Defining Racism In America

Defining racialism In America draw and lavation transaction generate been aspects of Ameri buns society since the colonial era. With the exception of a handful of countries, no a nonher(prenominal) nation has dealt with the struggles of a multiracial society and has had to overcome the problems created in its nations past. As a result, hunt in America is a complex recognise with many facets and race relations have become increasingly thorny to squ be up.Richard Thompson Ford, in examining the on-line(prenominal) race post in America in his book The Race Card, defines the period as post- racial distinction. Focusing on Fords ideas, as presented in his book, as well as an investigation into the Jena Six story, which is a modern-day example of racial discrimination, a more delineate picture of current race relations in America can be uncovered.Fords The Race Card provides a critique on the current race driveuation in America. In his book, while Ford presents the idea th at America is post- racism, he asserts that post-racism is non defined in the traditional way wholeness great power assume. To Ford, post-racism is a late stage of racism in which its contradictions and excesses both strike down out and amplify its original function (200825). To Ford, the era of post-racism allows the great unwashed to have internal feelings of racism, as long as their explicit actions and behaviors be not anti-Semite(a). Racial stereotypes may inactive exist, further no longer are those stereotypes defined by White Only establishments.With the elimination of the stereotypical racism, racism may now be harder to eliminate beca routine overt racists will keep on unidentified. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, separationism laws and blatant bigotry provided easy markers to define racism and identify racists. Today at that place are laws pr eveningting outward expressions of racism, making the process of defining the current state of race relations remov ed more difficult.According to Charles Hirschman, racism is the belief that people can be divided into categories based on certain features that define a pickicular look (2004). While characteristics that define a person as part of a particular race are biologic, race is a socially constructed notion in which people place meaning on the biological features. The seeds of racism in America were planted out of the need for a cheap and renewable labor force.When indentured servitude was no longer profitable to this countrys landowners, it prompted a needed change. Dark-skinned Africans, brought to this country as slaves, looked different from the albumin land owners. Based on that difference of appearance, along with the historical need of a formal schooling, American society regarded them as inferior. This view by society coreually lead to the social construct of race, with unobjectionables seen as A- mavin and blacks as inferior.While slavery was abolished followers the Civi l War, the overt concept of racial inferiority go along until the Civil Rights movement in the sixties (Pinkney 1999). Up until the Civil Rights Act was passed, Jim Crow laws and opposite(a) unlikeness laws continued to segregate the races and reinforced the societal view of the inferiority of African Americans.following the passage of the Civil Rights legislation, overt racism no longer was socially acceptable. Racism is no longer is defined by superiority and inferiority, just sort of is defined as an acknowledged difference amongst cultures, with unrivaled no better than the other (Miles and Brown 2003). Because of the years of segregation, there are inherent differences between the black and innocence cultures. While segregation and discrimination no longer are a common practice, there fluent are differences between the groups and implicit discrimination remains.The faces of racism have changed, yet racism has yet to disappear from society. Today, those who are ide ntified as racists, downstairs the old commentary, are labeled as bigots and out of doorsrs by society. Although there still are those who are viewed as racists below the traditional definition, there is a new form of racism present and it is much harder to define.As defined by Ford, the current state of racial affairs revolves around compete the race card. In compete the race card, people must adopt that discrimination remains and it is based on ones race. More often than not, todays discrimination is a based on the many years of inferior treatment. In other words, people today take away racism because, at one point in history, it could be considered a result of racism (200831). in that location are four instances of playing the race card that are draw in Fords book, including racism without racists, racism-by-analogy, unclear definitions of what is racism, and unclear goals for the current movement.People use the racism without racists definition because it is the easiest conclusion to use when explaining the motivations of others. There may be extenuating circumstances as to why people act a certain way, but people cry racism because it is an easy maketlement they fail to see the situation from the other persons point of view.In racism-by-analogy, other groups claim that their struggles and discrimination are equal to those fought for in the Civil Rights Movement, even though they are not the same. As an example, people that are heavy(a) or not pretty enough may make the claim that their legal rights are being violated, even though overweight is not a protected class under the legislation.Having unclear definitions of racism causes people to overuse the claim. There are many factors that motivate peoples actions, and it is not everlastingly based on race. With no clear-cut definition of present-day racism, the resulting lines are blurred as to what actually constitutes racism in todays society.Without an accepted definition of racism and no cle ar goals for the improvement of race relations, it is difficult to jog when playing the race card may be beneficial or detrimental to a movement. This unknown result causes internal conflict inwardly the movement itself, pr typeing it from moving forward.Overall, Fords argument is correct in its assertions. The face of racism today has changed and a new era of race relations has begun. No longer are there overt forms of racism and discrimination, but rather there are more subtle situations affecting race relations in todays society.However, Fords argument is not as simple as post-racism and the race card there still are societal and structural boundaries and obstacles that African Americans cannot seem to overcome. While legally discrimination and segregation are no longer present, there are still examples of it today.As author Shawn Utsey, et al., argues, there are common chord forms of racism that still exist today individual, institutional and cultural racism (2000). Examples of individual racism include racial write and the lingering sentiments of the overt racism seen during the Civil Rights Movement. Residential segregation and other societal restrictions constitute institutional racism. Cultural racism refers to the lack of African American influence in mainstream American culture and history. These new forms of discrimination and segregation define the current race relations in contemporary American culture.A contemporary example to which Fords ideas of post-racism and the race card can be applied is the Jena Six incident. There are many incidents which occurred in Jenna, Louisiana, between September to December 2006, which contributed to the belief that racism and discrimination were convoluted in the Jena events (Newman 2007).The first incident occurred in September, involving nooses hung from a tree at the local graduate(prenominal) school. As is common at most high schools, certain social groups congregate in specific areas, though not necess arily based on race. At Jena High School, a racially diverse school, a specific tree commonly was known as the white tree. A black freshman asked the principal if he could sit under the tree and the principal assured him that he could sit wherever he wanted. The next day, two nooses were hung from the tree, though the motivations behind the hanging of the nooses were unclear. The students trustworthy for hanging the nooses were identified and suspended. When the suspensions were announced, the black community of Jena was enraged, insisting that the nooses were a symbolizationism of a threat against the black students of the high school.There were two ruffles between white and black students, which some claimed were a result of the events that occurred in September. At a party, quintuple black students attempt to enter a party, but were denied entrance because they did not receive an invitation. An altercation ensued, resulting in a white student being charged with battery. Th e next day, another altercation occurred outside a convenience store between a white virile and three black males, one of which had been involved in the previous altercation at the party the night before. One of the black students was charged with impress the peace, second degree robbery and the theft of a firearm.The final event, which at long last is what led to the national publicity, was an altercation between six black students and one white student, Justin Barker. Barker was badly beaten, but was released from the hospital after three hours in the emergency room. Five of the six black students were charged with attempted second-degree murder, though the charges later were reduced to battery. Mychal Bell originally was charged with alter second-degree battery and tried as an adult, but his conviction later was overturned. The five who originally were charged later were convicted of simple battery (Associated Press 2007). due to the events leading up to the attack on Justin Barker, many consider this to be a result of racial tensions in the town. This was reinforced by the file of the charge of attempted murder to the Jena Six at the beginning of the get over proceedings, a charge many considered to be racially driven and not fitting to the crime. Many similarly believe that the all-white jury, which delivered the original guilty verdict against Bell, levied an unfair sentence.While on the surface these events seem to be propel by racism, the events involving the Jena Six are more of a case of Fords racism without racists. Because the events which occurred in Jena involved both whites and blacks, people assume racism was a determining factor. However, most of the events leading up to the Barker incident were unrelated. rase when considered separately, racism is not the only motivation for the actions which occurred.The tree that was claimed as the white tree by the student body has since been refuted by the faculty and round at Jena High School. A ccording to later testimonies, students of all races sat under the tree at one point or another. There also was a conflict over the number of nooses which were hung from the tree on the following day, and further investigations revealed that only two were hung, not three, which is believed to be a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan. The nooses, it later was found, were a prank aimed at the rodeo team, not hung as racist symbols. As it later was learned, school administrators cut down the nooses before classes started because students were playing with them in inappropriate manners, not because of some underlying racial context. chase the Jena incident, the United States Justice Department conducted an investigation to determine if the act was in fact a racially-motivated hate crime. It was determined that the hanging of the nooses was an isolated event without lasting racial tensions at the school. As such, there is no maneuver connection between the events occurring in September and the B arker attack. Each event was separate and unique, yet collectively were made to seem as a cause and effect relationship by the media.Finally, the allegations accusing the all-white jury of delivering a racially-motivated verdict fails to take into account underlying causes. Due to the makeup of the town, there are only a small number of African Americans to give for jury duty. Of those summoned for jury duty, some were African American but failed to write up on the day of the trial (Mangu-Ward 2007).The events that occurred in Jena led to one of the largest race riots in recent history. Sensationalized by the medias influence, the case seemed to be a series of events indicating the continued racial tensions of the South. When looking deeper into the facts, a different picture is seen. Instead, severally event is isolated and unconnected. The coincidences surrounding the events seem to point to a dapple against African Americans, yet the motivations had no racial underpinnings.T hroughout American history, racism has played a major role in race relations. Although overt racism has become a lesser focus, examples of racial discrimination and segregation still exist in todays society. The era of post-racism has a new set of issues effecting society and the race relations within it. Until these issues are resolved, true racial equality cannot be attained.