Contemporary Sociological Theories and American Racism

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Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
Intersectional Feminist Theory
Critical Race Theory
Symbolic Interactionism
Structural Functionalism
Conclusion
References

Abstract

The central intention of this theory paper is to apply modern theoretical concepts from the humanities discipline of sociology to the topic of racism in the United States. Such descriptive and classifying frameworks as intersectional feminism, critical racial theory, symbolic interactionism, and structural functionalism have been utilized to formulate novel ideas and hypotheses. Some hypothetical inferences have been made in the hope that their further development will lead to the emergence of practical anti-racist methodologies and practices.

Introduction

In this paper, modern-day sociological theories, including intersectional feminist and critical race ones, along with symbolic interactionism and structural functionalism, will be applied to explain the genesis, existence, and influence of the socio-cultural phenomenon of racism in America.

The topic of racism through the lens of sociology was chosen as the central one for this theory paper because of its remaining relevance to the United States. A necessary clarification is that racism is “an ideology based on the idea that humans can be separated into distinct racial groups and that these groups can be ranked on a hierarchy” (Drislane & Parkinson, 2002, para. 1). Visible and overt racism is history, and cases involving it are objectively declining, but African Americans are still receiving comparatively less fair treatment from fundamental institutions (Foy, 2020). Modern-day sociological theories aim at “connecting our curiosities about the social world with concepts and frameworks to make sense of them” (Longhofer & Winchester, 2016, p. xvi). They can explain this social problem as a thing of history and modernity.

Intersectional Feminist Theory

Feminist theory is one of the most popular and well-known contemporary approaches to explaining various structures, systems, and paradoxes of social nature and genesis today. This branch of philosophy and sociology is oppositional, as it emerged as a criticizing alternative to the mainstream and traditional explanatory theoretical frameworks of the last century (Goodman, 2020). It considers gender as a formative societal element and has several subdivisions, one of which is intersectional feminism. This explanatory model interprets racism as institutional oppression emanating from a socially and politically dominant group united by their identity (Goodman, 2020). Therefore, racism manifests a particular race’s collective identity, agency, and power currently ruling a country over others through political, financial, cultural, and societal systems.

Intersectional feminism is perhaps the sociological theory with the most extensive scope. A distinctive design feature of this scholarly perspective is its covering of “material, ideological and political factors” (Goodman, 2020, p. 55). Kimberle Crenshaw created it in 1989 as a reaction to traditional feminist interpretive models for their over-focus on white women and the female gender and the conceptual exclusion of Black women and other non-white persons (Goodman, 2020). The all-encompassing principle and a balanced focus make intersectional feminism suitable for explaining American racism. The unintentional racism of traditional feminist theory that manifested itself in the non-inclusion of Black women’s perspectives and experiences can be interpreted through the concept of intersectional invisibility. These were not part of the feminist school of thought before Crenshaw because White scholars perceived Black women as less feminine and racially non-prototypical (Coles & Pasek, 2020). Unfortunately, this harmful academic attitude is still present in many humanities.

Critical Race Theory

Critical race theory is a systematized set of social and legal theories whose concepts and explanations of racism and race relations have recently led to public controversy and local political tensions in several states. This model postulates that racism is an element of racial domination or supremacy, an unspoken regime of white people backed up by laws and institutions in America (Christian et al., 2019). Further development of this sociological concept leads to the idea that racism is a system of those legislative acts and social programs that are exclusively pro-white or discriminatory towards non-white groups by their design or effect.

Surprisingly, critical racial theory appeared in the same period as the theoretical framework of intersectional feminism. The ending decades of the 20th century was a fruitful year for modern sociology. This theory has several authors who were also “activists, legal scholars, and practitioners” since this theory has developed gradually and in parallel with other branches of humanities (Christian et al., 2019, p. 1). Its key creators include Kimberle Crenshaw, Derrick Bell, and Dorothy Brown. A complete list of major contributors is yet to be compiled, as the critical race concept is still in active formation.

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is the second oldest sociological theory discussed here. Proponents and experts of this model believe that society is a circulation or cycle of worldviews and viewpoints of people, expressed by verbal and bodily signs and symbols of communication and interaction and their subjective interpretations and meanings (Quist-Adade, 2019).

The application of symbolic interactionism allows one to hypothesize that racism is a circulation of socio-communicative, perceptual, and mental elements of the racist character still present in American dialogue and culture due to old historical meanings. These include historical and novel racist slurs, gestures, and prejudice. They are of racist character because their primary meaning is an insult to the individual through humiliation and disrespect for their racial identity. Their symbolism is the dominance of one race over another in dialogue and society.

As mentioned earlier, symbolic interactionism is a relatively old sociological concept. This sub-discipline has many developers and contributors, but only three persons can be fully considered as those who formulated the principles of this theory and provided vital definitions. They are Charles Horton Cooley, Max Weber, and George Herbert Mead (Quist-Adade, 2019). The completion of formulation of symbolic interactionism and its first mentions fall in the first and middle years of the third decade of the last century (Quist-Adade, 2019). This explanatory model predates intersectional feminism and critical race theory by about 40 and a half years.

Structural Functionalism

Structural functionalism ranks first for the duration of a relevant source of existence as a modern sociological concept. Many consider it to be the most ideologically rich and consistent theory. This approach to the interpretation of social processes and phenomena was developed by Emil Durkheim in the 30s and later continued by Talcott Parsons (Schultz & Ortino, 2020). According to structural functionalists, society is a set of independent systems and functions where the former performs the latter to maintain intersystem societal harmony, overall stability, and own existence (Schultz & Ortino, 2020). The individual may notice these functions and their execution in societal processes like cultural rites, traditions, and religious practices.

Applying this explanatory model to the paper’s topic leads to the that racism is a function executed and maintained by the system of racists and related ones, which harms others because it creates social tension, discrimination, oppression, and confrontation. A socio-historical example is the American government and the segregation-based social hierarchy in the last century. The former is the influencing racist system, and the latter is their socially damaging function. Such systems are unhealthy because their goals are based on exclusion, which is the opposite of collective harmony.

Conclusion

Modern sociological explanatory theoretical frameworks were described and used to explain the historical, political, and institutional phenomena of American racism in this theory paper. Intersectional feminism, critical racial theory, symbolic interactionism, and structural functionalism were included. It is hoped that the discussion and study of this socio-cultural negative topic through these four and similar humanities viewpoints will lead to the emergence of a societal remedy or repair mechanism.

References

Christian, M., Seamster, L., & Ray, V. (2019). New directions in critical race theory and sociology: Racism, white supremacy, and resistance. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(13), 1-10.

Coles, S. M., & Pasek, J. (2020). Intersectional invisibility revisited: How group prototypes lead to the erasure and exclusion of Black women. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 6(4), 1-11.

Drislane, R., & Parkinson, G. (2002). Racism. Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences.

Foy, S. L. (2020). Racism in America: A reference handbook. ABC-CLIO.

Goodman, R. T. (Ed.). (2019). The Bloomsbury handbook of 21st-century feminist theory. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Longhofer, W., & Winchester, D. (Eds.). (2016). Social theory re-wired: New connections to classical and contemporary perspectives (2^nd ed.). Routledge.

Quist-Adade, C. (2019). Symbolic interactionism: The basics. Vernon Press.

Schultz, T., & Ortino, F. (Eds.). (2020). The Oxford handbook of international arbitration. OUP Oxford.

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