Category: Racism

It can be understood how numerous issues present themselves in diverse political situations by using the example of the contemporary United States. The issue of race has long been prominent in American history, and my personal values and assumptions about the issue impacted the choice of the topic. The terrible yet eye-opening events of May 31 and June 1 in 1921 in Tulsa served as a reminder of the dark side of people. As African Americans economic prosperity rose, a sense of fear and jealousy spread among Tulsas white residents. The Tulsa Race Massacre should be viewed as the critical point where racism and intolerance can lead the community. The significance of the issue cannot be dismissed even today, more than 100 years after the event. Therefore, the research question is to evaluate the reasons and the outcomes of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Moreover, the lessons that should be learned from this event should be taken into account, and the possibility of its repeat should be eradicated. The ongoing BLM movement reflects that the numerous similar events from the beginning of the 20^th century did not change the global situation.

The research is based on utilizing three up-to-date secondary sources. Secondary sources take into account the controversy of the official documentation and use many additional unofficial information. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: Crafting a Legacy by Messer (2021) elaborates on the legacy of the event and its repercussions and offers a profound analysis of the issue, which strengthened my focus of the research. The Tulsa Race Riot by Harris & Carser (2019) critically analyses the event itself, its underlying causes, and the official response. It offers a multilayered analysis of the event and sociopolitical climate surrounding the region. The narrative bias, a key component of the event and its aftermath, was researched in the Tulsa, 1921: Reporting a massacre by Krehbiel (2019). This source offered profound research on the issue of bias in coverage of the massacre.

Systematic anti-black racism persisted unchecked in early 20th-century America. The customary mob incursions into black areas known as race riots got worse (Harris & Carser, 2019). In the face of rising black self-confidence, equally horrifying lynchingsacts of domestic terrorism intended to establish white supremacytook center stage (Messer, 2021). In addition to punishing specific individuals, these heinous crimes employed awful lynching violence against others to convey a message about the social order of the time.

The local newspaper published a story about an alleged attempted rape of a Greenwood resident on May 31, 1921. This report painted an outrageous picture of an evil man trying to rape a good-hearted white girl in a downtown Tulsa public building during the day (Krehbiel, 2019). The defendant was detained in custody by the authorities as a rising white mob threatened to lynch him. African Americans hastened to the defense and marched twice to the courts, some carrying weapons. Following a night of gunfire, tens of thousands of white, armed mensome of whom were assisted by local law enforcementinvaded and completely destroyed the Greenwood neighborhood using a scorched-earth strategy that left little unharmed (Messer, 2021). The violence was stopped by the National Guard. Martial laws declaration, the imprisonment of black Tulsans, and certain mystery burial practices that may have involved mass graves were among them (Messer, 2021). Moreover, there were millions of dollars in property damage, hundreds of fatalities, and countless numbers of injuries.

The loss of trust between black and white communities and the failure to transmit acquired wealth are the two primary victims of the massacre that contribute to these differences and have an impact on day-to-day living. Local law enforcement has mostly replaced the white mafia that wiped out the Greenwood neighborhood in 1921 (Messer, 2021). Following the killing, local white leaders made several pledges to reconstruct the Greenwood neighborhood, but these promises were mostly broken. Therefore, trust is a major problem lasting for decades.

For a very long time, and even in Tulsa, it was not common practice to recall this chapter in American history. It was only at the beginning of the past decade that it was first mentioned in history textbooks. The Tulsa Massacre Commission of Inquiry was established by the state legislature only in 1996, marking the beginning of the storys public relations efforts (Messer, 2021). The final report was the outcome of the Commissions five years of work and was published in 2001 (Krehbiel, 2019). Another outcome of the Commissions actions is that numerous sources report a victim count that is entirely at odds with the official figure. Only 39 deaths could be formally confirmed by the state commission, of whom 26 were African Americans, and 13 were white (Harris, D & Carser, 2019). More than 800 people were hurt, and more than 10,000 African Americans were left homeless as a result (Krehbiel, 2019). Attempts were made to locate the graves of those killed in this atrocity using contemporary technology, however, all of these efforts were unsuccessful. The first of these locations was only discovered in October 2020, according to a message published in The New York Times (Messer, 2021). The knowledge and the research of the event were severely hardened by the prevailing narrative bias and other obstacles from the official institutions. Even the massacre itself was fuelled by the racist narrative from the local tabloid, which attempted to strike the eye with the article content. The perspective of the African American community was completely silenced, and it is still very rare to see the other side of the narrative.

The connection between the past and present is evident in this case. Researching historical context is vital in such multifaceted issues as race and ethnicity. Racial and ethnic variety is prevalent at all levelscommunity, state, national, and international. The way we treat each other as individuals defines us as a community. In 1921, Tulsa failed in this endeavor in an unimaginably traumatizing fashion, with long-lasting repercussions that affected generations. Economic and educational prospects have increased for some people in the decades since then, but far too few. The persistent gaps in nearly every sphereincluding social, economic, political, educational, and medicalare unmistakable evidence that the generational trauma that caused and has continued to maintain the fundamental cracks in the community calls for much more effort in each of parts to mend.

Despite the fact that the widespread racist slaughter that forever changed US history occurred more than 100 years ago, hundreds of African Americans still lose their lives to police shootings every year. As a result, the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in May of last year has come to represent racism in the nation. It became evident that there were still serious barriers to African American rights in the United States when millions of Americans protested the killing of African American Floyd on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre. Exploring the roots of the issue and attempting to question the established narrative is a key to the development on both individual and societal levels. More historically informed individuals will attempt not to repeat past mistakes and create a community where everyone will be a crucial part of it.

References

Harris, D., & Carser, A. R. (2019). The Tulsa Race Riot. ABDO.

Krehbiel, R. (2019). Tulsa, 1921: Reporting a massacre. University of Oklahoma Press.

Messer, C. M. (2021). The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: Crafting a Legacy. Springer Nature.

The Flint municipal fiscal solvencys goals subordinated the people of Flint, Michigan, and devalued their lives, illustrating a perfect example of racial capitalism and environmental racism resulting from ill-intentioned austerity measures.

Laura Pulidos article is centered on the themes of racial capitalism and environmental racism. The Flint crisis is a result of the neoliberal approach of the local state as opposed to the typical factors of environmental injustice; a polluter or a reckless emitter cutting costs. This story attracted widespread attention because of the more prominent political, historical, and economic factors behind it (Pulido 1). The municipal Emergency Fiscal Manager (EFM) was pin-pointed as the key player in the ordeal with his austerity measures. This controversy is one of the rare occasions when the public acknowledges that environmental racism is structural, as has been the case in the neoliberal and liberal eras.

The people of Flint have been devalued, and the basis of this treatment is on their surplus status and blackness, two mutually constituted constructs. For many centuries, black and other non-white races have been subject to global capitalism (Pulido 2). The capital and local governments abandoned Flint decades ago, and it became increasingly for the poor, mostly Blacks. The evidence underscoring this neglect of this place includes the shrinking democratic practices, infrastructure, and services. For instance, the officials were well aware of the impact of their actions on the people of Flint, but they proceeded to poison their water. The citys EFM sought an alternative water source instead of accepting the renegotiating terms with Detroit to continue using its river (Pulido 4). Therefore, this article argues that the easiest way to understand the Flint disaster is to use the apparent connection between capitalism and racism in that crisis.

The authors consistent use of poisoning instead of contamination is justified because the former is deliberate and evil while the latter could not have revealed the authors stance regarding this ordeal. The two main factors leading to the poisoning of the city of Flint are capitalism and racism. People of color have always been viewed as a surplus population, and this example illustrates how they are devalued based on their race and social class (Pulido 1). The city was slowly decapitated through the promotion of white flight, which neoliberalism policies facilitated. As a result, there were massive cuts to social services because of the shrinking tax base. Amid this challenging economic state, the local state, through its tyrannical Emergency Fiscal Manager, Darnell Earley, used austerity measures even when it was evident that it was difficult to make up the tax base difference (Pulido 4). This decision is a clear illustration of the intertwinement between environmental racism and racial capitalism.

Laura Pulidos argument is intriguing and convincing based on the many facts she reveals concerning Flints water poisoning. Indeed, the neoliberal policies neglect people of color and strip them of their capability to add capital to the economy, which is the basis of their evaluation. Moreover, the devaluation of blackness is a historical aspect since Michigan state authorities allowed white flight leaving behind the surplus people, primarily blacks. For example, General Motors (GM), an automobile manufacturing company, was established in this state in the early 20th century, and it immensely contributed to the thriving of the local economies (Pulido 6). However, its deindustrialization hit African Americans harder than their white counterparts because the former have been historically relegated as a sub-ordinate people due to racial capitalism. The powers of the EFM should be eliminated because they have, on several occasions, been used in despotic and racialized ways. Additionally, stringent measures must be enforced to eliminate redlining. Lastly, the government needs to consider promoting economic equality in Flint, Michigan, through such approaches as universal healthcare, free public college, and fiscal stimulation during times of economic hardship coupled with non-discriminatory housing policies.

Introduction

Education has often been a predicting factor when it comes to the lives of American citizens regardless of their race, color, or creed. However, research studies have shown that most minority races such as Hispanics, Native Americans, and African Americans have a chance of about fifty percent of graduating from college when compared to other races.

Consequently, it is true that African American might have to contend with below average lives as a result of this academic inequality. For instance, some political elements have alluded to African Americans being uneducated and unwilling to do so.

The association of the African American race with criminal tendencies can also be traced back to their access and involvement with formal education. There is a need to address the problem of black people and access to formal education in a more exhaustive manner. Currently, empty rhetoric and stereotyping dominates the debate on educational attainment in regards to racial discrimination.

There is also a significant chance of minorities having problems with their careers even after they attain formal education. Standardized tests also pose a challenge to minorities in regards to their attainment of formal education.

In average, African Americans perform poorly than the White majority in their standardized tests. In this report, the issue of educational discrimination and its long-term effects on the lives of colored people will be explored. In addition, this report will be useful to educational stakeholders in their quest for finding a lasting solution to the issues of educational attainment and racial discrimination.

Educational Discrimination

Educational inequality is a major factor in the issues of the educational-discrimination of African Americans. Educational inequality can be defined as the difference in the learning results, or efficacy that is experienced by students who come from different socio-economic groups (NicholsonCrotty, Birchmeier, and Valentine 1005).

On the other hand, success in education is often measured in terms of grades that are assigned to students after they have gone through standardized tests. Overall success in education can be measured through college-entry rates and completion statistics. All these factors can be traced back to African Americans and their chances of success in educational attainment.

After failing to attain commendable levels of education, African Americans might experience difficulties engaging in further education even later on in life. For instance, graduating from high school can dictate whether an individual is eligible to apply and be accepted into any post high school education (Altonji and Blank 3200).

Statistics have also indicated that African Americans perform poorly in the two standardized tests (ACT and SAT) that are required in order for individuals to be admitted to colleges and universities (Chavous 1081). Other majority groups have been found to have access to tools that enable them to perform better in standardized tests.

The problems of African Americans suffering through an unequal education system have been reiterated by a former College Board President who once said; tests are not the problem&students are not the problem&the problem we have is an unfair education system in America&an unequal educational system (NicholsonCrotty, Birchmeier, and Valentine 1006).

Attempts have been made to eliminate the inequality element of the American educational system but none of these has achieved any significant results. For instance, between 2001 and 2005 there were extensive attempts to revamp the SAT testing procedures with the view of bridging the inequality gap in education.

Effects of Educational Inequality: Income

Educational inequalities often translate to subsequent problems in the lives of African Americans. One of these effects of educational inequality is income. Income inequalities among individuals and households have been found to have a direct connection to levels of education attainment. For instance, a typical Black family had 60% as much income as a white family in 1968, but only 58% as much in 2002 (Steele and Aronson 439).

These trends indicate that even after the attainment of Civil Rights, black families still make considerably less money than white families. This disparity in income has often been attributed to the education factor. An individuals level of education determines how much money he/she can make.

Governments and other stakeholders have also emphasized on the need for an individual to have a good level of education if he/she wants to get ahead. The National Center for Policy Analysis validates that people who drop out of high school earn fifty percent less than the individuals who graduate do (Fordham and Ogbu 179).

In addition, the same data bank indicates that individuals who graduate from college earn approximately 80% more money than individuals who only have a high school diploma. The percentage of individuals who graduate from college has remained steady for the last few decades thereby raising the question of what can be done to elevate the status of minorities in respect to educational attainment and income enhancement.

When income levels are limited, it also means that most African American families do not have what it takes to raise the quality levels of their childrens education. This quagmire compounds the solution of income inequality in relation to educational attainment.

Social Mobility

Lack of adequate educational attainment also hampers individuals from attaining social mobility. Social mobility refers to the movement in class status from one generation to another (Chiswick 479). The lives of most African Americans are mostly synonymous with the notion of rags to riches where an individual has to work hard to overcome the constraints of a previously diminutive lifestyle.

However, the rags to riches notion also coincides with the fact that the rates of social mobility among African Americans are oddly low. For most part of the lives of African Americans, social mobility has often been as a result of exceptional talent as opposed to educational attainment (Steele and Aronson 437).

In addition, most sociologists and economists are in agreement that the rates of social mobility in the United States have most likely stagnated or decreased over the last three decades. This period of the last thirty years also coincides with the tumultuous juncture through when the African American race has undergone through a series of challenges.

A stratified educational system is to blame for the general lack of upward mobility among African Americans. Education opens doors for individuals, therefore lack of adequate levels of this valuable commodity is poised to close doors of upward mobility among African Americans.

It is also important to note that while wages of individuals who have college degrees have increased tremendously over the last 50 years, individuals who lack any significant formal education have seen their wages stagnate or drop over the same period of time.

Overall, the educational system forces low-income families to place their children into less-than-ideal school systems those children are typically not presented with the same opportunities and educational motivation as are students from well-off families, resulting in patterns of repeated intergenerational educational choices for parent and child, also known as decreased or stagnant social mobility (Chavous 1070).

Educational Discrimination as a Catalyst for Social/Racial Discrimination

America is currently a hot bed of social and racial discrimination, and low levels of academic attainment have acted as catalysts for this problem. In America, having a job or a good level of education does not necessarily exempt individuals from racial discrimination. Racial discrimination in America appears to be targeted at individuals indiscriminately thereby affecting various individuals differently. Statistics indicate that managers and other distinguished professionals earn considerably higher wages than other ordinary employees do (Altonji and Blank 3150).

However, attaining a top-level position depends on a number of factors among them being an individuals level of education. An average African American who aspires to hold a significant position in the society experiences discrimination both in regards to skin color and level/type of education. Therefore, an individual being disadvantaged in terms of educational attainment acts as a precipitating factor when it comes to matters of racial discrimination.

In the American workforce, social discrimination is rife because African Americans are twice as likely as Caucasians to end up in the service sector and other menial jobs that require low levels of educational attainment. Other current statistics indicate that within the past decade the percentage of workers who are managers of professionals increased from 29 percent to 33 percent for whites and from 16 percent to 22 percent for blacks (Chiswick 580). Coincidentally, these statistics are supposed to reflect an uplifting of the position of African Americans in the American workplace.

Recommended Solutions to Educational Attainment

This is the most opportune time to tackle the issue of educational attainment and racial discrimination. The issue of racism has almost come to a full circle in America, and there are various solutions that can salvage the issue of educational attainment among African Americans. The most sound solution to the issue of race and discrimination is to ensure that educational opportunities are made available to all people irrespective of all their racial affiliation.

The other approach is to ensure that all learners are subjected through a fair and balanced assessment system. For instance, some assessment methods were conjured when it the needs of the minority were often ahead of the needs of the majority.

Consequently, these types of systems cannot provide sound solutions to the problem of educational attainment among African Americans. Yet another approach to inequality issues is to have the government come up legislation policies that can aid in eliminating the biases that apply to the American educational system.

Online education is also set to harmonize educational systems in the United States and across the world because they are more considerate of the needs of the majority and they are also intended for mass consumption. The government and other stakeholders should also look into cases where educational inequality has been reversed in countries such as South Africa and India (Fordham and Ogbu 200).

Conclusion

Issues of educational attainment and racial discrimination among African Americans have been persistent throughout the history of America. On the other hand, it was assumed that the imbalances would be easily phased out after Civil Rights liberties were bestowed on all Americans (Steele and Aronson 437).

Academic discrimination is precipitated by income levels and standardized tests and it is often manifested through lack of social mobility and job-based social discrimination. The government and other stakeholders hold the key solutions to the issue of educational inequality.

Works Cited

Altonji, Joseph, and Rebecca Blank. Race and Gender in the Labor Market. Handbook of Labor Economics 3.1 (2009): 3143-3259. Print.

Chavous, Tabbye M., et al. Racial Identity and Academic Attainment among African American Adolescents. Child Development 74.4 (2003): 1076-1090. Print.

Chiswick, Barry. Differences in Education and Earnings across Racial and Ethnic Groups: Tastes, Discrimination, and Investments in Child Quality. The Quarterly Journal of Economics (2008): 571-597. Print.

Fordham, Signithia, and John Ogbu. Black Students School Success: Coping With the Burden of Acting White. The Urban Review 18.3 (1996): 176-206. Print.

NicholsonCrotty, Sean, Zachary Birchmeier, and David Valentine. Exploring the Impact of School Discipline on Racial Disproportion in the Juvenile Justice System. Social Science Quarterly 90.4 (2009): 1003-1018. Print.

Steele, Claude, and John Aronson. Stereotypes and the Fragility of Academic Competence, Motivation, and Self-Concept. Handbook of Competence and Motivation (2005): 436-455. Print.

Racism can be a major challenge especially when certain races or groups of people decide to treat others as inferior or incompetent within a society. Recent studies have indicated that most of the young Australians from culturally different backgrounds are constantly experiencing various forms of racism in their daily lives.

Over 70 % of the individuals were experiencing various racist scenarios in their daily lives (Schools the Major Site for Youth Racism, New Report Finds 2012). The situation is worse for those in schools because they experienced various racist behaviors.

The widely affected groups include refugees and migrants into the country. Most of the migrants into the country continue to face higher chances of experiencing a racist incident in the country. It is also notable that most of Anglo-Australians do not suffer from such racist behaviours. Some of the challenges affecting most of the young Australians include name-calling and inability to secure a job based on their cultural backgrounds.

Studies have also showed clearly that gender contributes to the problem of racism in the country. Most of the young girls stand a higher chance of abuse compared to boys. As well, these groups have been experiencing poor living and health conditions (The Impact of Racism Upon the Health and Well Being of Youth Australians 2009).

This situation is also becoming worse for those in their senior years of schooling. This is the case because most of the young Australians should join schools in order to get quality education. That being the case, those from culturally diverse backgrounds continue to face numerous challenges due to the wave of racism.

From the very start, most of the migrants into the country will always find it hard to secure a place in most of the schools. This forces the young children to look for other schools. At the same time, young Australians from diverse backgrounds are treated badly or with suspicion whenever buying things in a shop (The Impact of Racism Upon the Health and Well Being of Youth Australians 2009).

More often than not, most of the students and learners are required to produce their identity cards even while dressed in their school uniforms simply because they are from different backgrounds. Sometimes most of these young Australians should justify their actions and behaviours to the police even after engaging in a harmless activity.

The individuals also find it impossible to walk together as a group or with other children from different backgrounds. While in school, the teachers abuse or punish these young Australians even after doing something that is harmless (Schools the Major Site for Youth Racism, New Report Finds 2012). There are also incidences of discrimination in most of the schools and in the wider society.

Discrimination also occurs based on an individuals skin color, religious affiliation, and gender. This explains why majority of the young Australians from diverse cultural backgrounds continue to face numerous challenges and racist behaviors in the country.

From this discussion, it is notable that most of the young Australians from diverse backgrounds are constantly facing numerous challenges. As a result, these individuals are unable to live a happy life and eventually fail to acquire quality education.

The most troubling fact is that there is very little being done to deal with the problem. That being the case, the government should institute new legislations and policies to deal with this problem of racism and empower teachers and parents through continued training in youth diversity (The Impact of Racism Upon the Health and Well Being of Youth Australians 2009).

List of References

Schools the Major Site for Youth Racism, New Report Finds 2012. Web.

The Impact of Racism Upon the Health and Well Being of Youth Australians 2009. Web.

The narrative on the Life of Frederick Douglass is all about the harassment Frederick experiences before he escapes to freedom. In the book, Douglass informs the reader of the information about brutality pain and humiliation during the slavery period. He reveals the cruelty of both victims and perpetrators. As one of the slaves, Douglass witnessed all forms of brutality the black people faced due to their color. He is keen to narrate on the discomfort and suffering, and he fought back for freedom by attaining education. However, the form of education offered by their masters was not of help. The masters feared that if slaves were educated, it would become hard to be managed. The paper acknowledges the nature of enslavement, negative of slavery, difference’s experiences of slaves in Baltimore and Maryland, and surprises made by Frederick Douglass.

Violence and Preservation of Slavery

Douglass, in the book, believed that although he was as a slave, his entire mind was not enslaved. He reveals that slavery created a lot of violence between the masters and slaves. The white people did not only physically dominate the slaves but also controlled slaves by creating fear and refusing to provide an appropriate education. The battle he experienced with Mr. Convey regenerate freedom and recuperated the sense of his manhood. Douglass planned his first escape together with other four colleagues in 1836. He explained how they were allowed to travel to Chesapeake Bay, although one of the slave people betrayed them, and they were arrested for two years. Notably, Douglass explains the abuse and violent treatment of slaves as some of the difficulties faced by slaves. He witnessed even to his family members’ violence. For instance, his aunt was beaten by Captain Antony without and reservation.” I have often been awakened at the dawn of the day by the most heart-rending ahreks of my aunt” (Douglas 27). Their masters used violence as a way of pleasure without considering the mental and physical suffering experienced by the slaves. The harassment of the slaves did not only affect the affected individual but the surrounding environment. During the slavery period, labor was carried out without any rewards, followed by corporal punishment that resulted from mistakes done by the slaves. Nonetheless, Douglass believed that instead of being fearful, he tried to overcome the minds of their master by the use of his knowledge that was unexpected and condemned.

Douglass, in his book, has depicted many memorable events that resulted in opposition to the slave master. According to the American history on slavery, “White masters had virtually unlimited powers both physical and legal, over the slaves” (Douglass 297). The master treated slaves as being animals who worked their plantations farms. Young children faced difficulties since their mothers were sold to other neighborhood slaveholders. Also, women were treated as concubines, and the masters had no respect for them and forced to live in quarters in ordinary beds and on damp floors (Douglass 55). According to Fredrick, slaves were treated as part of properties owned by the masters, and this notion made Fredrick hate slavery. The majority of them were denied food in some instances by the masters despite the hard work in the farm plantations.

In the book, Douglass reveals that slavery had a different perception in various locations. For instance, he was surprised by what he found in New Bedford. In his expectations, he thought that people in the North have no difference in his original homeland. He assumed that people who own slaves were comfortable and rich. However, in New Bedford, things were different in that they were large and crowded warehouses of commodities and clean houses. Individuals here behaved in proper manners, hardworking, and intelligent. Residents were happy and healthy compared to their counterparts in Maryland. The place where Douglass resided in the Northern part, the owner, was not a slave owner or wealthy, but was religious, moral, and politically informed. However, things in the North part were not also perfect since he experienced prejudice in his calking business, and he finds difficulties in landing into a new job. It was clear that the North part was not free from discrimination, but it stands out as a more pleasant place to dwell. Douglass was among the chosen slave children to go and lives in Baltimore, and here he lived with Hugh Auld. The place was one of the densely populated, and residents worked in the shipbuilding and maritime. Slaves were treated differently here in Baltimore, and slavery was close to freedom. He had enough food, clothing, and more other privileges that were rare to find in rural areas. The masters also never wanted the reputation of being termed as being cruel, and therefore they did not involve in any form of cruelty due fear of public shame. The majority of the slaves were treated well as compared to those in plantations.

Douglass lived in Hugh’s place for seven years, and it’s from here he learned how to write. He learned it without having a regular teacher since his mistress was not allowed to give more instructions. In his first meeting, with the mistress, Douglass viewed her transformation by use of a heavy heart. Also, she treated him as a human being and provided all the required basic needs. Notably, in Hugh’s place was not able to access newspaper, but his desire to read and write triumphed him. His plan to get an education was centered when he started making friends with poor white children of Baltimore, and with time, he could little. He could complete his chores and hurriedly go to meet with his new friends. In most cases, he could give them bread since he was better off than the majority of them. The idea of him being a slave attracted the young new friends. Douglass, learned how to read and writes through friendship bribery and cunning. He learned how to write by critically observing letters of the young Thomas Aulds copybooks. Columbian Orator was one of the influential early texts that Fredrick used to perfect his reading and writing skills. Also, he started to have a deep understanding of abolition, and the concept had earlier affected his consciousness.

Negative Impacts of Slavery

Douglass, throughout the book, has elaborated slavery was associated with a lot of difficulties. According to him, slavery hardens people’s lives, taught them to hate and even harms instead of embracing respect and love for other people. For instance, he explained how Mr. Plummer was a miserable drunkard and a savage monster. “ I saw more clearly than ever the brutalizing effects of slavery upon both slaveholders and slaves.” People typically think about the positive impacts of slavery on the slaveholder, such as getting cheap labor but forget on the adverse effects of slave people such as living in harsh conditions. In the book, Fredrick is concerned with Thomas Auld, Edward Covey, and Sophia Auld as some of the Masters in explaining the negative impacts of slavery. For instance, Thomas Auld was a poor man, and with time he possessed all the slaves by marriage. He was a cruel and coward slaveholder and did not have the capability of managing all his slaves. Nonetheless, he concentrated on power and even wished to identify as the master by his slaves (Douglass 76)

In the book, slavery was a system that was termed to be detestable and disgusting. Slavery destroyed people’s fate of individuals and persecuted them both mentally and physically. Slaves experience rape cases from their masters and also did not allow slaves to marry in peace. Also, they were obliged to cheat about their situations, and this makes them unhappy and unsatisfied. Moreover, slavery intoxicated the system used in Maryland. Fredrick heavily criticized the slaveholders who came from the South, who used Christianity to justify the bondage of slave people. In his statement, Fredrick referred Mr. Covey, “professor of religious class leader, the pious soul in the Methodist church “(Douglass 42). Slavery did not have negative impacts on the slaves only but also to the slaveholders whereby soon after people become enlightened, being educated, they were economically affected.” Thus is slavery the enemy of both the slave and the slaveholder” (Douglass 31). The slaveholders were affected by the so-called peculiar institution and eventually fell prey to vices of humanity.

Douglass was keen to indicate in his book that the slaveholder used religion as a way of exploiting the slaves. The slave’s songs were referred to as the prayers, and they represented part of communion with God. In the book, Douglass indicated that he decided to move to Baltimore as a result of divine intervention. Also, the majority of slaves embraced the biblical stories on the struggles the Israel people faced. Douglass’s book is a man of surprises, and throughout his narrative, he was so determined and dedicated to the issue of slavery. What surprises most is how he learned to read and write by bribing poor white children with bread. Also, on his planned escaped where they were sentenced for two years because of one slave who revealed their hidden agenda. It is clear that some of the slaves were not able to move out of slavery.

In summing up, Fredrick Douglass can be termed as self-educated individual and his book expose the atrocities of slavery. He elaborated on the violence associated with slavery, such as physical beatings, where he explained how his master beat his aunt. Also, on the negative impacts of slavery whereby both slave and slaveholders experiences difficulties. Moreover, Douglass revealed the nature of slaves both in rural and urban areas. Slaves who worked in the plantation faced a lot of challenges in terms of housing, food, and corporal punishment. However, in the urban slaves were treated like human beings and provided with the basic needs, lastly, through personal experience, how education helped him to move out of slavery. Also, the book shows how he lived a complete honesty life intending to help other people to become enlightened and understand the concept of slavery and its consequences.

In this essay I will be assessing how youth work organisations such as Your Story – a youth work organisation used to support youth such as NEET (not in employment education or training) youths, the organisation in which I’m doing my placement with and how this and many other youth work service use strategies to address racism and I will also be analysing the effectiveness and how they break down the barriers of racism in services or work places. I feel as though this essay will allow me to understand further what happens in work places which aren’t always discussed publicly and how it can affect the individual or further affect the community, this will also allow me to adapt my practice in a professional environment and assess how I am with others, allowing me to learn new skills and adapt them into my professional practice.

To understand how strategies are used to address racism and the effectiveness of them in the organisations, we need to firstly understand race, racism and whiteness. The following are the meaning of these key words I my opinion.

• Race is the colour of an individual’s skin.
• Racism is the act of prejudice or discrimination towards someone because of the individuals skin colour, with the belief that one’s race is superior, thus causing them play the role of the oppressor.
• Whiteness is a set of characteristics attached to the ‘white race’.

One strategy that I’ve found to address racism is educating individuals, I feel as though some individual have racist view due to lack of education causing a lack of knowledge and them allowing space for ignorance. I feel as though this strategy is used in school in things such as history lesson, this allows everyone to understand the changes that have occurred and who and how people are still affected. Also teaching individuals about racism is very important because educating individuals allows the different type of racism such as overt and covert racism, I was once told that racism isn’t just about an individual’s skin colour, but about discrimination toward other individuals. Also educating an individual about how their place in society and their role in racism can affect others in society in importance for when youths grow up.

One legislation that supports this is the Equality Act 2010, this act covers race in one of the nine protected characteristics the legislations covers and through education this allows you to teach individuals laws that protect them around racism. I find this strategy one of the most effective because it is not only allowing teaching individuals but allows you to address certain views that they might have. I feel as though educating individuals on racism can most effectively be done through culturally relevant teaching this uses various ways to address difficult issues of race, it exposes students to a variety of people and environments. It also promotes social justice and highlights historical movements that might still impact individuals now, these have worked to promote tolerance and equity and I feel as though would reduce racism. This also promotes and ensures that self-awareness and self-reflection is being taught because it allows the individual to realise how the connections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, impact us individually and the understand of how our identification within a particular group gives us privilege such as race and whiteness and white privilege in certain spaces and we must be open to actively listen to marginalized groups who experience life differently because of their social groupings and this can be done through teaching individual in culturally relevant teaching. This includes things such as white privilege with in my opinion means that not that life is made easier because you’re white but life isn’t made harder because you are white. Critical race theory and studies on whiteness are used to see how racism and racialized society affect others.

This strategy could be used in the youth work setting as previously stated in culturally relevant teaching, this could be done in history lesson teaching individuals about the race issues that occurs such as slavery and the impact that still occur to this day such as racism due to migration, this could be done through presentation done by the individuals to show how and what they have learn and through discussion to allow them to express how they feel on that matter and discussing on understanding your role in society and your subconscious privilege toward black and minority individuals and how they can eliminate racism and an in individual.

Another strategy that I’ve found to be adopted to address racism is identifying inequality, I feel like this is a key strategy because I feel as though through identifying inequality in the service because it allows you to access where racism might be apparent due to the down falls of service, some of these might include opportunity that aren’t provided for all. This promoting educational equality, this identifies any marginalized group within the service and finding ways to bring people out of their comfort zone to ensure they can interact with other people they don’t usually do. Also can be done through as said prior by providing equal opportunities and resources to all regardless of their race.

I feel as though through identifying inequality that might be there is one of the most effective ways of addressing racism because I feel like it allows the professionals to understand where the an individual might be put in a place where they might be a victim to racism due to them being marginalized and this being apparent to others could cause a space for racism to occur, I feel like this to most effective because this allows you to remove all possible barriers, and is an essential part of addressing and removing racism in youth work services.

A legislation that supports this strategy is the race relations act, this act ensures and promotes that individuals are protected from discrimination around their race and support any action against racial harassment. This act also ensures that all policies and procedures are relevant to race equality this act also covers organisation that is publically funded and to provide equal opportunities regardless of race, disability, culture, faith, etc. I feel as though is act is very important regarding organisation because it prevent discriminations on many grounds not only race.

This strategy could be used in the youth work setting by it being acknowledged by working professionals, such as teachers and social works, this would be most effectively used during meeting discussing anything that could be changes to positively impact BME (black and minority ethnicity) individuals, such as mixed classes, opportunities provide to all individuals, and reports being created to assess the effectiveness from the taken measures, this could also be done through not only inclusive activities but discussion with the individuals about what changes could be made to promote inclusivity, that allowing you to remove any barrier the induvial might have toward other.

An additional strategy that I’ve found to be adopted to address racism is anti-racism policies, these policies focus on address racism and ensuring support for individuals that have experienced racism, to also promote anti discriminatory practice and also stressing the importance of recording and reporting instances of racism. I find this strategy very effective because I feel as though it effectively promotion of anti-racist practices and ensures diversity not only race but of cultures, backgrounds, faiths and beliefs and the Commission for Racial Equality framework is used and has the aim to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality, this framework promoted the use of legislations to help eradicate racial discrimination and harassment, and also to support organisations, and employers in all sectors, in their efforts to ensure equality of opportunity and good race relations, I find this frame work very supportive in addressing racism and to raise public awareness of racial discrimination and injustice. Services like the ENAR (European Network Anti-Racism) network are used to support ‘racial equality and facilitating cooperation among civil society anti-racism actors in Europe’. ENAR works to put an end to structural racism and discrimination across Europe and make a difference in ethnic minorities’ lives. The ENAR offers lessons for effective policies against racism.

This strategy could be used in the youth work setting by it being implemented and promoted by governing bodies, and policies and procedures focusing on anti-racism practices, and training being provide to support this framework, to ensure professional know how to address a racial issue if it ever occurs in the environment and how to provide the correct support.

Some theories surrounding addressing racism is the Critical race theory this is theory is a framework that started from the concept of critical legal studies on racial issues that addresses the racial inequities in the community. Critical race is theory is a way to deal with race issues for black and minority individuals and to challenge narratives. This theory looks at race, racism and power in order to understand the relationship in order to change it for the benefit of others. The theory main promoted the elimination of oppression in all for including race, class, gender and power, and is an important theory when dealing with race issues.

Another theory surrounding addressing racism is the conflict theory, this theory focus on the inequalities in the society. The conflict theory revolves around Structural racialization is a system of social structures and the inequalities in the community, this can affect many things. I feel as though the conflict theory applies to addressing racism because this theory suggest there always requires an individual’s high than you and there is a power difference most commonly related to race, however I feel as though this can be relevant with race, racial power, this can be called different things whiteness, white privilege or racism.

I feel as though understanding these theories is importance when addressing racism because alongside strategies, these theories would be most useful in many environment and settings, because I feel as though theory allow you to understand most about society and the similarities and differences there might be. Also theories explain situations and predict the outcome. They also allow the understanding of individuals behaviour in situation and how they can be dealt with and how you may subconsciously influence society, theories support many things such as behaviour, societies structure, cognitive processes, and stages of change, and also challenges ideas, supports research.

To sum up everything that has been stated in this essay on how strategies that are adopted to address racism and evaluate effectiveness, five provide definitions of key words when exploring racism such as race, racism, whiteness and privilege, I’ve stated the key strategies that I’ve found to address racism and the key theoretical frameworks for assessing racism, a network used in the UK to ensure anti-racism practice this being the ENAR service. I’ve also assessed the effectiveness of all of these things and how I feel as though the strategies can be most effectively used. Overall I feel as though addressing racism is a hard issue to discuss I’ve learnt a lot through this essay and the research I’ve done on the legislation and frameworks in place to address racism and the service that are promoted anti-racism practice and how effect they are.

Racism: Overt and Covert Dimensions

As defined by Stokely Carmichael, “Racism is both overt and covert,” It takes two closely related forms individual whites acting against individual blacks and acts by the total white community against the black community. We call these individual racism and institutional racism. The first consists of overt acts by individuals.

“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi: A Tale of Racial Legacy

Homegoing, by author Yaa Gyasi, is about the descendants of an African village woman named Maame. She births a daughter while enslaved in a village and another daughter after escaping back to her home village; the repercussion of her choices, her daughters never meet. Effia, Maame’s first daughter, is married to a white man who came to Africa as part of the slave trade, while her sister Esi, Maame’s youngest daughter, is sold into United States slavery.

Effia’s Journey: Individual Racism and Opportunism

Effia, who was born in Ghana outside of her village within her story and lineage, dealt with individual racism and opportunism. The book starts with her story as a young developing girl in a small village that speaks their own language; as a blossomed teen, Effia’s family wants her to seek a husband so he can support the family. One of the opportunists in the story is her stepmother Baaba who is jealous of Effia’s looks and notes that she could care less about her because she isn’t her child. Woo Effie’s father, to see all the benefits of her future marriage with a colonist, single-handedly arranges Effie’s marriage to the British soldier, even against her husband’s wishes. James Collins is a part of the individual racism; he met Effia during a meeting with the chief of Fanteland.

In a short time, he comes back as a governor to ask Baaba for Effia’s hand. Baaba convinces everyone that Effia should marry James because He offers thirty pounds and twenty-five shillings a month. He practices individual racism tactics because he is using the same strategies that he has acquired as a slave capturer, like “bribery” to get himself a wife. During Effia and James’ wedding ceremony, he requested her to say things she didn’t understand due to her traditional environment; this was like, in many ways, how white men felt like they were sanctified to force slave ships because of Christianity. Now her traditions are erased because of her white spouses’ white membership that he needed to keep.

Esi’s Struggle: Institutional Racism and Acceptance

Esi is the forgotten sister who didn’t have the opportunity to be delivered to a rich white colonist because she had a deadbeat father. Esi dealt with the worst formality of racist antics; through the American slavery environment, she was subjected to exile, racism by population, and xenophobia. Esi had a situation in the Cape Coast Castle dungeon, an enviable ring of brutality that both she and her descendants experienced because of the slave trade. With a hard enough life, she had to also deal with a man’s self-dubious masculinity with a character named Big Man. He is abusive, but in many stereotypical ways, Esi is always defending him, like when she watched Abronoma sleep. Tries to comfort her by saying that if Big Man had not beaten Abronoma, everyone would have thought he was weak. Making his actions acceptable.
Due to racism, both women accepted terrifying things.

References:

1. Carmichael, S. (1967). Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America. Vintage.
2. Gyasi, Y. (2016). Homegoing. Vintage.
3. Beaulieu, E. (2012). The opportunistic tendencies of people. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 42(6), 1059-1060.
4. Segal, L. (2003). Opportunism as a Social Identity. In Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Group Processes (Eds. M. A. Hogg & R. S. Tindale). Blackwell Publishing.

The Pervasiveness of Racism in Society

Racism has been around for generations, and we still face it in today’s society. This is due to social conditions that perpetuate and intensify racism. Racism can be a part of societal institutions today and is not only intentional or overt, but it can also be unintentional and a part of the normal operations of society. Scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois has addressed the issue of racism towards African Americans in the past.

In modern society, we can apply W.E.B. Du Bois’s concepts of the color line, double consciousness, and the veil to demonstrate that individuals of color are not seen as “true Americans. In addition, people change their persona in order to be accepted and not criticized by the dominant group, more specifically, white people. Furthermore, racism still exists today because most individuals’ perceptions are blurred, and they cannot see that it is a problem in modern society. In social institutions, the groups that are affected are not only Blacks but also those who are not part of the dominant group, including Hispanics and Latinos.

W.E.B. Du Bois’s Fight Against Racism

Scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois opposed racism and fought for the civil rights of African Americans. Du Bois “emphasized that the unbalanced distribution of wealth in this country is the fundamental obstruction to the expansion of human rights.” Du Bois wanted equal rights for blacks. “In addition, Du Bois highlighted the structural and collectivist dimension of class and race; he also recognized that their institutional and symbolic features were perpetuated and disseminated in everyday interaction at the level of the individual”. Du Bois understood that “the problem of the twentieth century was the problem of the color-line.”

In other words, he believed as long as there was a color difference in society, individuals would continue to discriminate and alienate people of color. Furthermore, he said, ‘To be a poor man in a land of dollars is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.’ Meaning that in a land where there is opportunity and freedom to gain wealth, somehow, people of color will remain enslaved by contemporary measures. Moreover, it becomes harder for someone of color than someone in poverty to obtain equality. For Du Bois, racism was his main target, and he wanted to eliminate the divide between races.

Exploring Du Bois’s Key Concepts

In addition, Du Bois studied a concept called the color line to see how it took effect on society, including both the marginalized and the privileged. The color line refers to the divide between races and is seen as a boundary between bright and blurred lines, depending on whom you ask. This is where people are blinded by the issue and think their words and actions are not prejudiced. Racism begins to intensify this way and starts becoming a part of everyday interaction.

Another concept Du Bois studied was double consciousness. Double consciousness “is explained as the individual sensation of feeling as though your identity is divided into several parts, making it difficult or impossible to have one unified identity.” In other words, white people did not see Blacks as “true Americans.” They believed you could not be Black and American simultaneously. This is where a person of color did something beyond their character in order to not offend but please the dominant group.

Racism in Modern Institutions

Finally, Du Bois studied another important concept, the veil. The veil was a demonstration of the color line. “It suggested that]the literal darker skin of Blacks was a physical separation of difference from whiteness.” People of color were not seen as who they truly were or what they could do; they were only seen for their darker skin. Du Bois’s concepts painted a picture for society to see the problem of racism. Moreover, racism becomes integrated into social institutions.

‘Racial prejudice and discrimination in the world today arise from historical and social phenomena”. If someone is not part of the “dominant” group, the whites, then they will be treated more poorly in society. “Biological traits such as skin color, facial shape, and hair color and texture could define racial boundaries if people chose to use them for that purpose.”

In other words, society determines who is labeled as a part of the dominant group. The dominant group becomes privileged and starts to be blinded by the issue of racism. They are unable to acknowledge that it is still a problem today. Due to this “blindness,” people that have lighter skin are treated with more privilege than those who have darker skin. For example, in society, we see groups like Blacks and Mexicans getting treated unfairly compared to white people in social institutions. These social institutions have become racialized.

Furthermore, the social conditions that intensify racism are reflected in the inequalities concerning wealth, income, employment, education, political power, and the criminal justice system. These social conditions are all influenced by race and affect individuals who have darker complexions. Additionally, institutional racism is not only intentional and overt but can also be unintentional and part of the normal operations of society. For example, society may stereotype and discriminate against certain groups without even being aware of their actions.

In modern society, we see racism integrated into the criminal justice system. In the criminal justice system, individuals “assign a moral rubric to what is equivalent to Jim Crow arrangements…and racist narratives about black men become integrated into one’s criminal defense with impunity” Furthermore, the authors state, “to resist, defense attorneys use oppositional narratives that diminish the discussion of race and instead, emphasize attributes of their clients’ biography as ‘middle-class’ and ‘respectable’ in standing”. Attorneys ignore the defendant’s race and instead bring up who they are as a person. This is because society discriminates against people of color and often gives them harsher sentences for the same crime a white person has committed. Moreover, “this shows how the criminal justice system (administered by white prosecutors) efficiently categorizes and governs Blacks and Latinos”.

Van and Artorano state, “in an era of mass incarceration and color-blind racism, this study demonstrates how racial frames become hidden in the lines of justice, and how institutional processes hide the reproduction of race”. In this study, Van & Artorano found that if mass incarceration continued for people of color then “an African American male would have a 1 in 3 chance of going to prison during his lifetime, and a Latino would have a 1 in 6 chance, while a Caucasian male would receive a 1 in 17 chance of going to prison”. This shows that Blacks and Latinos would be more likely to go to jail even if they committed the same crime as a white person simply because they aren’t white.

The study also found that “although African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the U.S. population, 56% of them were incarcerated” Furthermore, “if African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates as whites, then prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%”.As a result, “the criminal courts become a product of and mechanism for reproducing the marginalization of minorities, reinforcing racial stigma and constructing racial hierarchies”.

In today’s society, we still see racism in incarcerations, especially after the election of President Donald Trump. Mexicans were accused of taking jobs from Americans and abusing the educational system, health care, and welfare state. The dominant group found that “it is easier to politically, legally, and morally rationalize and legitimize the harsh treatment of people who are essentially viewed as ‘outsiders,’ and perceived them as ‘illegal aliens.’”

During Trump’s presidency, we still see that he is incarcerating many Mexicans in the U.S. that are “illegal” and Mexicans that are attempting to cross the border. This results in parents and children being separated from each other and breaking up their families. President Trump has a repulsive feeling against Mexicans and Blacks. Because of his position as President, he uses his power to continue discriminating the minority groups. As a result, racism becomes integrated into everyday life for people of color.

According to scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois, as long as the color line existed, minority groups would still have to face discrimination. Racism is still a part of modern society, and it will continue as long as there is a difference in skin color between individuals. As a result, individuals change their character in order to fit in and please the dominant group. There are social conditions and social institutions that intensify racism, and the one that affects people of color the most is incarceration. There is mass incarceration for African Americans and Latinos compared to whites. Within these social institutions, it is important to remember there are multiple groups that face racism, and that includes all people of color or people who are not part of the dominant group in society.

References:

1. Appiah, K. A. (2015). The Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity. Profile Books.
2. Edles, L. D., & Appelrouth, S. (2015). Sociological theory in the contemporary era: Text and readings. SAGE Publications.
3. Green, N. L., & Smith, W. (1983). From stereotype to archetype in African-American literature. Black American Literature Forum, 17(4), 163-167.
4. Van, M. D., & Artorano, C. G. (2011). Race, Colorblindness, and Morality. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 27(4), 435-452.

Understanding Institutional Racism

Institutional racism is a trend in social structures such as governmental organizations, universities, financial institutions, and judiciary – which try to treat a group solely on the basis of their race negatively. It is characterized by individuals and groups ‘ indirect attitudes or racial bias by the nature of purposeful policies or regulations and doctrines that offer different access to society’s products, facilities, and incentives by race. Racism arises at an ideological level between persons and is encoded in their policies, protocols, and procedures in agencies and institutions. It has recently become prevalent and frequently seen in the media. However, it is also mentioned and given as a savvy elaboration in the lectures of politicians, as British public services strive to meet the needs in order of a culturally diverse society.

The Manifestations and Impacts of Racism

Examples of racism are color differences in a society which can be seen in schools, universities, being in the house, had a job. Identify and explain three effects of institutional racism. Institutional racism has several effects on individuals as well as society. Racism can have adverse effects on the self-conception, physical health and well-being, and life orbits of non-dominant racial-ethnic youth and youth providers. The effects of racism are not always purposeful but originate from a longstanding tradition of maintaining the American hierarchy of races. It can be seen in the behavior of white people toward blank people.

The health impacts of structural racism have culminated with ongoing publicity of the epidemiological and sociological effects of neighborhoods. Compared to women of other races, African American women are actually impacted by numerous sexual and fertility situations. Studies indicate that well-being cultural factors, such as joblessness, underemployment, and low income, are related to inequities in health. Racism is a likely inherent factor in all of these social structures.

Racism, Health, and Social Constructs

Explain the relationship between institutional racism and the social construction of Race Racism is harmful to health – regardless of the targeting reticle used, in terms of actual counterattacks, interpreted discrimination, and the intensity of ethnic minority groups in lower economic classes and unemployment. It has been shown that familial racism and perceived discrimination have autonomous health consequences, which, based solely on their predictability across a range of quite different health metrics, appear to linger beyond any actual physical accident caused by an incident itself.

For too long, the role of racism in the relationship between ethnicity and health has been ignored. Notwithstanding this health impact, it is abhorrent to unfairly reject fair healthcare to people, totally ignore their civil rights, and constrain their ability to live fully conveyed and honorable lives. A lack of conceptual and pragmatic creativity has prevented the key role of racism in designing ethnic overall health injustices from ever being accepted stories earlier.

Institutional Racism vs. Prejudice

Explain how institutional racism is different from prejudice Racism is residing in public or private institutions’ policies, procedures, operations, and culture, strengthening individual prejudices. Institutional racism prevents Black college graduates because of their name from finding employment. Institutional racism creates town and community inequalities. Prejudice is an interpretation that is not based on facts or direct experience.

Prejudice is eventually a real issue in the structure and production of personality. It can be in both ways, either positive or negative.  If we determine that we don’t like Asian people, mostly because we reckon all Asians are incredibly rude (even though only one Asian person has ever befriended you), and you are prejudiced against all Asians. So people talk about prejudice, not racism, when it comes to the idea of reverse racism. Whites are more likely to point to individual personal prejudice than institutional racism as the main issue in today’s current discrimination against all black people.

References:

1. Atkin, K. and Karl, U. (2018). Institutional racism and health inequalities in the European Union: a scoping review. Ethnicity & Health, 25(1), 1-18.
2. Svetaz, V., Sullivan, M., Ehrlich, L. C., & McKay, M. M. (2018). Race and Ethnicity in Public Health Research: Models to Explain Health Disparities. Annual Review of Public Health, 39, 27-47.
3. Armenta, A., & Hunt, M. O. (2017). What’s in a Name? Experiences of Discrimination in Everyday Settings and Mental Health. The Sociological Quarterly, 58(3), 508-528.
4. Prather, C., Fuller, T. R., Jeffries, W. L., Marshall, K. J., & Howell, A. V. (2016). The Impact of Racism on Child and Adolescent Health. Pediatrics, 138(3), e20160621.
5. Clair, M., Lowe Jr, M., & Denis, R. (2015). “We Can’t Breathe”: The Impact of Microaggressions on the Health and Well-Being of Black Men. Qualitative Health Research, 25(12), 1732-1743.
6. Femando, R., & Suman, D. (2018). Prejudice and Discrimination in the Urban Housing Market: The Effects of Explicit Discrimination. City & Community, 17(4), 370-393.

In this essay I will be debating the meaning of racism and effects of racism on young people through theories. I will be analyzing theories and lawmaking policies addressing racism, specifically institutional racism in community and youth work. In addition, I will be pointing out barriers that have been highlighted in studying institutional racism in community and youth work. Racism is discrimination towards someone because of their race. According to Berman & Paradies (2010) “Racism can be broadly defined as behaviours, practices, beliefs, and prejudices that underlie avoidable and unfair inequalities across groups in society based on race, ethnicity, culture, or religion”. In 1965 the United Kingdom, the Race Relations Act was the first legislation in place to address racism and racial discrimination, which banned racial discrimination in public places. This act also made the promotion of hatred on the grounds of ‘colour, race, or ethnic or national origins’ an offence. The Race Relations Act extended in 1968 so that goods, facilities and services, employment and housing associations could not discriminate. Institutional racism is a form of racism expressed in professional services, organisations, and society. In the Macpherson Inquiry Report (The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry), institutional racism is defined as: “the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people”.

Institutional racism within education for those from ethnic minority backgrounds, specifically young black students have been a big issue in the United Kingdom. This has impacted young black people in a negative way because of the stereotypes that have been implemented into peoples beliefs, them being: young black people do not succeed in school because they are not smart enough, there can be a language barrier (if they’ve been raised to speak their native language before speaking English). The impact of these two factors are that black and ethnic minority groups are being bullied for their language barrier and in some cases, they become bullies themselves and a lot of times, they are then expelled. Statistics have also shown that more than 87,000 racist incidents recorded in schools in 2012. The department of Education has shown that there were 4,590 exclusions for racist abuse during 2016-17 academic year in England, in comparison to approximately 3,900 exclusions in 2013-14. On the government website, it showed statistics in 2017-18 that white students were the most expelled students temporarily and permanently in comparison to black and Asian students. Additionally, when young people of ethnic minority background are told that they are not smart enough, they tend to not do their work and misbehave in class constantly and end up failing school. The impact of racism can result to the young people being deviant and becoming delinquents. The Swann Report (1985) stated ‘‘there is no doubt that Black Caribbean children, as a group, and on average, are underachieving, both by comparison with their school fellows in the White majority, as well as in terms of their potential.” On the other hand, research from the government website showed that 45% of young black people attained an average score of 8 on their GCSE’s, but white British students were only higher by 1.1% with 46.1% achievement rates. This could show that the Swann report is out of date as it was written in 1985.The statistics also indicated on the government website that pupils from the White Gypsy/Roma and Irish Traveller ethnic groups had the lowest average scores. Considering Chinese students are from an ethnic minority background, they achieved the highest scores.

There are cases that social media has a massive contribution to the rise of hate speech and online bullying: there are websites that racists post comments, photos and videos that people share. It can be argued that it is online so there is no physical damage and the public has free speech. However, in schools there are still cases of young people being racially bullied. The Girlguiding Girls’ Attitude 2014 Survey (again this was not restricted to bullying in school environments) found that 42 per cent of girls aged 11 to 21 know girls at their age who have experienced racist bullying. In addition, in recent cases, there has been xenophobic posts on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but famous people are using the platform to make it aware to the public (their followers) that this behaviour should be stopped and it is unacceptable. This has affected the community as no-one is coming together online to tackle the problem, so it continues.

There has been a rise of cases that indicate young people having bad health and mental health issues because of racism. This causes young people to have anxiety and depression. Digital Awareness UK commissioned independent and state schools to do a survey about the impact of social media. It was found that out of 5,000 students, 57% said that they received abusive comments online and 52% said social media made them feel less confident. Also, this survey is only covering social media, and not specifically on racism. Statistics show on the that detention rates under the Mental Health Act during 2017-18 were four times higher for people in the Black/Black British group than those in the White group. The Public Health England partnered with Children & Young People’s Mental Health Coalition to promote children and young people’s emotional health and well-being; working with schools, staff, students and parents/carers. However, it has been argued that teachers rarely get full training on racism, Sir Alasdair Macdonald undertook a review of PSHE in 2009 and noted that, “all Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses should include some focus on PSHE education”.

In addition to law and legislations, there are now training in place (at work or general and personal interest) for community and youth workers to be aware and know how to handle situations such as racism. The Youth Select Committee had an annual United Kingdom Youth Parliament (UKYP) debate in House of Commons on 13 November 2015; 969,992 young people voted in the ‘Mark Your Mark’ ballot, with more than 95,000 young people specifically to discuss racism and religious discrimination as their number one issue of concern. One of the outcome of this debate was the recommendation of increase of digital tools to assist victims reporting incidents of racism and religious discriminations as well as raise awareness of the issues of racism and discrimination. However, work being undertaken by community groups to tackle racism and religious discrimination and to improve community cohesion is threatened by a lack of resources. More so, there are now online courses that are free or at low cost and this is easily gained as there is no exam for the online courses. These courses vary from safeguarding children and adult policy, child protection, to mental health. These strategies are a part of addressing racism, in addition there have been many protests, rallies and petitions to make awareness on racism. London Youth, a network of community youth organisations, highlighted annual multicultural days and community youth groups as effective methods to promote diversity and inclusion between different ethnic and religious groups. There are also services in place such as childline, crimestopper, kick it out app and Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) that can help people for advice and to report hate crimes, discrimination and someone to talk to about being discriminated. This will help victims as they can speak up for themselves or family and friends anonymously, getting the support they need without drawing attention to themselves. It can be argued that trainings being available online does not tackle racism itself and some people can skim read the course so that they can just receive the certificate. Also, the former Prime Minister’s 2020 vision which includes targets in areas where there is cross-departmental responsibility (for example, employment prospects for black and minority ethnic groups). The Government’s recently published hate crime action plan also shows that the Government sees tackling issues related to racism and religious discrimination as a collaborative effort between different groups.