In the 21st century, racism is one of the most prevalent social issues that is affecting the world. Sarich, " Miele, (2018) asserts that race is a powerful construct and concept that has been developed by the society which has led to the development of inequalities as well as discrimination in the world thus influencing human beings' relationships. The film, “The Color of Fear” illustrates issues that are brought about by race. In the film, eight men of different cultural ethnicities discuss different challenges that they experience as a result of race. As a social construct, race has been used to develop and maintain both power dynamics as well as privilege in the society. The aim of the following paper is to discuss race and its underlying issues regarding as well as racism.
Define, compare and contrast racism as a set of attitudes and as a system of Power
Racism is sometimes a result of the view of the people involved. In this context attitude is interpreted as the way of thinking or having a feeling about something. The concept of race has led to people developing a strong belief that they are in some context similar while different in some areas (Sarich, " Miele, 2018). The strong beliefs result in prejudice which is built on two concepts ignorance and fear. All people tend to pass judgements about others which is as a result of human response to the differences that exist between people, for example, sex, social and economic situations among others. Therefore, humans base their relations to one another on the basis of their color, behavior, and origin (Sarich, " Miele, 2018). The result of this is the development of attitudes which leads to separation and segregation. People lack experience about other people which leads to the development of prejudice based on ignorance. In the film, for example, David tells Yutaka and Roberta that they have already formed an attitude about how their heritage is different and, in a way, expect to be treated differently as a result of their races.
Racism as a system of power
Power on the other hand is a tool that dominates most relationships and interactions of humans on a daily basis. Racism emanates from one group feeling threatened as a result of loss of power which is in the terms of loss of economic, social and political control (Sarich, " Miele, 2018). The loss of power results in the development of feelings of either being superior or inferior to another group. In the film, Gordon, an unapologetic self-proclaimed white man admits that power is a system that white people like him use to put people of color down. He argues “What a person of color, a Latino does with a black man, or any of that doesn’t seem any bit the same to him, and he doesn’t even term it racism”. They have little or no power. It’s a system that people consciously or unconsciously use to keep other people down (Wah, 1995). Victor also a black man in the group acknowledges that when he is in the company of the white people, he hates it as leads to him silently acknowledging that someone else who is of a superior ethnicity is in charge over him (Wah, 1995). Top of Form
Question 2: Differences Between Race and Racism
Race is a social construct that has led to the notion that human beings all over the world are categorized by either their physical attributes and social characteristics which make different in the society (Sarich, " Miele, 2018). Racism, on the other hand, is the belief that individuals should be treated differently due to them belonging to a specific race, thus resulting in a certain ethnic group being perceived to be either superior or inferior to the others. Therefore, it is the ideology of existence of race that leads in the conceptualization of the idea that humans can be categorized into various groups that are different as a result of having diverse social behavior and innate capabilities. The result is the idea that humans can be ranked as either inferior or superior (Sarich, " Miele, 2018). Hence, it has led to the development of a system that categorizes, rewards as well as penalizes individuals based on their differences.
One of the issues brought about by race is racial discrimination whereby one ethnic group is looked down upon or given a special consideration or treatment depending on how it is perceived in society (Sarich, " Miele, 2018). David a white man says that his daughters are discriminated against because of their color and blames people of color for it. According to him, his daughters have a challenge entering college as people of color are given a priority as they are the minority. The people of color are also able to get into college with lower admission points something that is really unfair. In a different case, discrimination is also experienced at the workplaces. They constantly feel that the CEOs are often the white people. Loren admits that he suffers discrimination as he not recognized at work he is given the lowest position as a result of his color. He goes ahead and says, "when I worked in corporate America for a while and now when I see guys walking down the streets in a suit and a tie I'm like when I bet I can't wait to go home and be a black man again.”
An ethnocentric attitude is one of the things that lead to racism in a society. People judge other individuals culture by comparing them with conceptions of the values they have adopted in their own culture (Sarich, " Miele, 2018). They set their personal social or physical characteristics as a bar to judge the rest. Most of the people in the group in the film concur that as such as they are a people of color compare themselves to the white people. David in the movie states that the others allow their perspective towards the white man limit them. According to David Lee the director of the film, he felt that most people of color compare themselves to the white people and criticize each other for not being white.
People also develop a particular prejudice towards a group of people because of their race. Prejudice develops from ignorance and fear. the two are as a result of not knowing or having limited interactions experiences. People often develop a misconception towards people as a result of their ethnicity, for example in the western country people of Asian or Arabic origin are perceived to have terrorist intentions while the people of black background as mostly judged to be violent. There are cases where the prejudice has occurred in different parts of the United States, for example, many African American people have complained of being arrested just because they looked suspicious. In the film, Yutaka tells the group of his experiences. In his narration, he states that when going home, he met a group of black people which led him to become anxious. In another phrase of the film, ethnocentrism is shown where a statement is released that one person is not standing on their ground but is standing on another ethnic community’s ground (i.e., Red Ground).
The colorblind racism poses the ideology that states it is impossible to eliminate racism. The reason is due to the damage done through history which leads to the development of the notion that one group is solely responsible for other groups misfortunes (Sarich, " Miele, 2018). It encourages people that the differences between different cultures is as a result of failure to be presented with the same opportunities thus all humans cannot be equal due to unequal privileges. Sarich, V., " Miele, F. (2018) argues that majority of the African-Americans assert that the reasons as to why they are poor was as result of the years that they spent in slavery in the United States. Moreover, white privilege that is accorded to the whites in America has led them to be inferior in competing along the social, economic and political aspects of the society. Hence, they will always be at a disadvantage in comparison to other ethic communities. The action applies in the case of David where he doesn’t seem to realize that racism which his friends are facing is real. As a white man, he does not see the disadvantage other people of color experience. To him, they create the issue of racism in their head. The action infuriates Victor a black man who sees David as a person who is just blind to the things that happen around him. Colorblind racism leads to disunity and inequality.
Incident
Several incidences of race and racial discrimination have been reported in the United States in recent years. the latest of the occurrences was where a black woman was stabbed on the subway as she was going home from work. Ann Washington, an African American woman reported to the police that she attacked because of her race. She explained to the police that she saw a well-groomed white man who stubbed her as she walked past him. The attacker termed her as a “black bitch” as he stabbed and assaulted her. The incident is an illustration of the underlying issues of race and racism as the justification for the assault on the woman was because of her race as the man believed that he was more superior because of his race (white/Caucasian).
Conclusion
The notion of race has led to the development of racism. Even though it is important to discuss the issues that are brought by race, it is important to note that it is not a completely negative concept. Addressing racism helps individuals of different ethnicities to acknowledge the differences they have and also to embrace their heritage. It increases the understanding of those who completely feel it does not exist. People are able to appreciate the differences and avoid conflicts brought about by race. Hence, the divide is not brought about by the differences rather than the inability to recognize, celebrate as well as accept the diversity.
References
Wah. M. L., (1995). Top of Form
Bottom of Form
The Color of Fear. United States, Stirfry Production
Sarich, V., " Miele, F. (2018). Race: The reality of human differences.
