Racism, The Belief In The Superiority Of One Race Over

Racism, the belief in the superiority of one race over another; discrimination against an individual or group of people, based on racial background, usually color [1]. In August 2011, a group of white adolescents were in Jackson Mississippi on a mission of hate: to find and hurt an African American. The actions of these white adolescents gave way for an unfortunate reminder of the assassination of past civil rights leader Medgar Evans back in 1963. Racism as a whole is far from over, but society is taking the initiative faster and stronger than ever before. In September 2001, â€Å"the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance† was enacted [2]. We must†¦show more content†¦Although identity was so vague, problems arose for scholars when separating races, consequently leading to the development of the term racial identity, a term more â€Å"segregated†. Racism at the ti me was a developed by Colonialists to in some way justify keeping power among â€Å"whites†. In the article Whiteness, Racism, and Identity, Barbara J. Fields conceives the term ‘whiteness’ and defines it as; â€Å"it performs a series of deft displacements, first submitting race for racism, then postulating identity as the social substance of race, and finally attributing racial identity to persons of European descent† [3]. When analyzing this definition, it brought to the light the true attitude of Europeans, which was that because they were white, they were the superior â€Å"race† and controlled power. In 1967, Frantz Fanon, one of the most influential participants involved with decolonization, stated: â€Å"The habit of considering racism as a mental quirk, as a psychological flaw, must be abandoned† [4]. The structure of race at the time in France was very underdeveloped and minimal, resulting in the differences of power not being considered a problem, rather a phenomenon [5]. In the article Rethinking Racism: Toward A Structural Interpretation by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Bonilla-Silva supplies Benedicts (1945) definition of race: â€Å"the dogma that one ethnic group is condemned by nature to congenital inferiority and another group is destined to congenital superiority† [6].Show MoreRelatedRacism : Racism And Discrimination927 Words   |  4 Pageswhat stemmed the root of racism and discrimination. But who is to say that racism is a term that is only associated with Blacks, African Americans, or those of African descent. Racism according to Merriam Webster dictiona ry is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. 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