Race and Racism in the USA: The Origins and the Future

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Discussing the issues of race and racial discrimination, it is crucial to have a full understanding of the exact notion of race. As it is pointed out, people polemicizing over biological and non-biological features of race and drawing stereotypic conclusions rarely reflect on what precisely race is (Fish 114). The authors under consideration (Oliver Cromwell Cox; Aníbal Quijano and Immanuel Wallerstein; Margaret Andersen and Patricia Hill Collins) study the notions of race, ethnicity, and discrimination. All three works try to define the origins of the notion of race from diverse viewpoints, referring to different recourses and drawing varied inferences from the subject.

Oliver Cox overviews the notion of racism from the historical point of view. Discussing the notion of ethnicity, the author states that different ethnic groups are either constantly opposing each other, or assimilating with each other, or inventing ways to dominate each other (Cox 319). The author states that the desire to dominate and exploit takes root from racial antagonism and prejudice of white colonizers (Cox 322).

The notion of prejudice is not within Cox’s focus; however, in his analysis of the backgrounds of racial conflicts, prejudice supposedly means “negative attitude based on faulty generalizations about members of specific racial, ethnic, or other groups,” as defined by sociologists (Kendall 283). Indeed, the white colonizers’ attitude toward the lifestyles of the peoples they tried to “civilize” has only emotional grounding.

They tended to make improper conclusions about the other peoples’ social and political systems. Noting that their states were mainly agricultural, the white people thought the ethnic people were good at nothing but manual labor, and thus were easy to exploit. Furthermore, the white people’s weapons were more advanced, which gave them the idea of their superiority (Cox 322-345). Continuing his research, the author classifies and describes modern racial and ethnic relationships, supporting his statements with examples (Cox 355-376). The image of white female as a means of reaching significant social status is also described, but only briefly (Cox 386-390). In conclusion, the author suggests that the possible solution to the problem of racial conflicts is the amalgamation of different races and ethnics (Cox 390).

Aníbal Quijano and Immanuel Wallerstein discuss the phenomenon of racism in relation to the concept of Americanity, which, in collective subconscious, is deeply diffused into the concept of modernity or newness. This idea consists in coloniality, ethnicity, racism, and the newness itself (Quijano and Wallerstein 24). The authors give an account of the USA history in the 19th century, emphasizing the hegemonic inclinations of the country. After the colonies were gone, the authors state, ethnicity and the division of labor were to endorse American racism that subsumed the predomination of white Americans over the rest.

The result of such endorsement was a more distinct societal hierarchy, which was imposed not only by white Americans but by the ethnic groups themselves (Quijano and Wallerstein 27-28). In this respect, there is an opinion that hierarchy makes persons belonging to the “subordinate” layers of society lose control over their bodies, decisions, and perspectives (Feagin 14). It would seem that people of color could equalize their group and individual rights by struggle. Still, the authors point out, the USA has stepped into the 21st century even more racist than it was after the World War II. They also state there is a growing tendency of Americanization the States (and in future – the whole world) in favor of privileged white Americans’ superiority (Quijano and Wallerstein 36-40).

The latest of the works under analysis is written by Margaret Andersen and Patricia Hill Collins. They overview the issues of race on an equal basis with class and gender inequality, as the aspects of discrimination in general. All these aspects are defined as social constructs that create two-pole categories (such as male/female, wealthy/poor, etc.); thus, each social category is put in its place in the scheme of social inequality. The categories are not permanent, however; over time, they experience certain changes (Andersen and Collins 62-63). Race discrimination is described through the example of playing sports in colleges.

The authors state that the only possible well-paid job a young man of color can get is that of a professional sportsman. As to females in sports, they are usually shoved into the background: women (especially women of color) usually go cheerleading, selling food, or cleaning toilets after matches (Andersen and Collins 63-65). The concept of race is deeply interlinked with that of gender and class, and neither of these categories are of biological origin; they are born in human mind as prejudice. Finally, the authors give the reader some food for thought urging them to think how, by whom and what for the concepts of racial inequality are developed (Andersen and Collins 67-70).

Both the works of Cox and Quijano and Wallerstein cover the notion of racism in the historical context; the idea of the white people’s domination is shown at its birth and further development. The studies give an account of the notion of ethnicity and ethnic hierarchy as well. Quijano and Wallerstein support Cox’s idea of modern racist visions emerging from the process of colonization and racial exploitation (Cox 344). Today, they claim, racism lurks behind ethnic hierarchy and is imposed by both oppressors and the oppressed. Furthermore, both works present an overview of current situation in the world and let the reader take a look into the future.

However, the authors’ views of the future are different. While Cox supposes that intermingling of ethnic groups would probably do good for the groups’ relationships, Quijano and Wallerstein argue that such process would be harmful for one of the cultures. This is what happens to Latin America today, they state, and in this case a consistent pattern can be observed. What would happen in case of amalgamation, they state, is that the cultural and intellectual property of an ethnic group would become a part of the other, the dominating one (Quijano and Wallerstein 38-40).

Although Oliver Cox mentions the sexist concept of female as an object, his study mainly concerns race. On the contrary, the work of Andersen and Collins acquaints the reader with a broader notion of discrimination in the aspects of race, class, and gender. Unlike their predecessor, Andersen and Collins do not refer to the history of racism in the USA. Instead, they observe the discriminatory practices and phenomena on a real-time basis.

Still, In Cox’s work the notion of race is pictured as not only a biological category but also a psychic formation, the result of prejudice. In their turn, Andersen and Collins argue that there is no such idea as “race” in biology. They state that race (as well as gender) is constructed by society to locate a certain ethnic group in the hierarchy. Thus, both Cox and Andersen and Collins examine the deep psychic reasons of racism. The latter, however, offer no solutions to the problem; rather, they leave the readers thinking about it and come to their own conclusions.

In contrast to Quijano and Wallerstein, Andersen and Collins do not put the future of the USA under scrutiny; their work also lacks the detailed account on political circumstances throughout the American history that have led to today’s consequences. Their examples are simpler and seem more true-to-life. They do not theorize on the Americanization of the Americas; instead, they provide facts and figures supporting their position.

Still, both the article by Quijano and Wallerstein and the book by Andersen and Collins discuss the category of class in relation to social hierarchy. Both pairs of researchers agree that class and race are interconnected and take part in formation of discrimination and inequality. In addition, both works share a rather pessimistic approach to the social hierarchy system, which was overlooked by Cox. Nevertheless, works by Quijano and Wallerstein and Andersen and Collins discuss race as a purely psychic matter, just as Cox did in his book.

To sum it up, in three different works view the concept of race from the points of psyche and come to conclusions concerning the notion itself, the past, the present, and the future of racism in the US. Concerning the temporal aspect of racism, the authors’ views are diverse, suggesting either ethnic diffusion, or more distinct predomination, or nothing at all. However, to all three authors the idea that race is a psychic formation seems more favorable than it being a biological characteristic since racism was a result of prejudice. In my view, the topic of racism as an aspect of discrimination is of great importance in modern world, and the authors’ works deserve respect in this relation.

The authors provide the readers with detailed account of racism as a phenomenon and provoke much thinking. I share the authors’ views in terms of the origin of race and racism. As to the future of this phenomenon, I suppose it is in the hands of people (either white or people of color) to pave the way to eradication of all inequality and make this world a better place to live.

Works Cited

Andersen, Margaret, and Patricia Hill Collins. Race, Class, & Gender: An Anthology, Boston: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.

Cox, Oliver Cromwell. Caste, Class and Race: A Study in Social Dynamics, New York: Modern Reader Paperbacks, 1959. Print.

Feagin, Joe R. Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations, London: Routledge, 2014. Print.

Fish, Jefferson M. Race and Intelligence: Separating Science From Myth, London: Routledge, 2015. Print.

Kendall, Diana. Sociology in Our Times. 9^th ed. 2012. Boston, United States: Cengage Learning. Print.

Quijano, Aníbal, and Immanuel Wallerstein. “Americanity as a concept, or The Americas in the modern world.” International Social Science Journal, 1.134 (1992): 23-40. Print.

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Race and Racism in the USA: The Origins and the Future

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