Essay On Racism In America – Examples

First, there are many different forms of racism that affects many people such as African Americans, Hispanics, Muslims, and LGBTQs. First let’s look at prejudice which is defined by Allport, according to the article Culture, Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination by John Baldwin, as “an avertive or hostile attitude toward a person who belongs to a group, simply because he or she belongs to that group, and is therefore presumed to have the objectionable qualities to the group.” Baldwin continues to say, “by this definition, prejudice is an aspect of affect, or feeling toward a group, though it is closely related to cognitions or thoughts about the group, referring to stereotypes.”

Stereotyping is one of most problem we see today in America and around the world. For example, if someone was homosexual, people would think that they only want to get in a straight person’s pants, or if someone was a Muslim, people would think that they only want to blow up the United States, or if someone was Black, people would think that they are part of a gang, or if someone was Hispanic, people would think they are a rapist, a murderer, or a drug lord. Baldwin writes that, “debates have swirled around the nature of prejudice, the causes of prejudice, and the locus of certain prejudices (such as racism or sexism), among other things.”

Secondly, let’s look at racism itself, which Baldwin defines racism, “as a specific type of prejudice is one of the most hotly discussed and debated sites of intolerance in contemporary times in the United States and beyond.” I find this statement to be true for a lot of reasons, such as during the 2016 Presidential Elections with the Black Lives Matters was one of the issues and when Donald Trump promised to build a big wall to keep out the Mexicans because they are known as rapists or murderers.

Baldwin continues to write, “racism is a form of intolerance that is based on the supposedly biological distinction of race, but many authors today argue that race is a social construct, sometimes defined differently from country to country and even over time within a single country.” Baldwin states in which Nakayama wrote in 1998, that, “this distinction in racism also applies to definitions of sexism or to the delineation between homophobia as a personal dislike or fear of LGBT individuals and heterosexism as a social structure that reinforces prejudice against them.”

Lastly, let’s look at the last form of racism, which is, discrimination. According to Baldwin, “discrimination specifically refers to “behavior that denies equal treatment to people because of their membership in some group” (Herbst, 1997, p. 185).” Baldwin continues states that, “it is based on the “beliefs, feelings, fantasies, and motivations of prejudice” (p. 185), but these mental or social concepts are not in themselves discrimination.” Baldwin also states that, discrimination involves behavior.” In his article, Baldwin gives many examples of discrimination which he writes, “these include things like not allowing certain groups housing or refusing other privileges, resources, or opportunities to them.”

One example that Baldwin uses, which he states, “a popular U.S media topic is the county clerk, Kim Davis, who refused to give marriage licenses to gays or lesbians based on her faith, despite a state law that allowed her to do so.” Another example that Baldwin uses, which he states, “the Jim Crowe laws of the United States, which gave unequal educational and public access rights to blacks and whites is a classic example, with many facilities being for whites only.” Baldwin also states that, “in many countries, overt forms of discrimination for many (but seldom all) groups have been outlawed.” These forms of discrimination are redlining and racial profiling.

In his article, Baldwin goes to say, “institutional discrimination itself may take forms that are harder to name and prove, such as redlining, the process by which banks give fewer mortgages to people of color, based on the belief that they are less able to repay loans.” Baldwin continues to explain redlining by saying, “some real estate agents may steer people of color away from rentals in the upscale neighborhoods; school advisers may tell people of color that their children are more suited for trade school rather than college or graduate school.” Although, with this being said, we see redlining still happening today, but it’s not only just banks giving less mortgages to people of race, but with some landlords not allowing a person with a disability or disabilities to have a service or an emotional support animal to live with them.

For racial profiling, Baldwin gives an example by saying, “when police pay more attention to people of color, stopping and/or searching them more frequently than they do whites (what some people of color call “DWB” or “driving while black”).” After looking at the forms of racism and racism itself, but also the people affected by it, next let’s look at the Bible and Jesus’ teachings.