Dear America, how much more RACIST can your IDEOLOGIES be?
- The Youth's Lens
- Jun 17, 2018
- 5 min read
An analysis of the current racial prejudice in America under President Donald J. Trump, referring to the ambiguous history of the nation by our political, cultural and economical intellect Abhinav Jain.
The American of colour in the modern world is a symbol, well known to everyone, of just how adverse the current implications of historical action can be. The plight thrust upon an entire race by the Americans is arguably unrivalled in history, and there are several reasons why the corrupt condition of PoC communities in America persists till date. Let us imagine individuals with the hands bound, rendering the individuals unable to fend for themselves. Let us now give meaning to this image. The binds on the hands connote racism and discrimination in early 1900s America. Discrimination is often defined as being the unified singling out of a certain group or 'type' of people, and most often the group of people is put down and considered unequal to the majority. To say the race faced racial discrimination is without question, however these binds can be broken down into components.
Racism in the past......
Coloured people in America faced acute racial discrimination throughout the early 1900s, with education, accommodation, and free will made available to them in extremely limited amounts. This led to enduring prejudice against the entire race based solely on past ideals and without basis in fact. These past ideals grew into beliefs with cult followings, some examples of which are the KKK and Aryan Nations. The belief spread and grew in strength until it was rooted into the minds of people all over America. It was not only followed, but enforced. The first component, therefore, is ideology.
Another contributor to the condition was the regulations set in place from the late 1800s to mid 1900s known commonly as the Jim Crow Laws. These laws enforced segregation in the southern United States, and were followed in varied amounts all over. They were followed by governors and people alike, and were rarely questioned. As we have progressed into the 21st century, the questions have increased, and racial tolerance has now become something worth fighting for, but the underlying habit of following without question still lives on. This leads to the second component; blind faith in systemic enforcement.
Finally, since PoC were denied education and were neglected in society, they were unable to grow and prosper as a people. Increased debts and an inability to succeed in contemporary professions led to violence within the community, having to resort to petty crime, and an uphill battle against strengthening societal stereotypes. This final bind could be described as the cage. Many more reasons can be given, as can components be explained, however these three are what I consider to be the leading factors contributing to the current predicament of coloured people in America. Each bind had a lasting effect on society, and these effects compounded to form the situation in the present.
How have IDEOLOGIES contributed to RACISM?
Ideology has been one of the strongest contributors; racial supremacy, Neo-Nazism and xenophobia are all examples of far-right ideologies that have plagued the modern world and instilled an intolerant attitude into its population. It is human nature to consider oneself superior to another, and when this idea is accepted and amplified by larger groups of people, it becomes what is commonly seen today as a deeply rooted belief in genetic or racial superiority. White supremacy is one of the most common public displays of racial superiority, with activists converging to rally all over the United States. These supremacists consider their blood to be pure, often alluring to the ‘Aryan’ justification delivered by Hitler. WW2 can also be marked as one of the starting points for this ideology, as the belief once propagated by Hitler eventually spread, and lives on today in the form of condensed groups within the alt-right.
Yeah... but I don't believe that is the case of America currently.....
Blind faith along with preconceived notions play key roles in the current mindset, both contributing heavily to the treatment of persons of colour in America. With Trump as POTUS, people from the alt-right community who share stereotypical views have a platform to openly share them, and in addition, people with no prior opinion are influenced by the waves of deceit and begin to participate, whether actively or passively, further marginalising the PoC community. People need something to believe in, a common example of this being religion. Faith in the majority often holds true in society even if the majority is hellishly incorrect.
The growth and prosperity of the community has also been economically stunted through historic action. Education, job opportunities, accommodation and low levels of income all contributed to their developmental stagnation. The exact effect that each factor had on them was such; bad jobs means low income and also low levels of training and specialisation and therefore sparse opportunity in the future; bad housing means low familial development, bad education affects job opportunities and income, and finally low pay (which can be considered a consequence of the first factor) results in low levels of consumer confidence or an inability to spend on desires, with spread into low levels of societal confidence to enter the consumer sector and actually purchase mid-level goods and services. The last factor is not responsible for much economic downturn as it is social stigma against the PoC community even when they are willing and able to purchase luxury items, a prime example of which is Oprah Winfrey being told that a handbag is "unaffordable" for her in Switzerland, 2013.
The isolation and ignorance they encountered from other people in their environment affected their development as a society. They grew inwards and not outwards; they kept to themselves, formed communities such as Harlem and Compton where other races were harassed and considered unwelcome and ultimately stagnated while the others around them continued to prosper. The stagnation can ultimately be blamed not only on the lack of opportunity presented to them or the lack of integration among races, but also due to their historical encounters, which had fundamentally diminished their confidence and ability to pursue even a glimmer of hope; hope that would’ve been exploited to the fullest by anyone whose confidence hadn’t been eaten away at for centuries.
So, racism is going to continue in the future?
Not exactly. Things are beginning to change, however. The tide is shifting from one of intolerance to one of inclusion. ‘Black Lives Matter’ arose as a protest against police brutality, signifying the growing confidence in the PoC community, lamely countered by ‘All Lives Matter’ from the alt-right. Constant instigation by the majority has led to a strong and resilient attitude in opposition. The community is coming together and standing up for itself and its members, and as a result, others are joining in protest to dispute behaviour which for centuries was considered justified. Most of us are racist at heart. Deep within us we consider ourselves, our country, our race, to be superior. What people don’t seem to realise, is that we all come from the same origins. There is no pure and impure, and in today’s globalised world the only race is the human race. In conclusion, let me ask you this: Where do your loyalties lie? With your country? With people the same colour as you? Or with yourself?
Bibliography and References
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44158098
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/msnbc-s-everyday-racism-america-racial-reckoning-must-happen-leaders-n878336
https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2018/5/24/17389742/american-health-care-racism
Written By Abhinav Jain
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