Essay on Race Injustice: Impact on Identity and How to Overcome It

Introduction

One is Asian and has experienced many forms of discrimination and prejudices because of one's skin, such as being stopped regularly by the police because one assumes that one is a criminal. Race affects one's identity since it is termed as something natural and which defines someone's true nature and self for decades and generations that have passed. The rate of racial injustices has increased over the past decade, and therefore the minority groups are denied many opportunities such as employment, scholarships, and other life privileges.

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Being an Asian, I was brought up in a moral, upright family where I was taught on moral values based on the fundamentals of respect, family, and also a strong religious background. Morality refers to a particular race or ethnicity principles which make one differentiate between what is right or wrong (Stets & Fares 2019, p.14). Moral upbringings tend to differ from one race to the other.

Attitude affects how the other race thinks about the other; it unfolds some prejudice or discrimination on the other minority group. At one time, I got to a hospital to receive medical assistance, but the doctors despised me because of my race. Attitude bases on the way a person feels about a particular race or (Stets & Fares 2019, p.13). Attitudes tend to play a significant role in discrimination of the minority groups. For example, a white police officer may stop an Asian man since they tend to perceive that the Asians are always involved in gang-related activities.

In life choices, whites tend to enjoy many life privileges like job opportunities education where they can quickly get scholarships (Stets & Fares 2019, p.10). As I record, everything in life is not single-handedly given to me, in that I have to work hard so that I can secure a better place in school and be able to get scholarships. Most of the minority groups have no choice but to separate themselves from others because they fear being discriminated against because of their race (Stets & Fares 2019, p.10). For example, schools tend to base on racism or segregation; therefore, the parents have no choice other than enrolling their children in district schools, which are more friendly and have no racial biases or any forms of prejudice.

Many persons from minority groups do not have high expectations when it comes to life, as in my case. I do not have high expectations regarding life since I believe that I will be discriminated against because of my race when I will get employed (Stets & Fares 2019, p.3). It refers to a belief that something might happen to a person, based on positive or negative aspects (Stets & Fares 2019, p4.). For example, teachers tend to develop expectations that students from minority groups perform poorly comparing to those who come from the majority group.

In my family, I was taught core values that entail respect, autonomy, personal growth, and how to take care of society. Many races and ethnicities tend to have varied cultural values, which affect one's behaviour (Stets & Fares 2019, p.14).. For example, when a child is still young, the parents teach one on the cultural values, how one gets taught on drug abuse, and how to maintain a family. The values that one is taught may make one discriminate against the other minority groups and make them feel like lesser beings. For example, a police officer's son may see his dad discriminating against the minority groups, and he may implement them on the same.

The world is made up of people from different walks of life who may discriminate against others because of their race (Stets & Fares 2019, p.14). Like for example, some may discriminate against the Asians and view them as the persons responsible for causing the Corona Disease Outbreak. In recent years there has been an increase in racial and ethnic discrimination since some persons tend to believe that they are more superior to others (Stets & Fares 2019, p.13). One views the world in that it is unfair since persons like one get discriminated against because of one's race and not one's principles

Most of the whites have better life chances and are in a more capable position of making their own decisions without having a fear of being prejudices or denied life chances. I am denied the chance to join football clubs at the school grounds because it is highly segregated and full of racist students (Stets & Fares 2019, p.13). The ethnic and racial minority groups tend to face many inequalities when it comes to life changes as compared to white persons. Most of the Asians are most likely to get arrested than whites (Stets & Fares 2019, p.10). White persons are at a higher chance of getting employed, unlike Asians.

Racism

It refers to the sincere belief that a particular race is better than the other. It results in increased discrimination of the minority group. Racism tends to get subdivided into other forms, such as structural racism, individual-level racism, and also cultural racism.

Cultural Racism

It refers to a form of discrimination, which gets based on a society's beliefs and cultural norms (Grosfoguel 2016, p.12). For example, a specific community may discriminate against the other based on their beliefs. Cultural racism may affect minority groups like Asians, where one gets discriminated against because of their race.

Structural Racism

It refers to any form of discrimination in an organization (Grosfoguel 2016, p.10). It mostly refers to forms of prejudices that occur at the workplace where workers get discriminated based on one's race

Individual-Level Racism

It refers to a form of prejudice that occurs when two persons of different races interact (Grosfoguel 2016, p.12). For example, a manager can fire someone because of one's race rather than one's qualifications.

Ethnocentrism

It refers to the feeling or beliefs that values, customs, norms, and also the tradition of one's own culture is superior to others. Ethnocentrism does not approve of diversity. Thus, it causes talking ill of a person's race (Friberg 2017, p.445). It can cause negative impacts in that it can facilitate and motivate criminal activities within cultures and thus cause the rise of wars.

Cultural relativism

It refers to one's ability to deeply appreciate a culture's ideologies and norms without judging by making assumptions based on one's culture. Cultural relativism tends to base on two categories, such as Absolute and Critical, according to Franz Boas, the founder of this theory.

Absolute

It gets based on a rule that every cultural belief of a particular community does not need to get undermined (Eshetu 2017, p.40). It will aid in reducing any forms of judgments.

Critical

It refers to questions created based on cultural ideologies and practices depending on who accepts them and also why (Eshetu 2017, p.50). It also tends to recognize one's power and also relationships formed.

Conclusion

When one race gets discriminated against because they are a minority group like in the case of Asians, it causes the human race to divide each other, and it gives rise to the uprise in chaos. Humans need to keep their differences aside in order to embrace diversity and also ensure that they live in harmony.

Bibliography

Eshetu, Y 2017, "Understanding Cultural Relativism: A critical Appraisal of the Theory", International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, vol. 4, no. 6, p. 24. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321479510_Understanding_Cultural_Relativism_A_critical_Appraisal_of_the_TheoryFriberg, T 2017, "From ethnocentrism to policy-centrism", Ethnography and Education, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 442-458. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2017.1365254

Grosfoguel, R 2016, "What is Racism?", Journal of World-Systems Research, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 9-15. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2016.609

Stets, J & Fares, P 2019, "The effects of race/ethnicity and racial/ethnic identification on general trust", Social Science Research, vol. 80, pp. 1-14. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331191529_The_effects_of_raceethnicity_and_racialethnic_identification_on_general_trust