The Issue of Racism in the Modern World

The notion of racism has been present in people’s lives for a long time. In general, it is seen as a set of theories, which point to the physical and mental disparities of human races based on objective anthropological differences. The decisive influence of racial differences on history and culture is also evident. Racism includes ideas about the original division of people into superior and inferior races, the first of which are the creators of civilization and they are designed to dominate over other races. Therefore, racism is a theory that necessarily finds its application in practice. Humiliating and degrading treatment of people leads to the restriction of their rights and freedoms and even using violence and killings in extreme cases. Given this, one can speak not only about the cultural, but also about gender and religious forms of racism observed in the modern world. The current paper analyzes all the three types of racism and discrimination as well as discloses their contents by PowerPoint poster service.

Methods

Social psychology that emphasizes discrimination, racism, and gender has become an integral element of the comprehensive sociological analysis. In fact, “racism is a form of practice” (Blaut, 1992) resulting in particular humiliating and degrading treatment of people. The conducted study of the problem of racism, as it is presented in the contemporary world, was based on the study of social behavior of different groups of the population. Various authors have focused primarily on the study of social stereotypes that exist in today’s society and have a major impact on the formation of social relations between individuals. In this regard, the value of these studies lies in the fact that they analyze different forms of racism in the modern world. The authors also take into account statistical data that allows them to justify the conclusions obtained. Social psychology examines relations between different groups, especially those which are characterized by prejudice and ethnic stereotypes. It also focuses on social cognition, interpretation, and explanation of the causes of behavior and events, in which white dominant group is involved (Nelson, 2009). There is convincing evidence that an individual, who aspires to tolerance and does not consider himself/herself a racist, has the unconscious bias that is profoundly ingrained in his/her mind. In this case, it is impossible to change this attitude in the short terms. For these people, it is also quite difficult to go into a confrontation with explicit racists or be upset with their intolerant or sometimes aggressive behavior. Since the racist and biased attitude is so deeply rooted, legislation, initiatives, affirmative actions, and comprehensive programs have to overcome it immediately. The results of the recent studies conducted bring the evidence of the increased rate of genocide in some societies (Dutton, 2007).

The dynamics of discrimination and racism is supplemented by the study aimed at bridging isolated or detached communities characterized by the middle-range theories, single methodology, and narrow issues. The examination is based on the multi-group and international group comparisons as well as the application of various mixed methods of research while studying the target or minority groups. It points to the fact that sociologists and scholars are on the way to the important new developments and accomplishments. They will continue working on the development of well-specified theory and research strategies underscoring numerous racial issues and challenges on the way toward changes (Omi & Winant, 2014). I have found that the sources used for this part of the research paper are useful since they provide reliable, clear, and valuable information on racism as the scourge of the twenty-first century.

In practice, the implementation of racist theories sometimes finds expression in the policy of racial discrimination (de Benoist, n.d.). Numerous sociological studies mainly focus on the structural manifestation of this intolerant attitude, in particular, how it characterizes the relationship between white and black people. Scholars have made significant contributions to the understanding of fundamental wealth disparities as well as issues of poverty, joblessness, and racial segregation. Social psychologists have devoted their practice and activity to resolving the race issue. The powerful theories examining racial discrimination have not been developed yet. It is often argued that scholars have been ineffective in exploring the way the ethnic and racial differences affect the psychological and social processes (Goldberg, 2009).

Despite the lack of a broad, comprehensive theory that will specify the way the racial discrimination operates, scholars apply a basic theoretical approach to exploring different areas of public life. The contributions to the study of racism represent the critical examination of education, identity, accomplishments, labor markets, and organizations. Scholars pay particular attention to the interpersonal interactions and the development of social theories aimed at specifying the implications of preconception and migration in the modern world.

The socio-psychological theory points to the fact that the old-fashioned racism has been replaced by the new phenomenon characterized by the racial hostility or symbolic discrimination (Goldberg, 2009). The distinctive feature of the socio-structural theory is that it seriously takes into account the interests of competing groups. The socio-psychological theory that underscores the intergroup conflicts and a sense of common position argues that individuals identify themselves in their own way. They also demonstrate belongingness to their ethnic and racial group. In the group, the conflict arises because of competing interests. Moreover, the dominant group develops and promotes ideology that supports and even legitimizes their high status in the society. In this case, prejudice emerges because of rivalry and struggle over numerous privileges and resources (Brotherton, Stageman, & Leyro, 2013).

Discussing Racism as a Matter of Global Concern

Today, the rich and developing countries are concerned with racism and prejudice. As a social ill, racial discrimination is not restricted to a few states. Unfortunately, racism and preconception are the unspoken components of fear that continue to span continents and communities. Individuals throughout the world belong to the same human race. Each of them shares the same trends with respect to fear, dominance, and submission. Therefore, it is inevitable that racism is a complex worldwide issue that needs a specific approach to its resolution. The controversial theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin has significantly contributed to the promotion of ignorance generating racial conflicts and controversies among people. It is often argued that every civilized nation has been characterized by the racial superiority.

For a long time, humankind has not been able to appreciate the uniqueness and peculiarities of different ethnic groups. Fear has engulfed people. The phenomenon of xenophobia characterized by racial intolerance and dislike of foreigners has already reached epidemic proportions. Therefore, the society needs to access the effectiveness of struggle against discrimination and the way the racial discrimination affects the ongoing fight. Despite numerous developments, their significance has not been completely comprehended. The continuous discussion and experience of all individuals concerned will help to recognize how racial discrimination and preconception influence people and their lives. The common struggle and development of comprehensive initiatives against the severe moral disease of the 21st century will undoubtedly improve the activity and practice.

Discussions regarding Various Forms of Racism

Traditionally, racism is understood as a concept that connects all differences between people (in culture, behavior, and perception of the world ) with racial characteristics, ostensibly discovering such physical attributes as skin color, shapes of a nose and eyes, form and color of hair, etc. Moreover, the concept proclaims the eternal inequality of races, insisting on its legal registration. Such racism, generated by the era of colonialism, came from the concept of superior and inferior races. Despite all the scientific data, it claimed that it were racial differences that determined the course of history. Racism based on skin color and having a cultural foundation is considered to be one of the most common forms of racism.

In general, one can state that such classic racism relies on the following ideas: belief in the real existence of separate races; belief that the races differ in their genetic basis; conclusion that some races have significant advantages over others; references to intelligence tests supposedly proving that whites are different from blacks by advanced mental abilities; statement that the brain of blacks is anatomically underdeveloped; belief that whites are characterized by the ability to create high civilizations; striving to maintain the "purity" of the white race by preventing intermarriage. This kind of racism also applies to the carriers of different cultures that is, if the black race is regarded as backward, racism is directed towards the culture created by blacks. “Cultural racism blames the victim by attempting to identify cultural aspects of racial-ethnic minorities’ lives that are inferior to the white normative culture, including deviant family structure, lack of effort, wrong values, and others (Byrd, 2011).

Considering racism as oppression and discrimination, which result in limited access to the different capabilities, resources, etc., gender discrimination can also be seen as a kind of racism. In particular, gender discrimination against women is often associated with professional activities. The modern world of work is characterized by the active participation of both men and women. However, various studies show that despite the increase in the number of women in professional employment discrimination against women as a phenomenon in social life continues to exist (Roscigno, 2007). Discrimination against women is a kind of a more general phenomenon of gender discrimination, involving the restriction of rights on grounds of sex.

Economic inequality between men and women is most pronounced in the area of employment. The requirement to review relations established in the field of labor is caused by the fact that gender asymmetry and inequality between males and females often take place in this important area of human life support. The main manifestations of gender inequality in employment or during the working process are the following:

• Sex discrimination in employment, which includes: discrimination in wages, advanced training, hiring, dismissal, and promotion.

•Occupational segregation by gender.

•Performing both professional and family responsibilities by women.

Gender discrimination in employment is a process, when the employees with the same performance characteristics are treated with prejudice and bias, because they belong to a different gender group. Gender discrimination in employment is most common in the hiring process and personnel reduction. One of the types of employment discrimination is discrimination at the level of preference when employers are recruiting mostly men. They motivate their behavior by the idea that female workers are unreliable, because they have frequent outages associated with the birth of children or caring for them. They do not want to work overtime as they have a large number of family responsibilities. A significant place in the preferences of male employers belongs to a belief that a man should be the breadwinner in the family, while a woman should stay at home.

It is important to note that women completely realize that they have a large number of family responsibilities and they do not believe that these duties prevent them from working alongside men. As various studies have shown, religious racism exists in a form of religious discrimination. Like any other form of prejudicial treatment, it is primarily based on the persecution of minorities and non-traditional religions by the majority. For example, religious discrimination is experienced through harassment, prejudice, unfair treatment or various forms of violent behavior based on the person’s religion or belief (European Network against Racism, 2007). Discrimination based on religion has the following widespread forms of manifestation:

• Refusal to provide land for construction of houses of worship and other religious facilities.

• Procrastination or failure to transfer (or return) previously seized religious buildings and church property.

• Exclusion from the community of newly built or purchased religious buildings.

•Abuse of authority by law enforcement.

• Holding public events organized by some public or religious associations in order to ban legitimate activities of other associations.

• Publications in the mass media of the materials containing false or unverified information leading to the incitement of religious hatred and intolerance.

• In addition, religious discrimination might use persecution of believers in order to prohibit their visits to houses of worship, observance of religious rituals and ceremonies, and celebration of religious holidays.

The main reason of religious discrimination can be seen in various misconceptions and stereotypes against certain religions, their customs and traditions. For example, in Roman times, the early Christians were persecuted in particular for the reason that they were considered to be cannibals, since the rite of Communion was seen as similar to cannibalism. In addition, religious discrimination can also be caused by fear of losing political or social authority. The history of Christianity can also confirm that Christians were persecuted also because of the spread of religion among non-Christians.

Despite the fact that white individuals try not to express their racial prejudice openly, especially in the company of the racial minority, it will be wrong to think that their attitudes toward people of different color have not changed in the recent years. The existence of racism is possible not only in the classic version, based on humiliating and degrading attitude towards representatives of black or colored races, but also in the form of gender and religious discrimination. Having a variety of reasons for their occurrence, each of these types has the characteristics of racism, namely the presence of negative stereotypes and prejudices, the desire to limit the rights and freedom, including physical violence and destruction. Thus, the problem of modernity is to fight against the three kinds of racism and discrimination, which can still be observed. In this regard, the value of social psychology is evident. It provides an opportunity to analyze the psychological reasons underlying the modern types of racism. All people have the opportunity to realize the fact that unfortunately racism continues to exist in the modern world. It did not become a myth, but instead it took a contemporary look in its various versions.