Essay Example on Sociology of Racism

Introduction

The sociology of racism explores the relationship between racial discrimination and racial inequality. Racial discrimination is primarily concerned with the unequal treatment of people based on race, while racial inequality is concerned with unequal outcomes such as income, education, or health. Through the process of racialization, presumed physical differences amongst people are used to hierarchically and socially value and rank racial groups. The study of racism in useful for understanding the underlying reasons for the persistence of racism in a supposedly post-racial society. The sociology of racism conceptualizes the change in racist ideologies and their impact on science, politics, and everyday life over time. Historically, the sociology of racism was influenced by social actors and forces during different distinct phases. The first phase began from the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, with the second phase from the mid-twentieth century to the present. This paper aims to discuss how ideas about "race" and racist ideologies have changed over time between the nineteenth century and the twenty-first century.

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Change in Racist Ideologies over Time

In the early 19th century, the issue of race in America was rampant in that people of color who were American Asians, and American Africans were considered inferior and highly vulnerable to abuses like racial segregation. For instance, racial legislation was passed to restrict Asian Americans from acquiring citizenship and limiting their migration to America. During this period, the race was a crucial factor in all aspects of life in America. As time went by, a paradigm shift occurred in the mid-19th century that was elicited by various human rights groups in America (Elliott, Fleras & Scott, 1992). Asian American rights movement, which occurred from the 1960s to the late 19th century, changed these ideologies that lead to granting human rights to American Asians and other races, mainly from Africa by the 20th century. The rights agitated at the time have now been recognized across the world, and all human beings have been regarded as equal in the 21st century, thus reducing the degree of racial discrimination in America.

The ideologies of race have always played a significant role both in natural and social science. The Darwin theory that emerged in the 19th century implied the issue of same originality, which brought the ideology that all human beings originated from the same source, and thus all humans were equal. It is important to note that race ideologies varied across geographic locations. Those who were in a multicultural society; racial discrimination was rampant as opposed to those in non-multicultural locations. Even though there is still racial segregation in our society, factors such as evangelism and education have taught people to like each other, something that has changed race ideologies, especially from the mid-19th century.

Consequently, the race card in the political sphere is still felt until now. However, since the agitation for granting of social rights, a lot has been seen, for instance, in the early 19th century, Asian immigrants and Africans were not allowed to vote. Still, after the agitation of self-actualization, political rights and social rights were granted. In conclusion, race ideologies created a stumbling block to American Asians and Africans in the era of colonialism.

Implications of American Countries' Independence to Immigrants

Independence of countries in the Americas in the late 1800s and early 1900s came in handy to signify freedom from colonialists like the British who had imposed their rule in these nations. Ideally, at this time, the policy, for example of America, implied equality of all people, but this did not come to pass. The political elite took over these nations and dictated how immigration policies should be legislated (McNab, Hodgins & Standen, 2001). For instance, the political elite in Canada and America, for example, came up with anti-Asian policies that restricted citizenship of Asian Americans and restricted their immigration to the extent of banning them from accessing America. For example, the Chines exclusion Act of Canada banned all Chinese immigrants in Canada. The legislation also banned them from owning properties in various provinces of Canada and made them not to be employed in Canada. The Indigenous people were also not left out like the red Indians who were segregated and discriminated by the political elites. The indigenous people were accused of supporting the imperialists during the agitation for independence. As a result, they were forcefully relocated from Southern America to the Indian Territory. They denied legal citizenship until the late 19th century when the Civil Rights Act and Subsequent 4th Amendment, which granted Birthright citizenship to them.

As time went by, particularly in the late mid-19th century, the Asian rights group elicited demonstrations across America agitating for their rights. For instance, during the Vietnam War, students of Asian descent stormed the streets agitating for political and social rights, which the regimes at the time were forced to grant in the late 1970s. The agitation of equal rights by Asian Americans also mobilized other races that joined them for the first time to fight for common good in America. Therefore, after independence, Asian and African discrimination took center stage to the extent that they could not bear it anymore, thus bringing Asian rights group movements into streets, thus forcing governments to grant them rights they were agitating for (Kymlicka, 2007). On the other hand, the Africans, after being freed from detention camps they found a new beginning in an environment that was full of racism.

Further, after independence, the elites wanted them to be ejected from America to other nations of the South and North America. However, they joined the clamor for self-actualization seeking to be granted birthright citizenship with their Asian counterparts, which came after the Civil Rights Act was enforced and the subsequent 4th Amendment. These rights have been recognized across the world from the mid-19th century to the 20th century. Further, even though there are variations on how change happened, the common goal was achieved gradually, and now in the current century, international conventions have brought homogeneous legal regimes that illegalize racial discrimination. In conclusion, these exclusions based on race that denied American immigrants were uncalled for since the immigrants were part of America even after independence.

How Racial Inequality Was Addressed In the 20th Century

Racism has been a challenge that many countries continue to grapple with despite the significant milestones that have been made to eradicate the vice. The 20th century saw the emergence of the civil rights movement all over the world that seeks to advocate for the rights of the minority communities in different nations. Despite many countries ratifying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that set out the codification of fundamental human rights and freedoms, the actualization of these rights remains on paper (Gould & Gold, 1996). This research paper seeks to address the political factors that promoted the eradication of unjust laws that supported racism and institutions that are currently derailing equality.

The United States, which is one of the biggest democracies in the world, prides itself as a nation that respects human rights, and its lead through the rule of law. Anti-discrimination laws have been enacted for quite some years now, but the implementation of the same remains a pipe dream. The United States accounts for the largest number of police brutality against African Americans. In recent years this has led a vast public outcry due to increased cases where unarmed African Americans have been gunned down by the same people who swore to protect them (Gould & Gold, 1996). Of concern in all the cases reported, the government has done little to protect its people from racial profiling.

Political Factors that Drew attention to racism in the 20th century

On the international level, the war on racial discrimination was brought to the headlines with the emergence of civil rights movements in the United States. This had a direct impact on other countries, which saw a sharp increase in the independent civil rights movement in Africa (Kymlicka, 2007). These movements prompted the United Nations into action, which adopted through the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1963.

The cold war played an essential role in initiating the enactment of laws that abolished racial discrimination, especially in the South American States. It was during President Harry Truman's reign just after the end of World War II that the first Executive Order was issued eradicating discrimination in the recruitment of military personnel (Gould & Gold, 1996). Similarly, in the 1960s saw the civil rights becoming more energetic, and with increased attention being drawn to the courageous acts of this movement, the political establishment sought to diffuse the tension by enacting various laws. Laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Fair Housing Act of 1968 were all; as a result, the demonstrations that were staged by leaders of these movements.

Institutions that Contribute to Racial Inequality Today

Over the last 50 years has seen tremendous improvement in the fight against racial discrimination and abolishing of laws and policies that supported the inequality. However, the State remains the most significant impediment in entirely eradicated racial discrimination. State organs such as the police service continue to face allegations of racial discrimination in most countries. African Americans, Latinos, and other immigrants have suffered most under the hands of police officers (Marx, 1996). Besides, on the international front, the International Court of Justice has also failed to fully address the racial discrimination question in the few cases that have been brought before it (Marx, 1996). This has seen a lack of clear interpretation of the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1963 to give them the intended effect.

Conclusion

The contemporary sociology of racism mainly focuses on diffusing discriminative racial ideologies in American society. Understanding the chronological change in racial ideologies over time is crucial in drafting strategies for combating racism. In the post-racial era, the burden of overcoming racism should be borne by the actors and institutions that perpetuate the social vice. The fight against racial discrimination is an ongoing one that will require all State institutions world over with the help of the United Nations and its organs to pull together to win it. As has been observed, this is a global problem that knows no boundaries. The enactment of anti-discrimination laws is not enough; instead, an implementation of these laws is what will enable countries to make progress in this battle.

References

Elliott, J. L., Fleras, A., & Scott, B. R. (1992). Unequal relations: An introduction to race and ethnic dynamics in Canada. Scarborough, ON Prentice-Hall Canada.

Gould, S. J., & Gold, S. J. (1996). The mismeasure of man. WW Norton & company.

Kymlicka, W. (2007). Multicultural odysseys. Ethnopolitics, 6(4), 585-597.

Marx, A. W. (1996). Race-making and the nation-state. World Politics, 48(2), 180-208.

McNab, D., Hodgins, B. W., & Standen, D. S. (2001). "Black with Canoes." Aboriginal Resistance and the Canoe.