Xenophobia = Racism
In the United States, it is estimated that 58.5% of
hate crimes are based on race or ethnicity (fbi.com). The reason behind the “hate” that triggers these
crimes can be say that is fear. “Scientists believe the discovery can be
explained by the fact that implicit racism is fundamentally founded on fear,
and the drug acts both on nerve circuits that govern automatic functions, such
as heart rate, and the part of the brain involved in emotional responses.” (M.
Rooks)
The word racism brings events like the Holocaust
during the 1940s in Germany, the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, and slavery during
the 18th and 19th century in the U.S. When those events are being discussed,
people tend to use the past tense when speaking of the motives; racism. By
using the past tense, they are giving the idea that racism is a thing of the
past, however, racism is like a virus, it has different strands but it can
never be completely eradicated. Racism, like a virus, takes many forms. Some
forms of racism have roots in psychology and others in society.
The words racism, prejudice, and stereotype
can be used interchangeably but they are not the same. The definition of
prejudice according to Gordon Allport, publisher of “The Nature of Prejudice”
stated that “Prejudice is an antipathy based on faulty and inflexible
generalization. It may be felt or expressed. It may be directed toward a group
or an individual of that group." An article by Psychology Today, states
that “Racism is a specific form of prejudice, involving prejudicial attitudes
or behavior towards members of an ethnic group. The definition of race is
somewhat variable but commonly refers to an ethnic group originating on a
specific continent…” The definition of a
stereotype is “...a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or
class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996). The problem with racism is that it cannot
be isolated from prejudice or stereotyping because they are connected in a
triangular way.
Stereotypes can be a good thing
because it will be impossible to meet all 8 billion people on earth in order to
get an idea of their culture. An example of this is wearing a hijab in a
traditional Muslim country. However, stereotypes make us forget that everybody
is different and it makes us assume things about people that are not always
true.
In the United States, there are many
anti-racism laws; the biggest one is the first amendment that states that
civilians have the freedom of speech. However, what most people don’t know is
that the first amendment has its limitations. In “Freedom of Speech and Press:
Exceptions to the First Amendment”, Henry Cohen states that,
The Court has decided that the First Amendment
provides no protection to obscenity, child pornography, or speech that
constitutes “advocacy of the use of force or of law violation ... where such
advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is
likely to incite or produce such action.”
The Court has also decided that the First Amendment
provides less than full protection to commercial speech, defamation (libel and
slander), speech that may be harmful to children, speech broadcast on radio and
television, and public employees’ speech. Even speech that enjoys the most
extensive First Amendment protection may be subject to “regulations of the
time, place, and manner of expression which are content-neutral, are narrowly
tailored to serve a significant government interest, and leave open ample
alternative channels of communication.” (pg.2)
In
other words, the first amendment does not support someone inciting a group of
people to hurt another group. A hate speech is speech that offends, threatens,
or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual
orientation, disability, or other traits” (American Bar Association). In order
to communicate, someone does not need to say something verbally. Things can be
said in a nonverbal and Para verbal way. For example, an African American individual
being followed when they go into a store. The security guard by not actually
say anything to the African American male but by following him, the security
guard is discriminating him. Another way to communicate “hate” is Para verbally.
An example of this is body language. For example, if an African American male
walks into an elevator and a white female holds her bag tightly and holds her breath;
her body language is saying that she is scared.
It is usually unnoticed that society
is split between “in” and “out” groups. The definition of minority groups (out-groups)
and majority groups (in-groups) according to syllabus for SOC is,
1. They are oppressed or persecuted at the hands of a
dominant group, and as a result of the power differential that develops, they
are disadvantaged, and the dominant group is advantaged.
2. They are distinguished by physical or cultural
traits that distinguish them from the dominant group, allowing them to be
easily "lumped" together and "placed" is less desirable
locations.
3. They are self-conscious, with an idea of one-ness or
peoplehood, based upon the perception of common suffering and burdens.
4. Membership is not voluntary, but is instead an
ascribed position where the person is born into this status.
5. By choice or necessity, they usually marry within
their own group (endogamy). It is by
choice to preserve a unique cultural heritage or by necessity because the
dominant group scorns or discourages intermarriage….
(In-group) 1. They have an attitude that they are
superior to minority groups.
2. They believe that minority groups are by their
nature different and alien.
3. They believe that they have a proprietary claim to
privilege, power, and prestige.
4. They have a fear and suspicion that minority groups
have designs on dominant group benefits. (Williams 1964)
Even
though the out-groups are the ones who suffer most of the prejudices, it’s not
uncommon that the minority groups practice reverse-racism. An example of these
is the jokes that make blonde people look dumb.
In our society, jokes that are
degrading towards other cultures or ethnicity are accepted... as long as they are made by a person of the
same culture or ethnicity. For example, if a Mexican comedian makes fun of
someone with an accent when they speak English, it is seen as funny. However,
if a white person makes the same joke, it is seen as offensive. Another example
of this is when a group of African Americans greet themselves using the word
nigga. If a white person says that word, hell would break loose. These examples
also show how the out-groups separate themselves by having double standards
like when a member of the group can use certain words/phrases and any
“outsider” who uses it not well perceived.
Due to the humor used to cover
racism, prejudice, and discrimination; spotting them is much harder. A question
that arises when trying to untangle racial profiling, discrimination and
stereotyping is what differentiates them from each other? The answer is complex. As stated before,
stereotyping is a generalization that makes all the individuals from a certain
group the same. Racial profiling is when someone is assumed to be guilty of
committing a crime based on their background. Discrimination is when an
individual or a group of people are treated differently from another individual
or group. Based on the definitions previously stated, it can be said that
racial profiling is based on stereotyping and that results in discrimination.
Xenophobia is the fear of people of
foreigners. According to the article, “Is Racism an Illness?” racism is in fact
a mental disease. Phobias are mental disorders and using that logic, racism is
a psychological disorder. If racism was in fact an illness, how can it be
cured? Is it possible to be cured? If you consider the worst case scenario when
a person who is racist ends up killing a lot of people, one might consider that
person a psychopath. If that person is a psychopath, they can be said that they
have a mental illness. However, if you consider racism to be a mental illness,
every one that is convicted of a hate crime should be convicted in a mental
institute instead of sending them to jail.
In
conclusion, racism is something that includes prejudice, stereotype,
discrimination, racial profiling, and hate speeches. There is no “cure” to
solve racism but the reasonable thing to do is to be open minded to new people
and new cultures.
Work cited
"ABA
Division for Public Education: Students: Debating the "Mighty
Constitutional Opposites": Hate Speech Debate." ABA Division for
Public Education: Students: Debating the "Mighty Constitutional
Opposites": Hate Speech Debate. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
.
"Annual
Report Released." FBI. FBI, 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
.
Cohen, Henry. "Freedom of Speech and
Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment."Federation of American
Scientists. N.p., 16 Oct. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
.
Cohen, Lisa J. "The Psychology of
Prejudice and Racism." Psychologytoday.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 20213.
.
“Definitions
and Overview of Prejudice & Discrimination” Http://people.uncw.edu/. N.p.,
6 Jan. 2004. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
.
Gorski, Paul. "Language of Closet
Racism." Language of Closet Racism. N.p., 2012. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
.
Rooks, Noliwe M. "Ideas." Ideas Is
Racism an Illness Comments. N.p., 4 May 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
.
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