Racism in America

Racism in our society has a long deeply rooted history. It has been in every part of our society and appears not to be getting any better. In order to fully understand racism one must look at the root cause of racism and the effects it has on an individual and a group. One must also look at the big picture of why there is the need for one group of people to think they are more superior than another and how it continues to progress. Experiencing racism is a traumatic experience and is something that doesn’t stop when there is an appearance of public reconciliation our unity. In order to take a look at this matter of racism, one must first understand exactly what racism is by clearly defining it. Once the definition has been established, one can then look at some of the more common forms of racism in our society and its effects on our society in groups and individuals. Finally, the ultimate question to be reckoned with is can we live in a society free of racism? And can a racist be delivered and set free from this stronghold. Survivors of racism will ultimately be affected for the remainder of his or her life unless they pray for God to set them free to love completely. After all has been said and done, one will conclude that unless healing, deliverance and being set free from the need to be superior to other races, our society will continue to breed this ungodly vice.

What is racism?
Racism is defined as a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement; usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others (Moran, 2005). Racism can be subtle or overt, it can be intentional or unintentional, and it can be conscious or unconscious. Actions can be racist. Policies can be racist. Arguably even whole countries can be racist. And, of course, people can be racist. While there is some excitement over the proposition that only the most powerful members of a society can be racist within it, a consensus seems to be emerging that just about anyone can be racist. Perhaps, then, as racism is capable of worming its way into so many diverse corners of life, it should not come as a surprise that there is considerable disagreement over what is common to racism’s variegated forms. Indeed, some recent writings embrace the prospect that the nature of racism may resist being captured in a single, monistic formula (Moran, 2005). What are some forms of racism?

Structural racism
Researchers have long argued that racism operates at multiple levels, ranging from the individual to the structural (Jones, 2000). The metaphor of an iceberg is useful for describing the levels at which racism operates. The tip of the iceberg represents acts of racism, such as cross-burnings, that are easily seen and individually mediated. The portion of the iceberg that lies below the water represents structural racism; it is more dangerous and harder to eliminate (Jones, 2000). Policies and interventions that change the iceberg’s tip may do little to change its base, resulting in structural inequalities that remain intact, though less detectable. Structural racism is defined as the macrolevel systems, social forces, institutions, ideologies, and processes that interact with one another to generate and reinforce inequities among racial and ethnic groups (Powell, 2008). The term structural racism emphasizes the most influential socioecologic levels at which racism may affect racial and ethnic health inequities. Structural mechanisms do not require the actions or intent of individuals (Bonilla, Silva 2007).

As fundamental causes, they are constantly reconstituting the conditions necessary to ensure their perpetuation (Link, 2005). Even if interpersonal discrimination were completely eliminated, racial inequities would likely remain unchanged due to the persistence of structural racism (Jones, 2000). Research on structural racism should not only focus on independent effects but also should address interactions among multiple forms of racism. Further, it is likely that forms of racism may reinforce one another, and efforts to dismantle one system may yield little effect without simultaneous efforts on another system. The study of single forms of racism would lead to an incomplete understanding and, potentially worse, biased estimates (Sacerdote, 2005). For instance, assume that five forms of racism fully account for health disparities, but an intervention only targets one form. That intervention may show no effect simply because it is incomplete and potentially lead to the erroneous conclusion that anti-racism efforts fail. Hence, it is absolutely critical to consider the multiple forms of racism (Sacerdote, 2005). Internalized Racism

Internalized racism refers to the acceptance, by marginalized racial populations, of the negative societal beliefs and stereotypes about themselves. It is premised on the assumption that in a color-conscious racially stratified society, one response of populations defined as inferior would be to accept as true the dominant society’s ideology of their inferiority (McVeigh, 2004). For some African Americans, the normative cultural characterization of the superiority of whiteness and the devaluing of blackness, combined with the economic marginality of blacks, can lead to the perception of self as worthless and powerless (McVeigh, 2004). Several lines of evidence suggest that the internalization of cultural stereotypes by stigmatized groups can create expectations, anxieties and reactions that can adversely affect social and psychological functioning. Fischer and colleagues’ (1996) review of research from several countries indicates that groups that are socially regarded as inferior have poorer academic performance than their more highly regarded peers (such as Koreans versus Japanese in Japan, Scots versus the English in the United Kingdom, and Eastern European origin versus Western European origin Jews in Israel). Research in the United States reveals that when a stigma of inferiority is activated under experimental conditions, performance on an examination was adversely affected (David, Morris, 2000).

African Americans who were told in advance that blacks perform more poorly on exams than whites, women who were told that they perform more poorly than men, and white men who were told that they usually do worse than Asians, all had lower scores on an examination than control groups who were not confronted with a stigma of inferiority (David, Morris, 2000). Similarly, studies of mental patients revealed that the expectation of negative stigmatization adversely affected social networks, job performance and self-esteem. Research by Jerome Taylor and his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh has systematically addressed the mental health consequences of internalized racism. These researchers utilized a 30-item instrument called the Nadanolitization Scale that captures the extent to which blacks believe in the innate inferiority of blacks and feel uncomfortable around other blacks (David, Morris, 2000). In a study of African American women, Taylor and Jackson (1990) found a positive association between internalized racism and alcohol consumption. Internalized racism was also positively related to psychological distress.

These associations remained significant after adjustment for stress, social support, religious orientation, SES, marital status, and physical health. Other studies with the Nadanolitization Scale have produced similar results. McCorkle (1991) found that internalized racism was related to lower self-esteem, less ego identity, and had a negative effect on the socio-emotional development of children whose mothers had high scores on internalized racism (Joyce, 2009). Similarly, a study of low SES black mothers found a positive relationship between internalized racism and symptoms of depression. Other support for the adverse health consequences of internalized racism comes from analyses of the NSBA. In this study, blacks were asked the extent to which they regarded seven negative stereotypes and seven positive stereotypes as true of most black people. The endorsement of negative stereotypes was positively related to chronic health problems and psychological distress (Joyce, 2009).

The rejection of positive stereotypes as true was inversely related to happiness and life satisfaction. These associations were significant net of controls for socio-demographic factors (age, education and gender) and discrimination. Much is yet to be learned about the determinants and consequences of internalized racism. Hughes and Joyce (2009) found an inverse association between internalized racism (measured in terms of the endorsement of stereotypes) and self-esteem among blacks, but it is not currently understood the causal dynamics underlying this association. The stigma of racial inferiority may also adversely affect the treatment of black patients in the mental health system (Joyce, 2009). Black clinicians have long argued that popular misconceptions, inaccuracies, and stereotypes of the psychology of African Americans could lead to the misdiagnosis of black patients (Hall, Wood, 2010). The over-diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and the under-diagnosis of affective disorders are the most frequent types of misdiagnoses for blacks. The differential interpretation of similar symptoms due to conscious or unconscious acceptance of negative stereotypes of blacks may be a contributing factor to misdiagnosis. Some evidence suggests that the misdiagnosis of black patients persists even when formal diagnostic criteria are utilized.

The evidence reviewed suggests that there is a need for more systematic research attention to the construct of racism and critical evaluation of its impact on health (Hall, Wood, 2010). This must begin with a clear understanding of the nature and structure of racism, especially in terms of its multiple dimensions and components. Our society is racially stratified with groups defined as “races” differing in power, status and access to societal rewards. Racism is not the only social factor that affects health and it is not independent of other social influences. In societies stratified by race, racism transforms and structures other societal institutions so that the entire social system is racialized (Joyce, 2009). A symbiotic relationship has existed between racism and the political, legal, economic and cultural institutions with racism being shaped by and reshaping these institutions. Different combinations of these forces have been salient during varying historical periods, but there has been a racial dimension to every institution, policy and practice in the United States. The expression of racism changes over time but the fundamental inequalities between groups persist.

Advancing our understanding of the role of racism in health will require careful theoretical and empirical work that seeks to (1) characterize the multiple dimensions of racism; (2) comprehensively assess potential health consequences; and (3) identify the proximal mechanisms by which racism may lead to changes in health status (Ford, 2011). Such efforts must recognize that the association between racism and health is likely to be dynamic, and must include the comprehensive characterization of the living conditions created by racism and the systematic assessment of their health consequences. This approach can facilitate the identification of the conditions under which various components of racism are more or less consequential in predicting specific health outcomes (Ford, 2011). We will illustrate the kinds of questions that need to be addressed by focusing on the criminal justice system in the USA. African Americans are over-represented on almost every criminal justice statistic. Blacks are much more likely than whites to be victims of all types of crime, with the racial disparity being largest for violent crime. Among the 15 leading causes of death in the United States, the largest racial disparity is for homicide (Moran, 2005). In 1995, the homicide rate for blacks was six times higher than the rate for whites.

Rates of involvement with the criminal justice system are also high for blacks. Although African Americans are only 13% of the US population, they were almost half of all persons admitted to prison in 1995. Between 1970 and 1995, incarceration rates for whites tripled while black admissions into prisons increased by more than five times. In 1995, 9% of blacks compared to 2% of whites were on probation, on parole, or in jail or prison. Among men aged 20-29, 26% of blacks were under the supervision of the criminal justice system, compared to 7% of whites (Moran, 2005). These stark racial differences are often viewed as being due to differences in underlying values and beliefs or even possible differences in biology. However, considerable evidence suggests that racism plays some role in these differences (Moran, 2005). First, residential segregation creates and exacerbates conditions that lead to high rates of violent crime. Research indicates that the combination of high rates of concentrated poverty, male joblessness, and residential instability lead to high rates of single-parent households.

The combination of these factors completely accounts for the elevated levels of violent crime in the black population (Sampson, Wilson, 2005). Moreover, the association between these factors and crime for whites was virtually identical in magnitude with the association for blacks. These researchers concluded that `the sources of violent crime appear to be remarkably invariant across race and rooted instead in the structural differences among communities, cities, and states in economic and family organizations (Sampson, Wilson, 2005). Second, institutional discrimination in the administration of justice also plays a role. Some evidence indicates that there are racial differences in the punishment for at least some crimes. Before the Civil War, laws in the United States explicitly provided more severe punishments for blacks than for whites who were guilty of the same crime. Such legal statutes no longer exist, but the administration of justice is still especially harsh to blacks when the victim is white.

Reflecting a well-documented sexual dimension to racism, during the first half of this century, twice as many blacks as whites convicted of rape were sentenced to life in prison, and between 1930 and 1973, black men were nine times more likely than whites to receive capital punishment for rape (Jones, 2000). In contemporary America, a defendant who killed a white person is more than four times more likely to receive a death sentence than a defendant who killed a black person. However, given that most crimes occur within race the relative number of blacks affected is small. Other evidence suggests that the administration of criminal justice has a bias against blacks. Negative stereotypes of African Americans as criminals and violent has led to the widespread use of race in the creation of law enforcement profiles of likely criminals (Jones, 2000). Accordingly, to be black, especially to be a young black male makes one a suspect. Police officers maintain greater surveillance of blacks, and blacks are more likely to be stopped, questioned and searched than whites. Religious Racism

Americans’ religious experience is marked by a color line. In 1998, almost half of U.S. congregations were composed of only one racial group, and just 12% of congregations had even a moderate amount of racial diversity (Dougherty, Huyser, 2008). Notwithstanding historical and cultural tradition, it is surprising to find racial segregation in religious institutions that otherwise are oriented toward social equality and tolerance of others. More than 50 years ago, Allport (1950) puzzled over why people who endorsed religious ideologies of humanitarianism and equality also seemed to support prejudice. Racial prejudice is proscribed by many mainstream religions (Duck, Hunsberger, 2000), and racism conflicts with religious teachings of egalitarian and humanitarian values. This paradox of religious racism might reflect basic group dynamics in which identification with a religious in-group promotes out-group prejudices, including racial prejudices that build on the color line marking religious practice (Burris, Jackson, 2000). Religious racism also might emerge from the values, or guiding life principles, that underlie people’s devotion to their religious faith. That is, particular social-cognitive motives for being religious might also motivate racism. Can racism exist without racist behaviors?

One intuitive and popular view gives racism a cognitive analysis, according to which racism always ultimately traces to, in one way or another, a certain kind of belief, ideology, theory, doctrine, or judgment, such as the belief that a race is inferior or worthy of exclusion from full political participation (Eisenman, 2011). While there is much to be said on behalf of cognitivist accounts, it appears that they are uniformly vulnerable to counterexamples. J. L. A. Garcia has repeatedly called to our attention the case of a racist who simply hates black people without harboring any beliefs or judgments about them (Eisenman, 2011. A person who has not internalized any racist beliefs or judgments but who consistently and without justification treats members of his own race preferentially. Thus the point of Garcia’s examples can be driven home by considering someone who, when accused of being racist because he is perpetually and exclusively hateful of nonwhites, responds by saying, “But I don’t believe anything racist about nonwhites.” For many such people we will, of course, suspect that they do hold racist beliefs (Glasgow, 2009).

But it would not be beside the point to additionally insist, “Even if that’s true, your hatred is by itself racist.” These cases suggest that, at least as a conceptual matter, it is possible for racism to be found in noncognitive attitudes or behaviors. In his defense of an ideological account, Glasgow suggests that, while racist hatred might not have to be accompanied by a well-formed belief, it is intelligible only if it exists against a widespread, background racist social ideology (Glasgow, 2009). However, it does seem that a person in a thoroughly nonracist closed society, who has formed no racist beliefs, could have a unique hatred toward people of other races. Shelby holds that such attitudes would be “puzzling” and that such a person might have to be “psychotic.” But even if we grant that such a person is psychotic, his attitudes might still be racist (Miller, 2000). We can, for example, imagine a world that became racist because of some “first” racist, who rationalized his psychotic racist hatred of nonwhites by formulating, ex post, a doctrine of white supremacy.

There is, prior to the attempted rationalization, no judgment that grounds his apparently racist hatred, but, as it is hatred of nonwhites as nonwhites, it still appears to be racist. One alternative to cognitivism is some sort of behavioral account, such as that provided by Michael Philips, according to whom “‘racist’ is used in its logically primary sense when it is attributed to actions. All other uses of “racist”must be understood directly or indirectly in relation to this one.” But while Philips marshals several points in favor of this understanding, Garcia’s counterexample to cognitivism has the same force for behaviorism: someone who deeply hated some other race but who was unable, whether through an internal or external mechanism, to act in a racist manner should be considered racist all the same. Impotencein directing, or even in intending to direct, one’s racism toward a target does not render one’s racism any less racist. To make this point, John Arthur has us imagine a racist stuck on a deserted island without anyone toward whom he can direct his racism, and it is not farfetched to suspect that some people in our midst resist acting on their racist attitudes simply in order to avoid earning a bad reputation. Since we can certainly conceive of such people, it appears to be conceptually possible for racism to exist without racist behavior.

The only true way to tear down the stronghold of racism is for complete deliverance to take place. We must intentionally decide that we are all equal. All here in this earth for a little while. Hatred is the root of racism and has been in existence since the beginning of time. We are all called to live together in unity and in harmony. The word of God tells us to love each other as Christ loves us. We can’t pick and choose whom we should love. Especially if we are choosing based on the color of another’s skin. One day God is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle. There isn’t going to be sections in heaven for black, whites and other races. We should do what we can to get along with each other on earth, as we shall in heaven. Walking the face of this earth is on a rehearsal of what we will do in heaven. If we fail here, there’s no chance of us going to heaven. God is no respect of person. He treats each of us the same, but with various lessons. Love, the greatest commandment.

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