Free Essay on Racial Inequalities in Modern Societies

Are all human beings equal? Sociology, supported by research based on conclusive statistics gives a stark answer to this pertinent question. The reality is that equality among people from different races, backgrounds, upbringing, just to name a few variables, is a mere ideology because our societies tend to group themselves from the individual level to the highest social hierarchy. Psychologically, people tend to group themselves to have the our sense of belonging feeling and will do anything to make sure the outsiders do not share the same.

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I have come up with seven ideas that relate to this topic. They revolve around the current trends, reactions towards the physically challenged, self-belief, societal systems, social upbringing, racial minority and role of education.

The following are some conclusions that can be made from the facts available on social inequality:

People tend to justify their actions with trends in society, for example, the fact that one racist act provokes more tendencies.

Psychologically people tend to have a superiority complex when interacting with the disadvantaged and likewise the disadvantaged have an inferiority complex of themselves.

Self-belief is very low among people. Instead, the mob psychology provokes people to do certain things.

Our mechanical and societally established systems tend to be the social locale for spreading social inequality and racism case in point prisons where correctional officers show racism towards inmates.

Social upbringing and the beliefs in the society influence the level of social inequality.

The majority races tend to overlook the conditions of the minority races thus resulting in more conflicts.

Education plays a role in getting rid of superstitions between people from different backgrounds and races to reduce social inequality.

In our everyday interactions as the human populace, various incidences occur that leaves unanswered questions in our minds. The major upsets are when a person is mistreated due to the fact that he or she belongs to a different class, gender, race, ethnic groups and even religious background. Most politicians and civil rights groups have always advocated for equality in our workplaces, in credit markets and all areas where mankind are served by other people. Equality has been thought to be achieved, but still, several actions by other people indicate clearly that inequality is still experienced across the globe. My concern in this paper is the Psychological and Social Perspective on Societal, Ethnic and Racial Inequalities in Modern Societies.

People who are associated with the acts of racism and social inequality have certain characteristics psychologically (CostaLopes, 2013. Pg230). Most of the people brought up in racist societies tend to be racists. Most of the perpetrators of these acts justify their actions with trends in the society. An act of racism by an individual person in the society provokes other actions from other people, and a series of such actions are experienced. Most contributors who try to explain the actions state that most human beings observe what others do and use the as justifications for their actions.

The role of inferiority and superiority complexities among the people is also a psychological factor that might lead to experiences of inequalities. Once a social group has been considered to be superior or inferior due to the fact that they belong to a different social group, race or class, they either have the feeling of being more important or unequal with the other. The feeling is translated to either superiority complex or inferiority complex whenever on a group is in the presence of the other, and this leads to experiencing inequality actions.

When people move in groups or do their actions in a mob, cases of discrimination are more common. The psychological perspective behind the scenario is the fact that most people lack self-belief and therefore the only way they can prove themselves or have a feel of belonging to a superior group is when they are in mobs (Katz, 2014 pg45). Cases of discrimination and especially racial discriminations are common when a group of either the blacks or the white confront a person who belongs to the other racial group. It is very rare to find individual people confronting other individuals who belong to a different race or class.

The established systems in the society tend to propagate the cases of racial inequalities. Most of the correctional officers are known for racial discrimination among black inmates (Omi, 2014). The psychological impact of their actions is that the inmates subjected to such conditions tend to retaliate them when they are set free. The case has been proved by the fact that most of the incidences are done by people who were once inmates and experienced discrimination.

Social upbringing and the beliefs are also considered to be causes of discrimination and inequality in the long run (Zou, 2013 pg94). A childs perception and their beliefs are considered to have a lifelong impact on them. Therefore a person who has beliefs of being more superior of inferior will discriminate to satisfy their ego. The majority of the cases also tend to overlook the conditions of the minority resulting to more conflicts. They are concerned about the welfare of their fellow racial people or those who belong to their class.

Inequality has been considered to be as a result of psychological conditions. It all roots from the perception of a group of people by others. The most differentiating factors being race, class, and gender; therefore most of the inequality cases can be linked to exposure to people to certain conditions which have an impact on their psychological perspective.

Works Cited

CostaLopes, Rui, et al. "Social psychological perspectives on the legitimation of social inequality: Past, present and future." European Journal of Social Psychology 43.4 (2013): 229-237.

Katz, Rebecca S., Hannah Willis, and Justin Jabar Joseph. "Economic inequality, racism and trauma: growing up in racist combat zones and living in racist prisons." Journal of Pan African Studies 7.6 (2014): 25-60.

Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. Racial formation in the United States. Routledge, 2014.Zou, Linda X., and Cheryl L. Dickter. "Perceptions of racial confrontation: The role of color blindness and comment ambiguity." Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 19.1 (2013): 92-96.