Can racism be ended?
Table of Contents
2.0 Negative impacts of racism.. 4
4.0 Challenges in ending racism.. 9
4.1 The challenge of individualism.. 9
4.3 Lack of enough measure to address discrimination in workplaces. 10
Abstract
Research and theories show that there is a need to examine and bring out issues that are associated with racism in the world. Most of the time, racism is described as individual prejudice. Still, we can also say that racism is something systematic, and it exists along with advantages and disadvantages that are associated with cultural artifacts, institutions, and ideological disclosure that work together to bring individual bias. Racism tends to bring prejudice and inequality (Nelson). There have been all types of racial discrimination depicted in several scenarios, like employment, education system, sports, and other more social domains. Therefore, it is essential to address the issues of racism at an individual level, institutional, and in the whole society. This paper will discuss and highlight if it is possible to end racism in this modern world. We will look at some ways that can be adopted to minimize or eliminate racism and the challenges that inhibit attempts to eradicate racism.
Can racism be ended?
1.0 Introduction
It would be very significant if we could live in a world where humans treat each other equally. Racism term has been used for centuries to show how humans depict bias by stereotyping, discriminating, and lack of equal treatment due to differences in races. Racism has been witnessed where specific ethnic-racial groups of individuals are oppressed to uphold the privileges of others while perpetuating some social disparities (Neblett, and Roberts). Human beings are the ones who have created racism, and therefore they are still responsible for destroying it. They can surely find ways to destroy something that they have created. We create racism by deciding to invent stigma towards certain groups of people, their culture, norms, and values and therefore dehumanizing them. Some humans tend to institute several malicious ranking systems in their employment system, which establishes hatred. The discussion of racism that goes beyond the individual level has always been challenging because some organizations have found it difficult to dismiss racism. Racism is seen that it is in the structure of our everyday world, and therefore we can acknowledge that it is still part of modern society. There are several negative impacts of racism on our generation, and therefore there is a need to adopt the researched suggested ways to end it., regardless of the challenges involved.
2.0 Negative impacts of racism
Racism has recorded a significant effect on the health and well-being of many people in the world. It takes different forms, and it happens in many places. It brings discrimination that results in hatred simply because of someone’s color, origin, and ethnicity. Racism has been associated with cases of harassment and abuse of human rights. One can reveal their behavior of racism by their actions and attitudes towards others. Sometimes it is said that racism is more than uttering certain words to a person that shows discrimination or hatred. It is said to consist of all kinds of barriers that hinder people from having the chance to enjoy their dignity equality just because of their race (Wilson). There has been evidence showing that people who experience racism tend to suffer from health and mental problems and end up living a lower quality life. When people feel discriminated due to their race, they tend to get stressed. The mind can sense that there is a harmful situation occurring. In return, the mind is triggered to stimulate the body to increase the heart rate, increase breathing rate, blood pressure, and the stress hormones are released. These issues lead to immediate health problems. In children, racism has sown to make them lose self-confidence hence further affecting their education performance.
There is a psychologist called Anthony Ong, who wrote that racism that occurs at a personal level is very harmful and can have adverse consequences on one’s life chances, which includes their psychological and physical health (Linley). He insists that it is imperative to keep in mind that the severe impacts of racism occur through micro-level systems, and therefore they shape the way we access economic and social resources.
Several people have reported having had to deal with instances of violence in the process of developing their self-identity. They are forced to defend themselves and their families, both mentally and physically. Some people go through this at a very young age, which is very unfortunate for them. This means that they must cope with unhealthy ways of life hence becoming more stressed (Linley). It is very endangering to stay in an environment and society that is full of threats, which is an ethical implication of racial profiling. Racial discrimination makes someone feel like they are living under siege. The risks of racism are passed down from one generation to another, and the damage it causes is unmeasurable. Those who practice racism also teach their colleagues and children to do the same hence creating more gaps between races.
3.0 How can we end racism?
Although racism has been a major problem that is prevalent in many societies, all of us can still stand against it. This can help in promoting human rights and making a difference in the community. Racism is known to evolve and will always find a way into the hearts and minds of the people. It is important to understand that racism exists in the workplaces, hospitals, schools, and even in our judicial systems. We can, therefore, rethink and adapt to some of the following ways that bring racial justice and therefore making everyone live better.
The society, including organizations, educational institutions, health care works, and policymakers must understand that racism has extremely negative effects. It affects people’s self-concept, well-being, and health regardless of age and gender (Burge, and Zillante). The above groups of individuals should always be ready to address the issue of racism and its toll on the well-being of people. All of us need to hold strong positions against all practices and policies that bring discrimination. This will help to promote an environment that is safe and affirming and enable all people from different backgrounds to thrive.
Companies should take racism as structural violence and address it accordingly. Structural violence refers to situations where some social practices place limitations to certain groups of people that are unavoidable and hence prevent them from achieving a quality life. Quality life could have otherwise been achieved if equality were upheld. Organizations should focus on practicing social justice in their leadership principles (Burge, and Zillante). They should embrace and encourage conversations regarding race and racism. All people should be allowed to participate actively and express their feelings about racism and suggest solutions to end it. They should also recognize all cultures in their environment and treat them equally because no culture is superior to the other.
Healthcare professionals, schools’ instructors, and management should ensure that they uphold and recognize diversity so that they can create equality and justice among their students, customers, and faculty. In schools, there should be diversity policies that articulate and enforce practices that fight against racism (Gilligan 2017). When these institutions are doing recruitment, admissions ad planning to retain their employees, they should develop programs and place initiatives that aim at monitoring processes to avoid any form of racism. Students should be mentored and trained to acknowledge and respect diversity and other people’s color and learn to accept different kinds of people in society. There should be a promotion of a conducive environment where everyone is free and transparent to discuss issues of power and race. Staff and faculty in healthcare professionals should regularly be trained on the key principles of diversity and the need for equality.
The youths in the society should stand firm to show their views against racism and aim to bring a safe and welcoming environment and space for all. Organizations should also focus on providing equitable opportunities that build the youth and the rest of the community (Atkins 2015). Youths can also in creating advertisements and promotions that show the fight against racism. Interventions for racism should be addressed as part of the daily routine. Everyone has a right to live happily and free from racism regardless of their color or nationality.
People should read and do more research on the history of racism so that they understand better its impacts on fellow human beings. This can help in opening the door to learning more about ways to avoid racist behaviors (Atkins 2015). People can utilize information in the media about people who have ever experienced racism and how it negatively affected them. By doing this, one will be able to feel the weight it carries and what it means to be discriminated based on color, ethnic group, or race. After learning about the impacts of racism, it is good to show empathy to the affected groups to help them feel a sense of belonging.
There is an established National Action plan that fights against racism. It should focus on establishing a commitment to the human rights standards that are universal and plan on how these standards will be implemented in all nations. The plan should be one of their long-term goals to enhance all nations to observe those standards so that all forms of discrimination associated with race are eliminated (Priest & Williams 2017). It should also work closely with other national human rights bodies so that it can get more recommendations on the elimination of racism. This national action against discrimination should clearly show the real current situation of racism and point out what problems are there to be addressed. It should provide a benchmark where the progress of the fight against racial discrimination. Actions to fight this pandemic should always be prioritized and be specific to define who should take what action.
Everyone has a responsibility to speak out to our teachers, family, and friends about the importance of ending racism so that they can contribute by helping to and offering their support to combat racism. There is a need to keep a record that has evidence on how racism has led to discrimination so that we can show others and convince them about the importance of them supporting in eradicating it (Gilligan 2017). If one is affected by racism, they should always be ready to speak out and tell others how it is affecting their life and well-
being. One person cannot tackle racism, and that is why it is important to seek support and get others to be involved.
4.0 Challenges in ending racism
Racism has stood to be widely spread in the modern world where there is more globalization, and society has become more multicultural. No state can say that it is free from racism. There have been reported cases of racial violence; people are uttering hate speech and stereotyping. It has become part of everyday life. Therefore, the risks of discrimination due to race have also increased (Gilligan 2017). Talking about racism has been a challenge in the whole world because many people do not still accept that racial discrimination breaks relevant policies and end up punishing certain groups of people. People who practice racism always deny that the ideas and strategies they depict are racist.
4.1 The challenge of individualism
One of the main challenges facing the fight against racism is individualism. Some communities, especially the Whites, are usually taught to only care about themselves and see themselves as individuals other than looking at themselves as part of a particular racial group. This makes them fail to accept that racism has been structured in society, and it has become part of it. Individualism makes one grow while isolating themselves from the history and actions of their group (Priest & Williams 2017). When people only care about themselves, then they will not care about hurting others y doing activities that depict racism.
4.2 Racism arrogance
Most people have very little or limited information and understanding of racism. This is because they have not been trained to understand what it means to be a racist and the complexity that comes with it. Therefore, these people tend to ignore the impacts that are associated with racism, and most of the time, they do not care about the victim will be affected by their actions. The failure to get engaged and acknowledge discussions on racism has created a perilous situation and has been defined as racial illiteracy (Hernández 2019). The schools and other institutions are not doing the necessary to equip their members to understand what racism means and the importance to fight against it. They only mention that racism is wrong without going deep into the roots to find out its effects on fellow individuals and the best ways to eliminate it.
4.3 Lack of enough measure to address discrimination in workplaces
There are not enough measures at workplaces that demonstrate the need to address the issue of racism. The existing legal mechanism that is put to fight against racism is not adhered to in some companies, mostly private firms. Although workplace racism is illegal in many counties, research has shown that it is still a big problem. Thousands of people have recently reported discrimination in their work organizations, and employers have rarely being held responsible (Priest & Williams 2017). There are so many barriers to people of color to access employment opportunities, even in the current century, full of modernization. There is a lack of measures that discourage tolerance to specific acts of racial discrimination within organizations. Organizations are unable to change their culture in a way that they prevent and halt harassment associated with race in the workplace. Due to the lack of the above-discussed measures, it has been challenging to eliminate racism in the job world, and therefore people continue to suffer.
5.0 Conclusion
Racism is witnessed in the whole world and is seen in workplaces, learning institutions, and even among individuals. It has its detrimental to humanity, and that is why there is a need to combat it. Though sometimes we find it difficult to right against racism to eradicate it, there is still a chance of trying our best to overcome it. Institutions need to understand the issues surrounding them regarding racism and come up with ways to address them or use the exiting suggested methods. Every person has a right to be protected against racism and the discrimination associated with it because it is a fundamental right to humans. When it comes to finding solutions to deal with racism, it may differ from one country to another. However, we have national action that can set measures to end racism and ensure that counties adhere to them. The strategies that counties put into combating racism should comprise several areas like the judicial system, raising awareness, doing education, and having active participation to help eliminate discrimination associated with race. It is also essential to understand that every individual is responsible for fighting against racism, and therefore, every person should strive to understand what racism is its effects, and different ways in which it is depicted. Consequently, we have seen that racism can be ended if people and nations join hands to do away with it.
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