Racial discrimination refers to differential treatment towards members of particular skin color or ethnicity. In the United States, for instance, minority groups like blacks, Arabs, Hispanics, Asians, and others are racially discriminated by the majority of white Americans. Since the colonial period, white Americans have had several rights and privileges which other racial groups were barred. This includes the right to vote, to own land, education, preferential treatment in criminal procedure, and others. This paper examines the scope of racial discrimination and its impact on local, regional, national, and global societies.
Scope
Racial discrimination occurs in a variety of different forms that include institutional, interpersonal, and structural. Structural racism is defined as macro-level factors that interact with each other resulting in the perpetuation of racial inequities among racial groups or ethnicities. These factors include policies, cultural bias, politics, and social fabric in its entirety ( Sellers et al., 2003). Structural racism is the most common form of racism. It occurs intentionally or unintentionally, and its often difficult to identify in an organization since it continually evolves and takes different ways at a given point in time. Critical indicators of structural racism include unequal access to opportunities such as education, power, jobs, social amenities, and others.
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Interpersonal racial discrimination occurs when racism is between individuals. In this case, an individual has a prejudice or bias that may be reinforced by stereotypes of a particular culture or race. Interpersonal racism results in stigmatization, unjust treatment, social segregation or abuse, and threats. Examples of interpersonal racism include xenophobia, which refers to the hatred and fear of strangers or foreigners, which may be of different culture, race, or ethnicity from the natives.
Institutional racism also known as systematic racism, refers to a form of racism where racial practices are so deeply rooted in a society or an organization to the extent that it is considered to be normal behavior. In this case, skewed economic, social, and political policies are created or exist to perpetuate racial inequality. The institutions include government agencies, mass media, learning institutions, and others, which are often used to reign discriminatory treatment, formulate discriminatory policies and perpetuate unfair opportunities to the advantage of a racial group instead of the other (Jones, 2002). An example of institutional racial discrimination is the manifest of black American racial profiled by police and mass media stereotype of African Americans as agents of drug and substance abuse and trade as well as gun violence. Besides, the United States' past governments seemingly favored white settlements in terms of amenity distribution. One can quickly notice that infrastructure in a black neighborhood is depilated as compared to white communities.
Impact of Racial Discrimination Local Societies
Families that live in racially segregated neighborhoods have limited access to infrastructure resulting in a low quality of life. Research in a black community in Chicago states has linked racial discrimination to limited access to quality education, health care, and employment opportunities, which has resulted in a rise in societal evils in the state, such as; theft, prostitution, drug, and substance abuse. Racial discrimination has affected future generations as it has limited their ambitions due to limited opportunities in the job market for American blacks (Sullivan, 1989). Juvenile delinquency, for instance, has been proven by studies to contribute to adult crimes such as road traffic violations, drug addictions, and violence.
Impacts of Racial Discrimination On Regional Societies
Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system has resulted in more blacks and Hispanic being sent to prison with long sentences compared to white Americans. This has resulted in the disruption of schooling among the disadvantaged groups, thus leading to low unemployment and job inconsistencies. This disparity has had a toll on mental health on disadvantaged racial groups.
The research found that police are likely to respond promptly and diligently investigate crimes committed by black offenders compared to those committed by white offenders, and also black offenders are likely to be arrested and consequently convicted compared to white offenders ( Utsey and Pain, 2000) . Even when making arrests, the police have often acted with brutality on black offenders. As a result, many suspects of the black race have lost their lives in the hands of the police.
Impact of Racial Discrimination across National Societies
The disparity in the labor markets has disadvantage minority groups in the United States. Researchers argue that young black Americans work longer hours compared to their white American counterparts. This disparity bin earning has immensely contributed to the black-white gap earnings ( Rutherglen, 1995) . Negative racial discrimination stereotypes have led to the polarization of countries. In the United States, it has led to the rise of movements that preach racial ideologies, such as the Black Lives Movement. The group has led to violent protests that have led to looting and destruction of property across the cities in the United States.
Impact of Racial Discrimination Global Societies
Racial discrimination on the global stage has eroded foreign relations and trade. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Asian community's racial profiling, particularly in the United States, has punctured the international relationship between Beijing and Washington DC. Since the breakout of the novel virus, Americans of Asian origin have suffered constant racial slurs, hate, and even physical abuse. The government officials led by President Donald Trump stigmatize and throw unfounded blame on the Asian community for the spread of the coronavirus.
Xenophobia in South Africa against African immigrants led to the loss of lives, loss of jobs, destruction of property, and a decline in economic growth. Foreign investors pulled out their investments resulting in a near collapse of its national stock exchange. Moreover, several African countries that included Nigeria and Tanzania imposed sanctions and also suspended diplomatic relations in retaliation. South African multinational enterprises were not spared as they were forced to close their foreign branches.
References
Rutherglen, G. (1995). From race to age: The expanding scope of employment discrimination law. The Journal of Legal Studies , 24 (2), 491-521.
Sullivan, B. (1989). Historical Reconstruction, Reconstruction History, and the Proper Scope of Section 1981. The Yale Law Journal , 98 (3), 541-564.
Sellers, R. M., Caldwell, C. H., Schmeelk-Cone, K. H., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2003). Racial identity, racial discrimination, perceived stress, and psychological distress among African American young adults. Journal of Health and Social behavior , 302-317.
Utsey, S. O., & Payne, Y. (2000). Psychological impacts of racism in a clinical versus normal sample of African American men. Journal of African American Men , 5 (3), 57-72.
Jones, C. P. (2002). Confronting institutionalized racism. Phylon (1960-) , 7-22.
