basic human rights of expression, freedom, property ownership together with the rights of movement were stripped from the African population which led to the disempowerment of a whole generation of individuals. The oppression and segregation of African Americans extended to the middle of the 20 th century during the proliferation of civil rights movements and activism when the rights and freedoms of African Americans begun to be recognized within the United States. 

Role of the media in advancing racial attitudes in the United States 

The media has played a critical role in the advancement of racial attitudes in the United States through the portrayal of minority races in bad light coupled with the constant association between individuals of minority races with negative stereotypes about their races. The media has been a critical medium of information in the United States with the widespread use of print media to inform and educate the public on the matters of the state and lifestyle. Newspapers and scholarly publications became a prevalent means of communicating the research findings pointing to the superiority of the white race to other races during the 17 th and 18 th century United States and Europe. Moreover, the newspapers and media outlets were prevalently used to advance negative notions and propaganda pertaining to individuals of other races, for instance pointing to the physical strength and endurance of black people to harsh natural conditions to facilitate slavery. Moreover, the outlets were also used to paint the native Indian population that was found in the United States as savages who could not rule nor govern themselves to become what the Europeans regarded as a civilized population. 

Additionally, the media has played a role in the construction of perspectives that are detrimental to the image of minority communities in the United States, with regard to criminal activity and morality. For instance, the media has been singled out for the prevalence of the association of crime with individuals of minority races, majorly the Hispanic population in the United States together with the African American population. The constant delineation of neighborhoods that have a majority of individuals of either of these races as being dangerous and riddled with criminal activities has played a critical role in the stereotypes and prejudice that Hispanics and Blacks face with regard to matters the law. 

Moreover, the dominance of the ownership of the most renowned and trusted media sources by individuals from the majority race in the US has been identified to result in the oppression and suppression of minority and small media houses. To this extent therefore, an effort to paint minority races in good light together with the actions taken to ensure that minority races are constantly empowered are hampered by competition and the adoption of oppressive business practices by the large media owners. This has been identified to contribute to negative stereotypes and profiling as the American public continues to be fed with content that is detrimental to the image of specific communities. 

Additionally, the role of media owners has been portrayed in the facilitation of racial prejudices about members of specific communities and races, for instance the constant association of individuals of Arab-American descent with terrorism and terror related activities. Constant portrayal of the Middle East and the Arab world in conflict and turmoil together with the relation of Muslims with religious extremism and Jihadism has contributed to the discrimination and poor treatment of Arab Americans within the United states. 

laws pertaining to racism 

The law of slavery significantly contributed to the adaptation of negative racial attitudes towards individuals of minority racial groups in the United States as individuals who were regarded as slaves were subjected to dehumanizing treatment amid being denied basic human treatment and rights. Slavery has been indicated to be among the main reasons for the institutionalization of racism together with the extension of negative stereotypes and false prejudices against individuals of African American descent to ensure that slavery was sustained. Additionally, immigration laws barring the entry of individuals of minority races into the United States in addition to the detention of immigrants critically contributed to the adaptation of racism and racial attitudes by American citizens during the 19 th century. 

Asian Americans affirm the fact that immigration laws were formulated in conjunction with labor laws to ensure that immigrants who were non-Europeans and especially Asian immigrants were denied the rights to become American citizens. This was amid the constant threats of deportation together with the denial of opportunities to Asian-Americans based on the fact that they were not citizens. Similarly, Mexican Americans were subjected to alienation and discriminatory treatment with regard to the acquisition of equal opportunities with the members of the majority white race. 

Additionally, the law of conquest has been identified as a contributing factor to the prevalence of racism in the United States given the belief that the territories that were acquired through military action would rightfully belong to those who succeeded. The prevalence of this law within international law in the 17 th century largely contributed to the notions of the superior race together with justifying the colonization and imposition of Western culture upon the cultures and traditions of the other regions of the world. Additionally, the law of conquest led to the continued degradation of other races through the erosion of culture and vital political and social organizations which has affected the attitudes of minority races in the United States of America. 

Theories and Types of Racism 

Researchers have been keen to identify a myriad of ways in which racism can manifest itself both in the mentality and attitudes of individuals and in the way that they behave and act towards individuals of other races. Aversive racist practices for instance pertain to the general avoidance of interaction with individuals from specific races. Additionally, racism can be defined as being biological which pertains to the discrimination and oppression of specific communities or groups of individuals based on their physical traits and characteristics for instance the color of the skin. Additionally, racism can also be colorblind which has been used to explain the tendency of over-conscious individuals to interpret the notation of race or distinct physical differences between individuals as being racist. 

Ideological and idealist theories are avenues that have been used to advance racism and its manifestation in the society. This pertains to the advanced beliefs and perspectives about groups of individuals that are misguided or construed to delineate the individuals from specific races as being inferior. A basic example of ideological racism is the existence of stereotypes and beliefs about individuals of specific races that have long been proven to be indeed false and non-representative of a majority of the population proportion of the said group of individuals. 

Additionally, institutional structural racism is a theory of racism that refers to the embeddedness of racism within the laws and social organization of a community such that the systems and laws favor the members of given races and specific communities. It a bid to ensure that slavery became a sustainable practice in addition to making efforts to secure the economic and social class of Europeans in America, various laws and regulations have been passed over time suited to favor Europeans over other races in the United States. Institutional racism is hard to curb given the fact that the laws were passed long ago and to this effect they have formulated and had a hand in precedent rulings that have referred to the stipulations even in the slightest, skewing the whole justice system towards Europeans. 

Moreover, a type of racism applied in the United States was internal colonization which was regarded as the treatment of indigenous communities and domestic minorities as actual colonies where rights to own land and to movement were stripped away. This was coupled with the imposition of punitive and oppressive laws which continued to implant systems of cultural degradation of the members of specific races in the United States. Additionally, nativism is a common concept and justification of racism, discrimination and the segregation of different races in the United States of America by the majority race. Nativism has been defined as the opinion or perspective that specific races or individuals in the United States should be alienated from the access to certain rights, products and services for the mere reason that they are not citizens or that they are immigrants to the country. 

Moreover, a prevalent form of racism throughout the past of the United States was psychoanalytic racism which was widely defined as the mentality and mindset that views one’s race as superior and associates minority races with negative aspects and attributes such as dirt, or other derogative characteristics. This type of racism was common with the initial view that the Irish and later on Asians in the United States were suited for the menial jobs and were further remunerated poorly therefore binding them to servitude to ensure that their labor would be available regularly. The notions on individuals of different races being suitable for given jobs or occupation which are viewed as being lowly or low paying continue to prevail as stereotypes continue to associate individuals of Hispanic descent with menial labor and low paying occupation. A look into the types of racism in addition to the theories that have been formulated to attempt to describe the phenomenon of racism illustrates how common racism is in the common society. In essence, the institutionalization of racism has resulted in its presence and manifestation in a wide array of avenues which has led to scholarly attention to the reality of the ability to curb racism. 

How the challenge of racism can be tackled in America? 

Scholars have widely proposed various ways through which they affirm that racism can adequately be tackled in America to result in a more content and socially well-adjusted society. Among the theories that have been advanced to propose a possible solution to the problem of racism in the United States has been the social contact theory which was established as a means to tackle racism by promoting racial diversity in the United States. For instance, the social contact theory proposes the classification of individuals with aligned interests together while observing racial diversity in the selection. This is bound to increase the willingness to work together in addition to enhancing the ability of individuals from different races to appreciate the similarity in skills and knowledge among individual’s despite of their races. 

Moreover, the confrontation theory also attempts to elaborate on the necessary steps to take for the country to ensure that racism and racist attitudes are alleviated from the fabric of society. Researchers have constantly asserted that the formulation of positive racial attitudes has to begin with the critical and strategic reformulation of the mindset of Americans to ensure that all individuals are truly committed to ending racism. The theory therefore suggests a full arms assault upon the concept of racism to be able to ensure that the vice is totally alienated from the mindsets and attitudes of individuals in the United States of America (USA). This amounts to the formulation of rules to ensure that racist actions are punishable offenses that are recognizable under the law. 

Conclusion 

While the theories suggested for the alleviation of racism from the society imply the need to affirm the existence of the vice in society, delving into its prevalence within society asserts the fact that it will take more than the actions suggested by the theories to cast racism out of the US. This is due to the fact that through the institutionalization of racism within the structures and systems in the US, public institutions, organizations together with governmental bodies continue to integrate racism within their functions. Additionally, the reluctance by the relevant authorities to take the actions required to ensure that those who act in racist manners are accorded the right treatment has led to the continued proliferation of racism within the United States. Additionally, the media plays a crucial role in informing the public together with formulating opinions and perspectives on a wide array of subjects that affect society. The prevalence of negative racial images of minority races continues to contribute to the continuation of racism racist practices within the United States of America.