OK, so I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about our class discussions on racism. This turned into a discussion that lasted for a few hours! One thing that we talked about really made sense to me, and how I can be biased. I wanted your opinions.
We talked a lot in class about judging and discriminating a person based on race, and it is very evident that that happens. However, in my belief, it is much more common (and understandable) for us to judge based on someone's perceived culture. We are most comfortable around those whom we normally associate with, and begin to feel uncomfortable when we interact with someone of a different cultural background, no matter what their race may be. For example: If I walk past a black guy dressed up like a 'gangster', I'm going to feel uncomfortable based on my preliminary judgement of him, associating his clothing with a certain culture. However, if I see a hispanic or white guy dressed the same, I am going to feel equally as uncomfortable. Now, if a go to a doctor's appointment and the doctor walks in and is knowledgeable and respectful, it won't matter to me what race they are, I will feel comfortable around them.
So, could it be that we as a society are much more likely to discriminate based on different cultural backgrounds rather than race alone?
(This could also be an explanation as to the emergence of "Racism 2.0", because we'll feel more comfortable with someone of another race who shares our culture.)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
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I appreciate you posting this. I have been thinking the same thing, I realize that there are some people who may actually be legitimately prejudice or racist but it is a very small population. I think you are right that most of it is discrimination against a culture. Is that so bad? I don't want to spend much time with a group of people who are known for stealing, violence, and just plain being disrespectful regardless the color of their skin. I have to wonder if people have ever stopped to think that maybe there is good reason for the stereotype that has been assigned to blacks as being questionable.In a place like Chicago or LA there is a large majority of black people who are involved in gangs. It's not because they are black that they are treated the way they are it's because of the way they are dressed and carry themselves, it just so happens the majority in that area is black. Don't get me wrong I know many good black people and even have friends of all different ethincities. I'm sorry for those who don't fit the stereotype but it happens in many areas of life there is a culture or personality trait that isn't acceptable and happens to be that there is some thing easier to blame it on like race or gender than what actually is the problem. Yes, I am white and may not deal with the same discrimination but I come from a large family and we are stared at and denied privileges just because people don't like the amount of kids in my family. It's not necessarily the large family or color of skin it's the actions and culture of the people who have come before who looked the same that started forming these stereotypes for the rest of us who don't fit and now have to dispel the popular belief.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that in today’s society culture has become more influential in our judgments of others than race. However, in the video we watched in class about the car vandalism, racial perceptions played an obvious role in the reactions of the bystanders. Both the white and the black group appeared to be from the same class, and culture, but the black group received more attention and raised much more alarm. This clearly indicates that race is still a primary basis for our perceptions and judgments of those around us.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe that one sociological factor can be labeled as the most influential when it comes to discrimination. I also think that the factors of race, class, and culture are interconnected.
Class largely determines how we dress, how we act, where we live, the car we drive, the job we have, etc. Socioeconomic status also plays a major role in the people we interact with on a daily basis, and the things we are involved in. The way in which someone lives their life, and the values and practices that a person employs, is greatly affected by their class.
From a historical perspective, the indentured servants in colonial America became a distinct group within society, consisting of both blacks and whites. It wasn’t until blacks and whites began to be treated differently that the real issues with racism began. Why were they treated differently? It was primarily because they were believed to be of a lower class. Now, it is widely accepted that racial inequality is a thing of the past, and regardless of whether or not this is true, the repercussions of racial inequality are still evident in today’s society. There is a higher correlation between race and belonging to a lower class among blacks than among whites. Is the class system that has resulted from racial inequality more of a factor in discrimination than race itself?
I think Sereen tries to make an interesting comparison between discrimination based on family size and that based on race or culture. The question I have is: How often do people really discriminate against you because of family size? Did you not say, when you are with your whole family? How salient of a factor is family size in your daily interactions with people? Yet how salient is someone's race or ethnicity in their daily interactions with individuals? Race and ethnicity unlike family are always with an individual.
ReplyDeleteYou ask if it is so bad to discriminate against a culture? I would ask is it so good to? How can we condone stereotyping, even if it is for a "good reason". Who defines what a good reason is? Is it not merely those with power in a society that create those reasons? How can we suppose that a stereotype was created necessarily out of a "good reason"? I guess all those stereotypes about Mormons are for good reasons too then, or is it just out of not knowing, not wanting or not trying to change those stereotypes? Culturism vs. racism? Who cares! It's discrimination, that is what should upset us, not why people are being discriminated against, but rather that discrimination is still a salient factor in affecting the life chances of individuals and groups throughout not only this nation, but the world. But if I have to pick one, racism is much more salient in society than culturism.
I agree that many times it is the case that people discriminate based on culture rather than race. Of course I believe there are many actual racists out there as well. Regarding culture, however, it is the stereotypes that we grow up with that make us think one way or another about a person's culture. Many people think that all blacks are this way or that all white people are another and, yes, there are some that fit the criteria but obviously not all of them are this way. I admit that when see someone I automatically make quick judgements based on their appearance. When I see someone dressed like a ganster I also am a little wary of them. But people also stereotype people who are dressed nicely as well. I have friends who when they see an attractive person dressed well, automatically assume that they are self-absorbed and rude. So I agree with Grant that no matter where the discrimination or judgements come from, they are wrong and we all need to be more diligent in fixing it.
ReplyDeleteI think some people may have misinterpreted my views about whether it is racism or culturism. Racism is what we are using as the basis of our discrimination even if we say it is culture. African Americans are still discriminated against even if they change their cultural surroundings or their culture in the U.S. because they are black. I think many individuals want to find examples of discrimination within their lives, but the degree to which well-dressed people and people with large families are discriminated pales in comparison to the reality of discrimination exacted upon minority peoples. No matter how many times we justify that it is their culture or how we justify it, culturism is a euphemism for racism. Yes, some cultural practices are more discriminated against than others. Lindsey, I don't pretend to know what you were thinking, but imagine the stereotypes you had in your mind as you typed about the "gangster" and the "people who are dressed nicely". I understand that some may take it hard when I say that culturism is a euphemism for racism, but from my experiences and study of race relations in the U.S. I can only sadly admit that this is the case all too often. I agree that we must be more diligent, but we can't ignore that racism is a current social problem and a current individual problem. By using culturism instead of racism, we are pretending that racism no longer exists and therefore are ignoring the problem rather than being diligent in fixing it. The stigma of being a racist should be just as firmly attached to being a culturalist or cultural supremacist. Racism is real, don't consign it to a secondary status behind culture.
ReplyDeleteGrant is right on. It's so much easier to point to things other than race when we are explaining why we don't like or are afraid of someone. If we can blame it on how they dress, we don't sound racist, even though that is really at the heart of our discrimination. There are a ton of great books and articles on how people associate negative characteristics with nonwhite people in the United States far more often than they attribute the same characteristics to whites. If we then make those negative characteristics the focus of our discussion, we are still discussing perceived racial differences, it just doesn't sound racist anymore. That doesn't mean that it isn't still racist.
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