This paper discusses and summarizes the article “Camouflaging Power and Privilege: A Critical Race Analysis of University Diversity Policies,” written by Susan Iverson in 2007. Iverson’s article explores US universities’ efforts to eliminate inequalities by examining the texts of 21 diversity action plans. She argues that universities’ intentions to change the unjust status quo could be implemented with good intentions. Still, these efforts can result in the construction of discursive effects that reinforce practices of exclusion. Although Iverson dives into quite a debatable terrain related to the nature of objectivity in students’ performance evaluation, her findings can help university policy-makers to reconsider their approach to the problem of inequality.
Reasons for Writing Article
The reason why this article was written seems to be related to the author’s personal commitment to minorities’ problems. Indeed, Susan Iverson devoted much effort to the discourse analysis of diversity action plans. For example, before publishing the article under discussion, she wrote an unpublished doctoral dissertation on the same topic (Iverson). Interestingly, the narrative of the article extremely resonates with the current time. The waves of Trumpism and white nationalism raised new questions and concerns about minority rights.
In the paper, the author used the framework of critical race theory. It guides the author in making arguments through the text and helps fulfill her intentions. Originating in the 1970s, critical race theory has become one of the most used and discussed theories in the modern academic community of social sciences. It poses reasonable questions to the dominant discourses which support bias toward minorities and “confirms that scholars and practitioners must listen to those who experience racism, sexism, and classism to counter the dominant discourses” (Iverson 588). Therefore, further in the article, the author comments and opposes many findings from diversity action plans through radical arguments of critical race theory.
Deceptive Representation of Minorities in Education
After the theory introduction, the author lists the discourses of universities’ diversity initiatives that do not help but only harm minority experiences. Discourse of access considers the existence of natural barriers for non-whites by creating a dichotomy between white insiders and minority outsiders (Iverson). Iverson indicates that “diversity policies use a majority (White and male) as the standard against which to measure minority progress and success” (p. 594). Discourse of disadvantage refers to universities’ attitudes towards minorities as deficient and risky of being victims of discrimination (Iverson). For example, concerning discrimination toward non-whites, universities tend not to address the source of the problem but to organize special services for help. Marketplace discourse means the commodification of diversity and equity as an integral part of a successful business (Iverson). Finally, the discourse of democracy treats the liberal legal ideology of universities’ staff as blind to skin color and race, which extensively misleads the issue (Iverson). All in all, Iverson brilliantly made a critical analysis of diversity action plans and came to the argument that universities’ diversity policies discursively put minorities in the inferior in relation to White students’ position.
Suggested Solutions
The article would be incomplete if the author did not offer alternative solutions. One of the main advantages of Iverson’s article is that she tries to suggest some tips that university policy-makers can use in their struggle for diversity. Iverson indicates that the well-structured diversity policies need to include the voice of the other side. Policy-makers need to “uncover counterstories” that will focus not on the deficiency of non-whites but the existence of white-privilige and implicit power in the hands of white officials (Iverson 604). Another piece of advice is to facilitate constructive dialogue, which will help to understand the real issues of minorities.
Conclusion
Through the framework of critical race theory, Iverson argued that US universities’ policies create false expectations and images that harm and do not help minorities in their struggle for justice. The author conducted a great amount of preliminary study to construct materials in such a great way as in the text. This article will help university policy-makers to modify their discourse to make their universities inclusive in practice.
Letter to the Editor
The traits of the discriminative nature of the modern university system in the United States have extensively diminished in modern times. However, Susan Iverson’s article “Camouflaging Power and Privilege: A Critical Race Analysis of University Diversity Policies” analyses more complex processes of discrimination and bias than basic ones. Iverson’s central claim is that US universities in their diversity action plans discursively support practices of exclusion and discrimination. Interestingly, this effect of exclusion is created unwillingly because the diversity policy-makers truly want to improve the current state of affairs.
The author used the critical race theory to justify the argument and analyzed 21 diversity action plans from universities from different states. Diversity action plans are the special documents in which universities describe their efforts to combat inequality and injustice. As a result of empirical study, Iverson found that the discourses of access, disadvantage, democracy, and marketplace distort the efforts to bring inclusivity. The reason is that these discourses reinforce the inferiority of minority groups and consider white men as an ideal type of student with whom non-white people need to be compared. To change the situation, Iverson suggests facilitating constructive dialogue and changing discourses to eliminate fallacies.
Work Cited
Iverson, Susan VanDeventer. “Camouflaging Power and Privilege: A Critical Race Analysis of University Diversity Policies.” Educational Administration Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 5, 2007, pp. 586-611.
Since the establishment of the United States, race and class have been extraordinary political powers. Independently, however, seldom together, the two have been utilized to clarify various cycles in American government and legislative issues. This caused changes to incorporate the importance of American citizenship, the advancement of American political establishments, the plan and execution of government social approaches, and the idea of metro life. Above an authentic build whose effect has elevated or scattered after some time, race has been a highly durable element of American governmental issues and society for quite a long time. The ascent of political developments powered by friendly characters dependent on race, nationality, and sex has, as of late, come to rule talk in American governmental issues (Harris and Rivera-Burgos). During a time of extending monetary disparity, any semblance of which has not been seen for ages.
Body
Literature Review
Race and class have been so firmly woven into American life that it has been almost difficult to disentangle their consequences for political conduct. The writing on friendly personality and American political conduct has either analyzed race and class autonomously or accepted one side’s power over the other if inspected together. Investigations of the elements of race and class together have endeavored to unravel the impact of the two by parsing out the manners by which the putative impacts of one may be clarified by the other (Harris and Rivera-Burgos). When the political results of social class are examined, investigations of the political conduct of the middle class frequently center solely around the “white common laborers” (Hochschild 1494). African Americans presently can’t seem to accomplish equality with whites as far as pay. Various examinations distinguished a few factors that affected the size of the racial disparity, which was found to shift by social class status and sex just as across space (Hochschild 1495). While most examination has inspected these elements independently, they might communicate with one another in forming racial disparity.
Drafting laws, land rehearses, and lopsided advancement have added to the private isolation of inhabitants by race and class. Understudy task approaches have made longstanding school isolation. Close by families, neighborhoods, and schools are vital settings that add to kids’ future results. A considerable assortment of sociology research exhibits that isolation between communities adds to racial and class holes in instructive and word-related achievement (Owens 38). people with higher instructive fulfillment are more mindful of their target class position, and, contrasted with different races, African Americans are less inclined to expand their class status (Owens 33). These settings remain constantly isolated, resulting in the disparity between youngsters from various racial gatherings and financial classes.
Dominatingly white networks in the United States only sometimes experience similar degrees of high and industrious joblessness, burrowing out of business and city settings, and family disintegration as African American populations. Regardless, there are profoundly upset white networks, ordinarily in more modest towns and rural regions instead of urban communities. Indeed, in an extraordinary shift, the future for ineffectively taught non-Hispanic white moderately aged Americans declined at the beginning of the twenty-first century (Hochschild 1500). Pay imbalance has overwhelmed racial divisions as the essential separation point in American legislative issues (legend and Morris 470). More precise correlation across jobless white, dark, and Latino areas would assist us with deciding manners by which racial or ethnic gatherings endure similar side-effects when confronted with similar conditions as contrasted and methods by which every populace encounters issues. Subsequently, factual separation, even though it addresses components of a class predisposition against helpless specialists downtown, is a question of race.
Methodology of the Chosen Study
The creators utilize fixed impacts relapses to evaluate the effect of between-race imbalance on different proportions of state government assistance exertion and liberality. The fundamental ratio of pay disparity and between-race imbalance is the Theil Index and its parts. For a conversation of this action and its public and state-level patterns just as any remaining means identified with pay disparity during 30 years of examination.
Personal response
The given examination article by Hero and Morris gives a lengthy investigation on the connection between racial imbalance and the government assistance framework in the United States. Consequently, it provides an unmistakable thought of what these two factors are interrelated and means for each other. It distinguishes change in the government assistance framework more than thirty years during the shift in racial uniqueness in the populace. The discoveries show that the impact of pay imbalance on open strategy is emphatically adapted by racial design. This way, the article gives pertinent data to the subject of this paper on the relationship among’s race and class.
Conclusion
Studies decipher race and class as interlocking classifications of involvement that influence all parts of life; in this way, they at the same time structure the encounters surprisingly in the public eye. Race and class might feel more striking or significant in a given people’s life, but they cover and total their impact on individuals’ encounters. Saint and Morris exhibit a portion of race’s effect on contemporary governmental issues and strategy-making affecting pay disparity.
Works Cited
Harris, Fredrick C., and Viviana Rivera-Burgos. “The Continuing Dilemma of Race and Class in the Study of American Political Behavior.” Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 24, no. 1, 2020.
Hero, Rodney E., and Morris E. Levy. “The Racial Structure of Inequality: Consequences for Welfare Policy in the United States.” Social Science Quarterly, vol. 99, no. 2, 2017, pp. 459–472.
Hochschild, Jennifer L. “Race, Class, Politics, and the Disappearance of Work.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 40, no. 9, 2017, pp. 1492–1501.
Lee, Emily S. “A Problem with Conceptually Relating Race and Class, Regarding the Question of Choice.” Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal, vol. 38, no. 2, 2017, pp. 349–368.
Owens, Ann. “Unequal Opportunity: School and Neighborhood Segregation in the USA.” Race and Social Problems, vol. 12, no. 1, 2020, pp. 29–41.
The United States, is one of the most developed countries in the world, is traditionally considered a free state. There are unlimited equal opportunities for each of its citizens, regardless of skin color, race, religion, or lifestyle. This opinion exists among people on a global scale, but in reality, the situation looks completely different. Racism in America has existed since the very foundation of this country. The society that was created by white people also was biased in its attitude towards other ethnic and racial groups. Despite the fact that the times of slavery are long over, there are still many cases of violence and discrimination against people of color. Unfortunately, aside from obvious negative impacts, it has another effect of influencing children’s views on their race.
First of all, it is important to note that before discussing issues with identity and understanding of race, the term of ethnocentrism needs to be addressed and analyzed. According to this concept, a person’s value is determined not by personality but by belonging to one or another racial or ethnic group. Researchers state that almost every ethnic group is ethnocentric to some extent, which means that they view their own culture and language as superior to others (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2006). However, while in some cases, this belief does not go beyond pride about history, sometimes people of one race consider themselves exceptional and more deserving of basic human rights than others. From this confidence, a number of negative events, such as wars, killings, and casual discrimination was born in American society.
As a response to this phenomenon, a critical race theory (CRT) was created by scholars. According to Schriver (2011), CRT starts from the “premise that race and racism are central, endemic, permanent, and a fundamental part of defining and explaining how U.S. society functions” (p. 68). Even though research on this topic began relatively recently, it managed to create and spread awareness about how racism works (Johnson-Ahorlu, 2017, p. 730). For this reason, it provides a means for policymakers and civil rights activists to create a fair society without any biases.
Racism has a serious negative effect not only on adults but on children too. In conditions where social stigmas on ethnical groups are apparent, it is possible that immigrants who strongly identify with them can change the attitude towards their own culture and host culture (Padilla & Perez, 2003). In other words, in the case where there is a strong adverse influence of racism in society, people who experience mistreatment are stressed and blame their racial identity. Researchers note that “Asian Americans reported greater negative emotion intensity when they believed that they encountered a situation because of their race” (Wang et al., 2011, p. 1677). Even though there might be other possible explanations for such cases, minority groups can still interpret it as a result of discrimination. This perception is also imposed on children and, therefore, in the future, they may encounter problems due to the negative understanding of their race.
In conclusion, it would appear that there is an apparent need for further research on this topic since the attempts to study it began relatively recently. Nevertheless, it is evident that racial discrimination is still present in American society and negatively impacts the minds of not only adults but children as well. Cases of aggressions and ethnocentrism increase the stigma and divide people further; in addition, due to them, the young people’s view on their ethnicity may become distorted.
References
Johnson-Ahorlu, R. N. (2017). Efficient social justice: How critical race theory research can inform social movement strategy development. The Urban Review, 49(5), 729-745.
Padilla, A. M., & Perez, W. (2003). Acculturation, social identity, and social cognition: A new perspective. Hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 25(1), 35-55.
Schriver, J.M. (2011). Human behavior and the social environment: Shifting paradigms in essential knowledge for social work practice (6th ed.). Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
Wang, J., Leu, J., & Shoda, Y. (2011). When the seemingly innocuous “stings” racial microaggressions and their emotional consequences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(12), 1666-1678.
Zastrow, C., & Kirst-Ashman, K. (2006). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Cengage Learning.
Critical race theory is a concept that was introduced in the United States of America to highlight some of the impacts brought about by racial discrimination. Most individuals from the minority groups in the United States of America have been subjected to various forms of racism, which negatively impacted their lives (“Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups | Introduction to Sociology”). Racism has been one of the biggest social problems in the societies of America since the end of World War two when individuals from other countries who came to America as slaves were allowed to settle within the territories of the United States of America. The white natives from the country were against the decision by the American government and attacked the minority individuals in protest of the government decision. This paper strives to highlight the impact of critical race theory in American societies.
The critical race theory was introduced in the American education system to enable the learners to be aware of the past effects of racism. However, some educational institutions and states were against the theory claiming that it was introducing the new generation to the concept of racism which will increase the cases of racism (Bokat-Lindell). They advocate for the new generation to be taught as per the nation’s current principles and the positive cultures practiced in the society. The United States of America has a very negative past history of racial discrimination against the nation’s current principles (“Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups | Introduction to Sociology”). The United States of America ensures an all-inclusive regardless of an individual’s race.
Some of the cases of racial discrimination that brought about the fight against the implementation and introduction of the critical race theory to the new generation include past cases of racial injustices. The minority found it challenging to get justice within the American department of justice (“Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups | Introduction to Sociology”). Police brutality where many individuals have lost their lives in police custody under unclear circumstances and disparities in different sectors such as the education and the health sector. Highly performing institutions and educational scholarships were only for the white natives, while the individuals from the minority groups did not enjoy such privileges. Healthcare disparities were also a major case due to racial discrimination where white individuals easily had access to quality healthcare.
The critical race theory also encouraged the formation of various legal movements and bodies that would help fight racism. The movements would also be used to educate the younger generation on the topic of racism and the negative impacts of racism on the community (Bokat-Lindell). The individuals who oppose the implementation also reason that the movements are negatively portraying the nation’s qualities by educating the new generations on the past racial discrimination in different sectors. Individuals who are against activities that are against human rights also support the implementation of the concept of Critical Race Theory in the American education sector.
Some of the main reasons why some states and institutions are against the Critical Race Theory is that it would increase cultural wars. Introducing the problems brought about by racism to the new generation will encourage them to have different attitudes towards individuals from other cultural orientations. Negative attitudes towards other cultures will bring about inter-cultural wars by subjecting each other to different forms of racial discrimination (Bokat-Lindell). An increase in cultural wars increases racism in a nation, hence the need for the individuals supporting the critical race theory to identify effective concepts that will positively portray the nation’s principles.
This is a case of Cheryl J. Hopwood versus the University of Texas; she was seeking legal redress for failing to get admitted to the university’s law school despite higher scores and grades than minority candidates who secured admission. The law school’s decision was based on racial preference for blacks and Mexican Americans meant to create racial balance in the institution. In the United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit, Judge Jerry E. Smith ruled against the University of Texas Law School’s decision; moreover, it reversed the district court ruling that had allowed the university to continue imposing racial admission preferences. However, he approved the need for a diverse student body and the use of race in admission based on an individual evaluation, not a group; the institution must assess other factors such as participation in co-curricular activities and family background. Based on these factors, the judge ruled in favor of Hopwood that she should reapply and the institution consider other factors apart from race.
Grutter v. Bollinger et al (2003)
This was a case of Barbara Gutter versus Bollinger regarding her rejection to Michigan University law school despite having better performance than some minority candidates who got admitted. In her opinion, Justice O’Connor argued that admission should be based on the candidate’s academic potential, talents, and experiences. From the trial evidence, numerous reports and studies showed that a diverse student body influenced learning outcomes. She suggests the establishment of race-neutral criteria for admission. Justice Thomas, in a rejoinder, argue that the minority needs justice and not pity, sympathy, or benevolence; they should be given an opportunity. He condemns the university’s rigidity in embracing changes that are race-neutral. Justice Thomas further alludes that the Equal Protection Clause does not curb the use of legal preferences and other biased procedures of admission. He does not concur with the 25 years for the principle of equality to be vindicated.
The present paper represents a literature review on the subject of own-race bias – a set of scientific articles reporting about empirical and theoretical studies in the sphere are analyzed to estimate the present-day progress of the research and outline the possible directions of future research that may be undertaken in the discussed sphere. The articles discussed concern the biological, psychological, and societal origins of the ORB effect, examination of its application by representatives of different races in the face recognition of similar-race or cross-race faces. Another sphere that is given a proper account is the investigation of age differences in the expression of the ORB effect as well as consideration of other individual characteristics such as cognitive functioning, racial attitudes, social experiences, etc.
Introduction
The issue of racial biases has acquired vital importance within the past decade since the debates over racial discrimination have been resumed with greater force and severity. It has always been a proven fact that people have different implicit attitudes towards different categories of people and reveal them in a set of life situations with a frequency that allows speaking about a certain sort of statistics. It is a social and, at the same time, psychological phenomenon that helps understand how people subconsciously treat people and what attitudes and reactions they may cause in them.
An individual’s attitude and perception are based on a set of biases that have been formed either historically, culturally, socially, or deliberately by means of education and upbringing outer influence of certain authorities. The biases may be traced to ethical preferences of the young to the old, of people of one race to people of another one, etc. In addition, it is important to note that the racial bias that will be discussed in the present paper is one of the most evident and outlined ones. It is revealed in preferences, better attitudes, and antipathy expressed by people of one race towards representatives either of their ethnicity or of another one.
Racial biases have become more important because of the intensifying tempos of globalization and overall social integration: human resources are becoming mobile, people move from one country to another, and big cities are gradually turning into metropolitan areas that host representatives of nearly all countries of the world. It is not surprising that under these conditions, an individual is urged to co-exist and correlate with representatives of other cultures, religions, and races on an everyday basis: in a shop, in the streets, even at home when dealing with service workers, etc.
The problem of intolerance towards another race, preferences built upon racial belonging had become a true problem when anti-discrimination laws were issued protecting people exposed to negative attitudes and segregation – as soon as the governments of many countries became obsessed with their citizens’ equality with the rest of the world, the underlying processes and events that construct subconscious biases have become the focus of scientific and research attention.
For the reason of extreme actuality and importance of all implications of racial biases, the present work is devoted to the own-race bias, inner mental processes that cause it, and it’s inner as well as outer implications. Various examples of research dedicated to own-race bias, with more particular attention paid to such an implication thereof as the quality of face recognition, will be considered and analyzed with the purpose of identifying the state of progress in the discussed sphere of scientific study.
Literature Review
Own-race bias as a phenomenon has been studied for quite a long period of time till now, so it is fully possible to say that there is a sound basis for the continuation of research in the given sphere. There have been many findings that may help scientists understand the unconscious implications and outer revelations of implicit racial biases, and this is why a thorough literature review is necessary to adequately assess the progress made up to the present moment in this sphere of studies.
The main aspect of the own-race bias that represents the initial concern for scientists is the origin of the phenomenon and the way it developed and formed into what it constitutes now – this information might be extremely helpful in further studies thereof, which was emphasized by the researchers.
“As such, explaining the origins and potential plasticity of implicit racial biases could aid our understanding of the interaction between human cognitive and social processing, and help address real-world social biases” (Lebrecht et al., 2009).
The most important aspect of an own-race bias that may be empirically observed by researchers and that facilitates its better understanding as well as making certain qualitative conclusions is the quality of face recognition. The initial hypothesis put forward by researchers is that people recognize own-race faces much better than cross-race faces.
Many scientists such as Iris Blandon-Gitlin, Catherine E. Boyd, John C. Brigham, Kathy Pezdek, Sophie Lebrecht, Christian A. Meissner, Catherine Moore, Lara J. Pierce, James W. Tanaka, Michael J. Tarr, Colin G. Tredoux, Daniel B. Wright, and many others have been occupied by estimating the level o differences in recognizing faces depending on various demographic characteristics such as age, social background, ethnicity, and racial belonging. They have achieved many results that may assist in further research enormously.
The first article to be mentioned is the work of Meissner and Brigham (2001), which is devoted to summarizing all their findings for more than thirty years of work on face recognition as the main implication of the own-race bias. The study includes theoretical literary research together with an empirical examination of nearly 5,000 participants. Researchers summarized a huge number of cases of implementation of ORB in law proceedings trying to identify the level of reliability of the ORB effect. For this purpose, they have started a set of goals for their research, including an inquiry into whether the results of studies are replicable, whether they are applicable for all racial groups and whether they vary for different intellectual tasks given to respondents.
Summarizing their findings, it is necessary to turn attention to the following peculiarities of ORB expression by various groups of respondents that may be highly relevant in the future studies:
“White participants were more likely to demonstrate the ORB, especially with regard to false alarm responses. Additionally, ORB effects were more likely in measures of discrimination accuracy when presentation and testing were blocked by a race of face and when study time was reduced. Measures of response criterion demonstrated ORB effects when stimuli differed between study and test and when the retention interval between study and test was increased” (Meissner and Brigham, 2001).
C. Michel et al. (2006) are also concerned with the questions of the general ORB effect, which may be seen in face recognition by representatives of different races, so they have conducted an empirical study with 30 Caucasian and 30 Asian students who were offered to take part in the experiment on own-race and cross-race face identification. The essence of the experiment was a holistic approach taken by the researchers: the respondents were offered not only to identify or individualize a face but to compose the whole of constituent parts, i.e., to conduct a holistic process.
In the process of an experiment, the respondents were shown a set of faces of their own race and another race and then were offered to identify new and old faces. As a result, both races, Caucasian and Asian, were much better at identifying their races’ faces. The same situation took place during the section of an experiment that concerned identifying aligned and misaligned photos – both races showed a clear ORB effect:
“the representations underlying holistic face perception are coarsely defined, being able to accommodate faces of a different race to a certain extent. However, these representations are specific enough that holistic processing is more important for faces with which one has the extensive visual experience, namely, SR faces” (Michel et al., 2006).
However, there is also evidence of research that proved an absence of the ORB effect in certain studies, as, for example, the article of Yuhan Dong et al. (2003) investigating a single criminal case with the participation of a Caucasian in one situation and an Asian in another one. All sixty-nine respondents showed an absence of any ORB effect, so the researchers took an active interest in the possible range of reasons for this. The bias towards a certain race was not witnessed in the course of the study, but as the researchers estimated, they observed the ORB effect in the unexpected part of the experiment, while the two characters in the video watched by the respondents changed their place, which was noticed by very few Caucasians and practically all Asians. This ORB effect revealed certain implications for further research in the undiscovered sphere of ORB (Dong et al., 2003).
Another topic touched upon by ORB researchers is the dependence of the level of ORB on the age of respondents. The research of Kathy Pezdek et al. (2003) outlines the results of an experiment conducted with the purpose of finding out the possible interconnection of age with the intensity of ORB. However, the results implied that there is no difference in perceiving one’s own race and another race of a child and an adult, thus showing that ORB is an unconscious phenomenon developed without any interdependence with age or growing up. Children showed a much lower quality of memorizing faces, which was explained by their small volume of memory. However, in all other characteristics concerning the ORB effect, the indicators remained practically identical.
Some researchers went further and specified their research to a limited number of nations, thus narrowing their research. In the present paper, articles that represent a special interest in the context of the research are the works of such authors as Wright, Boyd, and Tredoux (2001, 2003), who examined the ORB implications in South Africa and England. These scientists made a great contribution to the work on ORB and its revelation principles as their empirical study of two geographical areas with completely different races representing their population facilitated understanding of ORB enormously and gave many relevant practical considerations.
The mentioned authors have two relevant works, the first in the field study conducted by them in 2001, during which they questioned 201 respondents in South Africa and England on the subject of cross-race facial recognition. The results of the experiment supported the initial idea of ORB because of a much higher level of own-race face recognition. However, the study also included another aspect: the confederate who approached respondents and his/her race also influenced the accuracy and quality of face recognition. If respondents were questioned by a person of their race, they gave a higher quality reply (Wright et al., 2001).
This field study and its findings were applied in another research conducted in 2003 with students of two universities, one in South Africa and another one – in England. One hundred fifty students were shown photos of people of their own race and of another race. The findings again supported the idea of ORB, in addition to proving that African Americans had a much stronger inter-racial contact because of a higher level of correct and accurate responses (Wright et al., 2003).
In the context of focusing on separate races in the process of research on the subject of ORB, it is also essential to pay attention to the work of Sloane, Brigham, and Meissner (2000) an identification of the level of ORB in whites. The study included questioning 129 Caucasian respondents on the subject of their face recognition of both Caucasian and African American faces. It also included the repeated session of face recognition several days after the initial one. As a result, a strong own-race bias was evident from the results as well as own-sex bias was witnessed on a regular basis. In the process of the study, such variables that were potentially able to affect the results of the respondent’s activity as measures of memory, cognitive functioning, racial attitudes, and social experiences were taken into consideration to reduce the limitations of the research. However, the findings explicitly showed that the individual differences of respondents had a minimal impact on their face recognition, thus showing the standardized, generalized ORB effect.
However, one should not forget that the ORB effect is not only the product of cognition and genetics but also has a strong social influence, such as the impact of stereotypes, upbringing and personal experience. Many of ORB implications have been formed because of the social environment of respondents, thus adequate attention has to be paid to this aspect of the discussed phenomenon. Lebrecht et al. (2009) study the social influence on the ORB in Caucasian subjects exposed to questioning about African American faces. The results shown in the study witness a heavy social emphasis people make in their face recognition, however assuring that the situation is changeable under the condition of the correct approach:
“Our results establish a causal link between the Other-Race Effect and implicit racial bias. We demonstrate that training that ameliorates the perceptual Other-Race Effect also reduces socio-cognitive implicit racial bias. These findings suggest that implicit racial biases are multifaceted, and include malleable perceptual skills that can be modified with relatively little training” (Lebrecht et al., 2009).
Besides social implications of the own-race bias it is also necessary to turn the scholarly attention to possible biological reasons for its existence, which was made by Turk, Handy and Gazzaniga (2005) in their ‘split-brain study’ devoted to possible biological and physiological factors influencing the formation of the ORB effect in the majority of individuals, no matter to what race they belong. Their study’s results showed clear evidence of the fact that the activity in both hemispheres is at different levels while conducting the process of face recognition. The left hemisphere was stated not to react on face recognition either for one’s own race or for another race; however, the right hemisphere showed different levels of activity while identifying an own-race face or an other-race face:
“our data indicate that the ORB in face recognition appears to be dependent upon right-lateralized cognitive processes. While feature-based or categorical representations employed by the left hemisphere may enable a degree of successful face processing across all racial face-types, it is clearly not as effective as relying on right hemisphere processes associated with perceptual expertise, reflected in more configural or coordinate representations” (Turk et al., 2005).
Thus, it is clear that ORB is a result of biological activity of the human brain together with all psychological, social and individual processes taking place in the human organism and influencing his or her perception of individuals of a similar or another race. Nevertheless, the research concerning ORB should not be limited to the identification of possible reasons causing it but should be expanded to the level of fighting the existing biases and enforcing training aimed at their elimination. In this context, the work of Johnson and Fredrickson (2005) constitutes major importance, since it discusses the application of positive emotions therapy as a means of eradicating ORB. They conducted their study with 89 respondents and identified a strong effect and a significant reduction of ORB under the condition of viewing people they would further identify in the state of positive emotions. This finding is a real breakthrough in the process of the ORB studies which opens new ways to understanding the ORB and overcoming it as a factor negatively influencing cross-cultural communication and reciprocal racial perception.
Exploration of most valuable ideas
First of all, it is necessary to note the article of Kathy Pezdek et al. (2005) exploring the interdependence of age and the level of formation of the own-race bias. It is a very efficient and relevant study as it gives a better understanding of what processes really take place in the growing human brain and how human perception of his race and other races changes within a certain period of time. The study gave highly important results that will have their value not only in the context of studying the ORB effect but in the context of child care and nursing etc. Children have been proven to have an actually in-born own-race bias which may be very helpful in understanding the core essence of the phenomenon.
The findings of the present study ruin the supposition that stereotyping is a conscious process that is formed due to inappropriate and limited education as well as upbringing, and may also result from the limited conscience of the individual who thinks operating simplistic terms, making no inferences thus applying stereotypes in his or her life. However, it was evident from the study that the ORB effect is somewhat genetic, hence being not formed during raising the child but being inherent in him or her from their very birth.
The study indicating the in-born cultural and racial bias may be a significant step forward in the arrangement of methods of overcoming the ORB effect – instead of being oriented at the way to eliminate negative experiences and influences at the very beginning of the child’s life way and accumulation of knowledge scientists should pay their attention to the fact that the quality of making stereotypes judgments is already indispensable in the child, thus creating a set of means to restructure the subconscious perception of a child in a more positive way that would reduce the impact of biases on his or her system of attitudes.
The authors of the study have discovered a huge potential of studies of age differences in the level of formation of biases, thus including the possibility of a genetic predisposition to biases and racial segregation, giving a good opportunity to take this fact into account and have a look at the bias problem from another angle, facilitating the discovery of a more efficient and productive way of fighting biases that have been formed for centuries.
The second article that constitutes high importance and includes innovative information about the concept of ORB is the one of Turk et al. (2005). The authors have made a serious breakthrough in the investigation of the human brain activity in the process of face recognition, thus assuming that the brain initially perceives people of another race in a way different from that of similar-race recognition. The fact that there is a biological interdependence of ORB and the brain activity also drastically changes the way scientists may address the problem of biases and stereotyping.
Again, the finding is revolutionary because stereotyping, and biases as the outer expressions thereof have been considered either the drawbacks of education and upbringing, or the pitfalls and side effects of social, political, geographical and other environment that influences the formation of an individual through his or her whole life. Through the prism of ethics and morality, people who are subject to being guided by stereotypes have always been considered limited, ignorant and unethical, immoral. This attitude has been recently formed as a response to racial or gender discrimination, so that nowadays very much attention is paid to the issue of biases and their origins.
Judging from the point of view of the results achieved in the course of the experiment of Turk et al. (2005), it becomes evident that the individual is mostly not responsible for his or her formation of stereotypes and may be affected by them on a biological and physical and not on psychological or aesthetical level. These inferences let the researchers understand the whole scope of the multiple implications of the ORB phenomenon in the context of human existence in the multi-cultural society and continue exploring the ways to eliminate this natural, genetic predisposition for the benefit of the globalized, modernized society that is gradually erasing all borders and limits, thus leaving no place for cross-racial biases anymore.
The third article worth separate attention is the one of Johnson and Fredrickson (2005) concerning the possibility of reducing the impact of ORB on the perception of representatives of other races by separate individuals. Much research has been conducted on the issue of identifying the origin of own-race bias, the processes underlying its formation and the multiple ways of its revelation in everyday life. However, much less attention has been devoted to the issues of overcoming of ORB even under the condition of everyone’s understanding of the whole scope of negative consequences it brings about.
Thus, the research and results of an empirical experiment showing that the ORB effect, even being a genetic predisposition of representatives of practically all races, is not irresistible to outer influence, may introduce an innovative trend in studying the ORB effect that will be directed at eliminating its negative influence on the everyday life and interaction of individuals. The main emphasis that should be made in this context is understanding of the fact that this bias surely exists in every society, it is inherent in every human being who realizes his or her belonging to a certain group of people thus juxtaposing themselves to other groups existing in the world. Judging from this point, it is possible to build a new, more constructive approach to overcoming the own-race bias that will eliminate the boundaries preventing people from overall integration and efficient collaboration on all levels of their lives in the new, globalized world.
Conclusion
The literary review on the subject of the origin and multifaceted implications of the ORB effect in the process of human interaction, namely in the process of cross-race face recognition, shows that the phenomenon of own-race bias is the inherent biological characteristics of every individual that is formed biologically and is strengthened in the process of the human life and interaction with his or her environment. Multiple studies, empirical and theoretical research have shown that people of all races have a clearly expressed own-race bias that forms an altered idea about other races and affects their perception, making it far from objective.
There is a set of studies that emphasize the biological origin of ORB thus making the prior assumptions about its moral, educational and ethical background insufficient. Surely it is wrong to neglect the impact of surrounding people and the dominating philosophy of treating other races in the environment in which the individual lives, interacts and shares his and her experience. However, the main role in the stipulation of the discussed problem and future research in the sphere of ways to reduce its negative impact should be based on understanding the fact that the ORB effect is a biological capability of a human being which may be altered but not eliminated initially.
The field of ORB research is still a comparatively young one, giving a set of opportunities for scholars to make their own contribution in the developing sphere. Consequently, realizing all implications of the ORB effect as well as its true origin and hidden mechanisms that guide its application in life by every individual is worth separate close attention. By means of investigating all evident and hidden examples of ORB that may be witnessed through empirical studies of cross-cultural estimation may give a sound basis for working out a set of methods of reducing the impact of ORB on everyday human activities and interaction.
Annotated Bibliography
Dong, Y. et al. (2003). “The Effects of Same-Race Bias on Memory and Perception”. Web.
Summary: The present work describes an experiment with 69 respondents who were offered to view a video recording from a robbery with the participation of a Caucasian in one case and an Asian in another one. The reaction and possible implications of the ORB effect were carefully investigated, and surprisingly the results showed complete absence of the ORB effect in a regular understanding. The project achieved another aim and showed a typically different application of the ORB effect during the experiment: the observers of Caucasian race showed their inability to individualize while they were good at categorizing Asians. Asians, in their turn, showed a much better ability to both categorize and individualize Caucasians, thus suggesting a new field of research in the sphere of ORB.
Johnson, K.J. and Fredrickson, B.L. (2005). “We All Look the Same to Me”. Psychological Science, Vol. 16, No. 11, pp. 875-881.
Summary: the authors of the article investigated the possible influence on the ORB effect that may be produced by positive emotions. Their main hypothesis was that people in the neutral or negative state of mood are more exposed to own-race biases, hostility and stereotyping than people in a good mood or those viewing positive emotions. The hypothesis was proven on the example of 89 Caucasian respondents who revealed a much lower level of ORB after viewing the videos with African American people who they needed to identify and individualize. The results suggest a potentially prospective field of study in the process of which a larger share of stereotyping and ORB may be overcome under the positive emotions approach.
Lebrecht, S. et al. (2009). “Perceptual other-race Training Reduces Implicit Racial Bias”. Web.
Summary: the mentioned study is devoted to the issues of establishing the level of ORB in Caucasians towards African Americans and defining a set of ways of training that would enhance overcoming ORB effect issues and would decrease the own-race bias in the target group. The results of the study show a clear presence of ORB in practically all respondents, but give a promising beginning in the field of overcoming the ORB effect and in reducing its impact on people’s perception of other races.
Meissner, C.A., and Brigham, J.C. (2001). “Thirty years of investigating the own-race bias in memory for faces: a meta-analytic review”. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 3-35.
Summary: The present article represents a large-scale summary of work undertaken by these two scientists in the sphere of own-race bias implications represented by the quality of face recognition by various individuals, representatives of different ethnic and racial groups in the process of performing different intellectual tasks. The authors have given answers to questions of a systematic approach to studying face recognition from the angle of own-race bias, have found out a direct dependence of results on the racial belonging of respondents and have undertaken a massive theoretical and empirical research on whether the results are generalizable or not. The results achieved in the process of the study enhance understanding of ORB and reveal all its aspects in the process of face recognition under different circumstances.
Michel, C. et al. (2006). “Holistic Processing is Finely Tuned for Faces of One’s Own Race”. Psychological Science, Vol. 17, No. 7, pp. 608-615.
Summary: The present work is devoted to the ORB effect in representatives of two races – Caucasian and Asian ones. The researchers took a holistic approach to the investigation of ORB and achieved results both in the identification of old or newly introduced faces, indicating a strong own-race bias, and in the process of alignment of photos of representatives of the same race or of another race. The respondents were chosen from different groups to ensure diversity of proposed material and proved the initial hypothesis of researchers on the fact of existing ORB effect between races.
Pezdek, K., Blandon-Gitlin, I., and Moore, C. (2003). “Children’s Face Recognition Memory: More Evidence for the Cross-Race Effect”. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 88, No. 4, pp. 760-763.
Summary: The present article is mainly concerned with the issues of face recognition depending on the age of a respondent and the way a child recognizes faces without special training and under the conditions of preliminary training. The researchers did not stop on the sole identification of the presence or absence of ORB in children as compared to adults; they were mainly focused on achieving quantitative results that would enable them to judge whether the tendency changes with people’s getting older or not. Thus, there were two focuses of the study: the overall volume of memorizing and individualizing faces and the level of own-race bias that was evident in the process of the research. Results showed the presence of ORB in people of all ages, however, indicating that the volume of memorizing faces increases with years thus in significantly diminishing the ORB effect.
Slone, A.E., Brigham, J.C., and Meissner, C.A. (2000). “Social and Cognitive Factors Affecting the Own-Race Bias in Whites”. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 22(2), pp. 71-84.
Summary: the present advanced research was based on a comprehensive study of representatives of a Caucasian race who were questioned on the subject of face recognition of representatives of both their own race and another race (African American). The results, with appropriate consideration of all possible individual differences of respondents, showed a clear own-race bias without any dependence on personal characteristics and supported the idea about a better level of own-race face recognition as compared to other-race faces.
Turk, D. J. et al. (2005). “Can Perceptual Expertise Account for the Own-Race Bias in Face Recognition? A Split-Brain Study”. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22(7), pp. 877-883.
Summary: The article explores the possible impact of neurological peculiarities of brain functioning in the process of face recognition that may produce the ORB effect. In the process of the experiment, it was proven that the right hemisphere of the human brain takes an active part in the face recognition process and reacts in completely different ways while recognizing the face of a same-race person or another-race person. The activity of the hemisphere was recorded to be at a much higher level when recognizing same-race faces, which implies a new field of study connected with direct biological processes underlying the difference in attitudes towards different races and peculiarities of face recognition based on racial differences.
Wright, D.B. et al. (2003). “Inter-racial Contact and the Own-race Bias for Face Recognition in South Africa and England”. Applied Cognitive Psychology, No. 17, pp. 365-373.
Summary: the researchers conducted an experiment in two universities in the mentioned countries to identify the level of inter-racial contact of the two races (African American and Caucasian) and to investigate the implications of ORB in them. The results showed a strong ORB effect in both races and a stronger inter-racial contact in African Americans as they revealed a much higher level of face recognition of their own nation.
Wright, D.B. et al. (2001). “A Field Study of Own-Race Bias in South Africa and England”. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 119-133.
Summary: the present field study was aimed at identifying the level of own-race bias in African Americans and Caucasians. It comprised questioning people in the streets with a request to identify people of their race and another race, and findings achieved in the process of the experiment strongly indicate the ORB effect in both races. However, the influence of a confederate who approached the respondents in the streets was also evident as a result of the research. People who were approached by a confederate of the same race showed much better identification results, thus showing even a stronger impact of ORB on their perception and system of attitudes.
Haslanger’s claim that both gender and race are real and both are social categories is constructive since defining both terms depends on the political aims in analyzing the past and present and in envisioning alternatives.
Core Argument
In her argument against racial essentialism, Sally Haslanger states that both gender and race are real and basically social categories. She states that both terms are not chosen, but “the forms they take can be mutated or restricted” (Haslanger, 2016, p. 116). Third, both terms are hierarchical, but the systems that sustain this form of the hierarchy are conditional. Haslanger claims that the ideologies of gender are race and the hierarchical structures they sustain are different, but both terms are basically intertwined.
Haslanger develops a comprehensive argument based on some questions. She seeks to answer the principle questions of “what is gender” and what is a race” and related questions such as “what is to be a woman or a man” and “what is to be Latino, White, Black, or Asian” (Haslanger, 2016, p. 118). These questions require one to consider their needs and what they need to do for the person defining them. It is the responsibility of the person to define the questions based on their purpose (Beeghly, 2021a). The world tells the person what gender or race is, and it is the role of the people to decide what these terms mean in their world.
The author uses critical theory from a feminist and anti-racial perspective and the concepts of normativity and commonality. Haslanger states that races, just like gender, are racialized groups whose membership needs three specific criteria. First, members of races are those who are either imagined or observed to have features or aspects of the human body that are evidence of a given ancestry based on geographical locations (Barnes, 2017). Secondly, having or imagining to have those specific bodily features marks the members as occupying a given privileged or subordinate social position, which then justifies the position. Third, having satisfied the two previous criteria is important in the systemic subordination or privilege of the members. The author adds that many forms of racial identity “…are valuable, important, and inevitable responses to racial hierarchy” (Haslanger, 2012, p. 30). Therefore, in such contexts, racial identities do not need to focus exclusively on privilege or subordination.
The author further states that people should not be afraid to embrace the cultural groups that are marked by appearance and ancestry in the short term as they fight for equality and justice. However, she states that what is worrying is embracing these aspects on a long-term basis. In general, the possibilities of human bodies are not wholly a function of the understanding of the body itself. Rather, Haslanger states that human bodies outdo them in spite of the meanings given to them.
In her conclusion, Haslanger states that it is the responsibility of people to define what gender and race are for theoretical purposes and usage. Accordingly, the words “gender” and “race” themselves cannot tell what gender and race mean, respectively. Instead, defining these terms requires people to keep clearly in their minds the intended political aims of analyzing the past and the present while also envisioning alternative futures. In essence, people should not be worried about what gender and race really are (Lynch, 2017). Rather, they should start by asking what they want them to be, both in political and theoretical senses.
Possible Objections
From a scientific point of view, it is possible to identify some problems in the argument by Haslanger. Race and gender are distinct terms that identify specific aspects of humans based on biological differences that their existence cannot be objected. In terms of gender, one is male, female, or transgender (Beeghly, 2021b). A male individual has a body that has the specific features of the gender, all of which are evidenced by bodily features. Such features are physical, physiological, and anatomical.
A male body has such features as a distinct duct system made up of the vas deferens and epididymis, accessory glands including the prostate and seminal vesicles, the penis, and the related hormones. With these biological hormones, the male body develops to have physical features such as facial hair, a distinct form of pubic hair, a broken voice, and other aspects (Dash, 2019). In the same way, the female body has distinct biological features such as hormones, glands, the uterus, vagina, ovaries, and others. The hormones produced from these features make the body develop observable features such as breasts and others common in women.
Race can be defined from a biological point of view. Scientifically, people have different body features because of their genetic compositions, which are different based on their ancestry. Scientific evidence classifies people based on their races, which are specific due to differences in genetic compositions (Lindsey, 2020). Blacks, White, Latino, Asians, Natives, Aborigines, and other groups have specific genes that make them appear the way they are.
People with African ancestry tend to have dark skin because of a high level of melanosomes in their skin cells. Indians are second after Africans in terms of the level of melanosomes in their skin cells, followed by Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans in that order (Keister & Southgate, 2021). The rationale is scientifically proven because the higher the number of melanosomes in the skin cells, the higher the ability of an individual to withstand hot temperatures. People of African origins have had to overcome hot temperatures common in Africa, thus the need for more melanosomes.
Rebuttal
Despite the scientific evidence showing that Haslanger’s point of view is flawed, it is clear that her claim is justified. In her argument, Haslanger (2012) argues within the context of the social and political definition of both race and gender. It is worth noting that constructivism cuts through the cultural and political dimensions (Connell, 2020). Haslanger’s views are paradigmatic of political constructivism through the understanding of the meaning of gender and race as determined by hierarchical relations of power (Jenkins, 2016). The definition given to race and gender is variable and depends on the purpose that a society or group wants to achieve.
The terms gender and race do not have to mean themselves until people define what they want them to mean or imply from a social and political context. People define race and gender based on the social context of power and politics (Díaz-León, 2018). For example, despite the fact that scientific evidence proves that someone is half racial because he has both European and African genes, he is classified as “colored” and considered a “minority,” and in that case, “less privileged” or “disadvantaged.”
Conclusion
This review supports that both gender and race are real and both are social categories is constructive since defining both terms depends on the political aims in analyzing the past and present and in envisioning alternatives. Even though there is scientific evidence that provides specific definitions of gender and race, the terms are applied for the purpose of achieving some meaning due to political and social aspects.
References
Barnes, E. (2017). Realism and social structure. Philosophical Studies, 174(10), 2417-2433. Web.
Beeghly, E. (2021a). Embodiment and oppression: Reflections on haslanger, gender, and race. Lexington Books.
Beeghly, E. (2021b). Reflections on Haslanger, Gender, and Race. The logic of racial practice: Explorations in the habituation of racism. Lexington Books
Connell, R. (2020). The social organization of masculinity. Routledge.
Dash, J. (2019). The melanin effect. Independently Published.
Díaz-León, E. (2018). On Haslanger’s meta-metaphysics: Social structures and metaphysical deflationism. Disputatio: International Journal of Philosophy, 10(50).
Haslanger, S. (2012). Gender and race: (What) are they? (What) do we want them to be? In Resisting reality. Oxford University Press.
Haslanger, S. (2016). What is a (social) structural explanation? Philosophical Studies 173(1), 113-130.
Jenkins, K. (2016). Amelioration and inclusion: Gender identity and the concept of woman. Ethics, 126(2), 394-421.
Keister, L. A., & Southgate, D. E. (2021). Inequality: A contemporary approach to race, class, and gender. Cambridge University Press.
Lindsey, L. L. (2020). Gender: Sociological perspectives. Routledge.
Lynch, T. (2017). Social construction and social critique: Haslanger, race, and the study of religion. Critical Research on Religion, 5(3), 284-301. Web.
The term race was initially used to categorize individuals based on their roles in the society. In the 15th century England, for instance, phrases such as ‘the race of bishops’ or ‘the race of saints’ were commonly used (Suzuki and Von Vacano 142). In essence, this word was synonymous with ‘kind’ or ‘type’. Nonetheless, the meaning changed as from the 16th century when the British imperialists started using it to sort and rank various inhabitants of their colonies (Saini 144). The English people had traditionally sought to separate themselves from foreigners they regarded as inferior (Murray 323). Although Lentin insists that race is a biological attribute (84), Holst notes that a majority of the contemporary scientists perceive it as a reflection of cultural underpinnings (181). It is more plausible to consider it as a social construct rather than genetically determined.
The usage of race in biology
The manner in which biology has been used to explain race has changed overtime. Between the 1700s and the end of WW2, anthropology was employed to advance scientific racism (Lee and Tapia 655). This was particularly facilitated by such pseudo-disciplines as craniology and anthropometry (Suzuki and Von Vacano 97). The former refers to the drawing of conclusions about people on the basis of the measurement of their skulls (Saini 143). The latter defined and categorized individuals through the systematic quantification of their bodies (Lentin 99). The results of these processes were anthropological typologies in which human populations were classified into distinct groups based purely on their physical features.
Scientific racism has been discredited and is now regarded as obsolete. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that concepts which emerged from pseudo-disciplines are still being used to validate discrimination (Murray 528). The hierarchy that categorizes some individuals as inferior and others as superior has no genetic basis (Lee and Tapia 656). Race is now regarded as a sociopolitical phenomenon, and this is a consensus among physical anthropologists and other professionals who specialize in inherited characteristics (Suzuki and Von Vacano 191). Considering that these were the parties who initially perpetuated the myth about people’s differences, the rest of the society should embrace the new understanding.
Biology has actually helped invalidate the myth once reinforced by craniology and anthropometry. Anthropologists now believe that the size and shape of someone’s head is influenced by the environment, and not by genetics (Holst 183). Indeed, in his study in 1912, Franz Boas found that skull dimensions are determined nutrition during childhood (Saini 71). Later scientists have reanalyzed the data collected by Boas and conducted further meta-analysis on this subject (Suzuki and Von Vacano 102). It is noteworthy that they have consistently identified a connection between nourishment and a person’s physical stature (Lentin 64). Biology has, therefore, helped in refuting a view that it initially informed.
The usage of race in sociology
The mainstream view at the moment is that race is more likely to be a social construct than a biological one. Sociologist William Edward Burghardt Du Bois is reputed as having been a proponent of this opinion (Murray 334). He insisted that placing people into such discrete groups as Black and White tended to disregard the range of human diversity (Lee and Tapia 647). According to Holst, scientists have not discovered clusters of genes which would be deemed to be definitive of a certain category of people (184). It is rational to assume that such characteristics do not exist.
Categorization of people is inconsistent because the same individual would be classified differently depending on the society they live in. For instance, some of the individuals considered to be Black in the US may be thought of as White in Brazil (Saini 99). If they were in South Africa, they would be deemed to be colored (Suzuki and Von Vacano 188). Being described in a certain way compels people to embrace a corresponding attitude in life, and this is referred to as the stereotype threat (Lentin 74). Therefore, race is a fluid concept, and it would not be the case had it been a biological phenomenon.
Impact of racism on development
The colonialists needed a moral justification and a framework for stratifying the societies they conquered. As from the 16th century, therefore, the concept of race was meant to differentiate between individuals who could be exploited and oppressed from those who viewed themselves as masters (Lee and Tapia 659). The fact that this notion was perpetuated over several centuries makes it difficult to wholly dissipate (Saini 153). The intolerant find it convenient to propagate the invalidated view that someone’s ethnicity is hereditary (Suzuki and Von Vacano 57). In that case, anyone considered to be inferior on account of their race has no chance of being emancipated.
Historically, various racial groups in the US have faced stark discrimination. For instance, Blacks and American Indians have been denied social, educational, political, economic, and civil opportunities enjoyed by the members of the White community (Murray 138). This tradition has caused significant disparities in employment, income, housing, health, and criminal justice (Holst 190). Even if racism was to be completely eradicated, the impact of the past injustices is bound to continue (Lentin 124). Nonetheless, it is still morally right to seek ways and means of ensuring access to equal opportunities by all citizens irrespective of their backgrounds.
Differences between two concepts
Biological race is a concept based on pseudoscientific beliefs which hold that there is empirical evidence in support of the differences in between groups of people. Although the view originally received credence within the scientific community, it has since been invalidated (Murray 225). It is actually irreconcilable with the modern research on genetics (Suzuki and Von Vacano 72). Besides, it has been determined that the proponents of the idea were motivated by a sense of their own superiority which they saw as the justification to discriminate others.
The environment influence how healthy people are throughout their life. It does also play a significant role in predetermining the outcome of someone’s biological make-up and behavior (Holst 181). At its core, nonetheless, are the social dynamics which develop as a result of the cumulative experiences of a group of people (Lentin 156). Communities are essentially manmade, and so is the background in which a person lives (Saini 103). An individual’s surrounding may, however, not be of their own choosing. They may, for instance, be living under the subjugation of the powerful (Lee and Tapia 645). If this is continued for a long time, distinctive attributes emerge.
Traits as aptitude and intelligence have a lot to do with how someone was raised than who their ancestors were. In 1930, John Watson argued that it was possible to raise any infant into a professional of any kind (Lentin 87). He added that the perceived individual talents, penchants, and the demographics of the parents do not matter (Murray 148). According to Saini, other scientists have collaborated Watson’s views (119-120). Therefore, those who have been disenfranchised for long may appear to be unintelligent and unable to establish a career, but these problems are environmental and not biological.
The environment also affects the color of the skin as well. According to Holst, individuals who have lived in the tropics for a significant period of time have darker complexions than those who inhabit the Arctic regions (176). People’s abilities have nothing to do with the variations in the pigmentation of their skins (Murray 321). The citizens of the Kingdom of Kush used relatively advanced technology and they were proficient in medicine and mathematics, and yet they were Black (Lee and Tapia 642; Saini 151). Had they not been conquered and subjugated, it is likely that their civilization would have continued to flourish (Suzuki and Von Vacano 92). Therefore, the mantle of science may no longer be utilized to justify differences between human beings.
Conclusion
The fact that race is predominantly influenced by manmade environments, the concept is artificial. It may appear to be genetic as some aspects of it are inherited by from someone’s ancestors, but they are initially activated through social means. If people are treated equally and have access to similar opportunities, there would be insignificant differences between them in the end. Therefore, the resolution of the challenges associated with discrimination and intolerance necessitate social approaches rather than biological remedies.
References
Holst, John D. “Toward a Theory of Race, Change, and Antiracist Education.” Adult Education Quarterly, vol. 70, no. 2, 2020, pp. 175–192. Web.
Lee, Tamara L., and Maite Tapia. “Confronting Race and Other Social Identity Erasures: The Case for Critical Industrial Relations Theory.” ILR Review, vol. 74, no. 3, 2021, pp. 637–662. Web.
Lentin, Alana. Why Race Still Matters. Wiley, 2020.
Murray, Charles. Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class. Grand Central Publishing, 2020.
Saini, Angela. Superior: The Return of Race Science. Beacon Press, 2019.
Suzuki, Kazuko and Diego A. Von Vacano. Reconsidering Race: Social Science Perspectives on Racial Categories in the Age of Genomics. Oxford University Press, 2018.
The USA is known as the most diverse and multicultural country in the world. Although the race relations have been much improved by Obama, there are still many stereotypes in the society. Some Caucasians are still alienated towards African-American or Latino men. Latino and African-American minorities are still chased by the police. All Arabs are suspected of terrorism.
These racial stereotypes are historically established. Nevertheless, there are some current reasons for such race divisions in the USA. For example, the popularity of rap music touching upon race relationships and propagandizing hostility to other nations makes the situation worse. The media pays more attention to the current incidents concerning race relationships. More than that, the mass media is used to introduce these racial stereotypes to society.
Media and culture are not the main reasons for racial divisions. The attitude of everyone towards the representative of another culture or another nation depends on personal beliefs. Although the current government has done all possible to improve the race relationships in the USA this problem remains still unsolved because of people’s attitudes. Not every American realizes that this problem really exists and needs solving. The thoughts of people and their attitude to each other cannot be controlled by the government. Despite many destructed legal barriers, divisions still remain, but they exist in our hearts, not in the law.
That is why this problem should be solved at the individual level. Even if the government propagandizes the unification of all nations and an unbiased attitude to each other through different means of mass media, individual attitude is impossible to be controlled. The law can force people to respect each other but it does not change their feelings. This current issue is moral in our time as far as the people’s attitude to each other depends on their moral principles.
Respect for each other should be fostered from childhood. That is why it is very important to introduce the notion of racial unity in the school program. American history should be presented from another point of view. Everyone should realize the irreparable consequences and historical mistakes connected with slavery and racial discrimination. All citizens of the USA should want to improve racial relationships.
Mass media and pop culture as the main means to propagandize the race unification
Although Obama’s presidency has improved the racial situation in the USA this current issue is still unsolved. The people’s attitude to each other depends on their personal beliefs and moral principles which are impossible to be controlled by the government. Nevertheless, the government may pay more attention to the mass media and American culture that sometimes make racial relationships worse. The government may use these means to propagandize respectful attitudes to each other and racial unification.
The necessity to include the race issue in educational programs
More than that, such a respectful attitude should be fostered from childhood that is why it is very important to include this issue in the school programs.
The real problem is in a personal attitude of people to each other
All these means will be futile if one does not realize the necessity to improve their attitude to each other personally. Everyone should understand that all people despite their color of skin are citizens of the USA and have equal rights and responsibilities and nobody has the right to humiliate others only because of the color of their skin. People should be evaluated according to their qualities and merits not according to their appearance or race.
Racism began to take effect in America from as early as in the 1920s. Americans had started getting quite uncomfortable with the black immigrants. They began to oppose the entry of black people into their country in disguise as a purification process (Jones). In order to do this, they formed two groups, which included the White Anglo Saxon Protestant W.A.S.P., and the Ku Klux Klan K.K.K. (Winders). The former engaged legal processes in their effort to stop black immigrants from entering the country by persuading the Congress to pass laws, which hampered the entry of black immigrants. On the other hand, the KKK an informal organization which engaged force and physical coercion to drive people whom they deemed as a threat to the United States the Negroes being among them (Grosfoguel).
The Ku Klux Klan
According to Murphy, hatred leveled against the Jews, Catholics, and immigrants intensified as the membership of the Ku Klux Klan escalated rapidly in 1924 (63). Simmons, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan made the organization a 100% American organization (Murphy, 1990). The new Klan justified their position pretending to be working in the best interest of the American people. The World War I had a major influence on the increase of immigrants in the United States of America. This was due to the labor shortage caused by war hence creating an unprecedented demand for labor and more importantly cheap labor. Black people regarded as a breed of slaves formed the most suitable candidates for the increasing manual labor in the factories.
The KKK was an anti-African-American organization that vowed zero tolerance the black community living in the south. The organization generated fear among the black community by burning their churches, raping the women, committing murder upon the black community, as well as castrating the males. This operation was so fierce that even the white population that did not support the illegal victimization of the black immigrants could not express their concerns for fear of attacks. However, it was during this period that America experienced immense growth in terms of urbanization and technology. Major cities emerged during this period and so did the number of immigrants.
The level of violence and lynching
The black population suffered greatly under the hands of Americans who were fighting to establish the White Anglo Saxon Protestant ‘W.A.S.P’. The Americans lynched many black Americans especially former soldiers soon after the world war. Needle-man in his book referred to an incident that occurred in Chicago where a huge race riot emerged after an African-American accidentally entered a ‘whites only’ beach (23). Twenty-five black Americans and nine whites died in Tulsa in 1921 due to a series of serious race riots as well (Merrill & Paterson). The situation became worse every day drifting further the possible peaceful interaction between the whites and blacks. The level of violence was becoming intolerable and fear and intimidation spread all over the black Americans camps.
The ramifications of immigration prohibitive policies
The Klan’s influence increased and the ramifications of its existence were disastrous to the black community. Enjoying the political support due to its influence, the Klan was able to carry on its activities against the blacks. The First World War was the center of the prohibitive policies with regard to immigration rules. The main intention of prohibiting immigrants from entering the country was to block the Germans whom the Americans saw as a threat to their country. However, these policies affected all other immigrants including the Australians. Deemed as a land of opportunities, America’s open door policy begun to shut down and the already existing immigrants experienced the immense hostility that began to build up against them (Carnoy).
Causes of hatred for immigrants
The hatred between Americans and immigrants was not only political. The Americans blamed immigrants for the social problems experienced during that particular period. McKerche disclosed, “The Americans hated the immigrants for their physical look as well since most of the immigrants were malnourished with quite frightening physical deformities” (87). Consequently, the black community was a victim of the hatred leveled against immigrants. Economically, the blacks as well as other immigrants brought in unmatched competition in the job market. Most of them were very poor living in very difficult conditions and were willing to work with very little pay and under unbearable conditions as opposed to the Americans. For this reason, the Americans hated their existence in their country and were determined to keep them away.
The availability of cheap labor was not something the Americans were prepared to accept and the Klan came in handy to protect the Americans interest by threatening the blacks and making their lives despondent. By this, they hoped they would successfully avert all the troubles deemed associated with the presence of the blacks and other immigrants. Racial abuse and prejudice not only influenced by political fear, but also religious beliefs, social and economic factors played a major role too. The government, despite the fact that it was a democratic government did nothing to support the black people from the oppressive hostility. It showed little or no concern with regard to defending the black citizens whose population had grown substantially especially in the southern states. The blacks among other privileges were not allowed to vote as they were not regarded as Americans hence could not be involved in any decision making process.
Voting rights denied
Any attempt by the black community to pursue a right to vote attracted great resistance and intimidation especially by the Klan. This was the height of blacks’ discrimination as they formed the majority of the Mississippi and Louisiana state’s population (Marger). Despite that fact, the blacks were not in a position to influence any political changes concerning their own governance. This was because the republican government consistently turned a blind eye on the mounting racism and segregation the southern states. That is why most of the political leaders from the south were democrats including Roosevelt although he too did very little to challenge segregation.
Conclusion
Clearly, racism was an issue that began and continued in American soon after the First World War supporting the notion that it was a politically influenced phenomenon. However, as the hatred and riots continued to gain momentum, the reasons broadened up to the religious, social, and economic disparities. The hatred between the native and the immigrants especially the blacks was immense and led to a number of regrettable deaths raising global concerns. This caused the black communities to unite and attempt to fight for their rightful position as American citizens. To achieve this, a number of political movements for the blacks came up. They included the National Association for the Advancement of colored people, the NAACP, and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, UNIA (McKee).
References
Carnoy, Martin. Faded Dreams: The Politics and Economics of Race in America Martin, Cambridge, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print.
Grosfoguel, Raman. Race and Ethnicity or Racialized Ethnicities? Identities within Global Coloniality, Berkeley, USA: University of California, 2011. Print.
Jones, William. The Tribe of Black Ulysses: African-American Lumber Workers in the Jim crow South, Illinois, USA: University of Illinois Press, 1990. Print.
Merger, Martin. Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspectives, Hampshire, U.K: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
McKee, James. Sociology and the Race Problem: THE FAILURE OF A PERSPECTIVE, Illinois, USA: University of Illinois Press, 1993. Print.
McKerche, John. Anglo-American Relations in the 1920s: The Struggle for Supremacy, Alberta, USA: University of Alberta, 1990. Print.
Merrill, Dennis, and Thomas Paterson. Major Problems in American Foreign Relations: To 1920, Hampshire, U.K: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
Murphy, Marjorie. Blackboard Unions: The AFT and the NEA, 1900-1980, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Needle-man, Ruth. Black Freedom Fighters in Steel: The Struggle for Democratic Unionism, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003. Print.
Winders, Jamie. Changing politics of race and region: Latino migration to the US South, Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University, 2010. Print.