Everyday, either on the news or personally, we either witness or experience some form of racism. When asking most people to define racism, they would probably talk vaguely about discrimination at work or on public attitudes toward ethnic minorities. Only a few will think of the verbal abuse which some people experience on a daily basis, or the physical trauma suffered in racist attacks. Racism in the United States is not a modern concept but has been deeply rooted into society throughout history. Much of the attention of the last twenty years has focused on individual racist behavior. However, just as individuals can act in racist ways, so can businesses and other groups of people. Racial prejudice has also become institutionalized, that is, it is reflected in government policy, schools, and so forth, and it is enforced by the existing social power structure. "According to the FBI, over 8,000 hate crimes were reported in 1997" (Legislative, ADL). When looking at the "Statistics Chart of Hate Crimes", there has been a significant increase in these crimes since 1991. One can only imagine how many more of these brutal crimes go unreported, often because the victims have no confidence in the police or the judiciary, which have often shown their own racist prejudices.

Why does racism exist? I believe the number one cause of racism is that it’s passed on from generation to generation. You see this everyday. If a parent is racist, their children and anyone else influenced by them are likely to become racist. In the United States since slavery began, many of the white race have come to believe they are superior not only over the blacks but over all other races. The breakdown of today’s system of moral values in terms of the family has led to the prejudicial attitudes being passed from generation to generation. Racial prejudice, at times becomes a conditioned response for many raised in this type of environment. Some people might say that racism is genetically inherited and that is why it’s passed to other generations. Wrong! "No one is born prejudice! Prejudice is learned and can be unlearned" (Citizen’s Action, ADL). The seed of prejudice must be planted somewhere along the line.

Could the media be an explanation for racism? Yes! The media perpetuates racism through television and advertisement. Many politicians and media figures continue to portray minority or refugee communities as if they were a burden, rather than highlighting the enormous contributions they make. These misrepresentations encourage racial stereotypes. As Abby Dickson states, "Crime is a favorite topic of the news and current affairs media. Crime is seen as being highly newsworthy. The news media in their reporting of crime frequently identify the race or ethnicity of alleged criminals." By giving the race or ethnicity of the alleged criminals, racist views are instilled in viewers. This influences viewers into believing that these criminals are from a race that is violent and inferior.

The words white and black have even taken on positive and negative connotations. The color white has come to stand for all the good in the world. White portrays a clean and pure aura opposed to the negative connotations related to the color black. The good guy versus the bad guy in old western movies demonstrates how we connect white with good and black with evil.

Another cause of racial prejudice would be social stereotypes. Social stereotypes are oversimplified images of people who fall into particular categories such as, redneck, politicians, juvenile delinquent, housewife, snob, etc. Stereotypes have a powerful effect on how we treat others. Racial and ethnic pride are gradually replacing stereotypes and discrimination, but the problem of prejudice is far from solved. Although stereotypes held by the prejudiced tend to be usually irrational, they play a substantial role in the influencing of racial prejudice.

At times, the development of prejudice, like other attitudes, can be traced to direct experiences with members of the rejected group. A child who is repeatedly bullied by members of a particular racial or ethnic group may develop resentment that forms the core of a lifelong dislike for all members of the group. The tragedy in such cases is that once dislike is established, it prevents accepting additional, more positive experiences that could reverse the damage.

No human deserves to be degraded, but the bottom line is that it happens everyday. However, progress has been made through attempts to educate the general public about the lack of justification for prejudices. Changing the belief component of an attitude has long been known to be one of the most direct means of changing the entire attitude. Thus, when people are made aware that the minority group members share the same goals, ambitions, feelings, and frustrations as they do, intergroup relations may be improved.
 
 

A Citizen’s Action Guide. Anti-Defamation League. 1999.

<http://www.adl.org/Prejudice/default.htm (4 April 1999).
 
 

Legislative Alert. Anti-Defamation League. 1999.

<http://www.congress.nw.dc.us/cgi-bin/alertpr.pl?dir=adl&alert=adl116 (4

April 1999).
 
 

Statistics About Hate Crimes. Anti-Defamation League. 1999.

<http://www.adl.org/issue_government/statistics_about_hate_crimes.html (24

March 1999).
 

 Racism in the Media - the Portrayal of Australian Aboriginal

People in the Mainstream Media. Dickson, Abby. 1998. <http://infotrain.magill.unisa.edu.au/

InfoTrain/VolumeOne/InfoMan3/Dickson.../V1DICKA.HT

(4 March 1999).

Contact Us:
 

http://www.nku.edu/~stieha/folio-01.html