Racism in Present Day
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction
History has continued to prove that, “Men build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Racism has come up as an element that takes different shapes according to the changes observed in a given environment. Modern racism has changed from aggressive behaviour to undefined prejudice behaviour. The attitude that people have towards racism has changed over time. Today, those regarded as a majority group shows less hostility towards minority groups. In the past, racists actions were highly condoned, unlike today, when such actions become significantly condemned. The changing aspect of racism perception is due to disapproval of racists efforts in society. The intolerance towards racists effort has made it possible for a minority group to be more comfortable than it was the case in the past. However, the negative images and stereotypes observed previously become difficult to eliminate (Morrison et al., 2017). The intolerance towards hostile behaviour is not similar to fight on equality of opportunity. The decline in malicious behaviour has not guaranteed the minority group of equal opportunities. Thus, racism has an adverse impact. Amongst these factors are violence and fear, which stems from the need of an individual to protect themselves. One contributing factor to discrimination is ignorance. Individuals with little or no exposure feel a sense of threat by individuals from a different race. These individuals allow and practice prejudice without the consideration of the negative impact and repercussions it has on individual discriminated upon and society as a whole.
Today, racism has numerous names, one of them being modern racism. Modern racists do not express their views on racists and stereotypes (Oxendine, 2016). Modern racists have formulated the notion that the world has achieved equality for all and that only a few policies need to come into play to promote equality. Everyday racism often comes about as more oblique than confrontational and contributes to individual personal value conflicts. Racial prejudice is not entirely eradicated but has only mutated. Today, racism comes in various shapes such as contact avoidance with people regarded as a minority. There have been instances when racial discrimination has come about when the environment promotes racist’s actions. Prejudice in current society gets expressed in a more nuanced way.
In many cases, people do not regard this as racism. Modern racism does not operate within the framework of ‘race’ but along the lines of incompatibility of cultures, civilization conflict, and regards cultural diversity as a threat (Morrions et al., 2017). Cultural racism comes about when one group dominates other groups in society as they make cultural values. As such, this culture imposing and superiority is what results in conflict. Modern racism perceives cultural diversity as a primary threat. The aspect of indigenous people against non-indigenous people has played a significant role in the cultural argument. Thus, the culture concept replaces race. However, other racial elements remain constant. For instance, this is the case in Europe today. As such, this results in discrimination against minorities.
Consequently, there are measures taken in modern racism that promote the dominance of the majority indigenous group over the minority. These methods include restriction of people from another country into another country to reduce the cultural influence of a minority group. Secondly, a government could restrict the presence of another representative in a given nation. Other factors are economic, political, and artistic element is forcing people from different cultures to leave the country (Oxendine, 2016). Cultural assimilation is the other aspect that has promoted modern racism. Assimilation is a one-way minority becomes directed towards adopting majority cultural values. However, voluntary assimilation does not come up as everyday racism. It is people’s right to choose their cultural identity and, policies that contribute to the involuntary adjustment of identity. The aspect eradicates minorities right to culture and education. Majority of culture should not impose on the minority.
Modern slavery comprises of violent actions that limit the influence of another culture. Thus, minorities are, in many instances, compelled to abandon their culture and become absorbed by majority culture (Oxendine, 2016). The past racists would say they do not like groups from a particular race while today racists would highlight that they do not like the presence of Mosque as they destroy the look of a given city. There is also identity imposition for individuals to maintain what they regard as “equal opportunity.” Modern racism is a significant threat, especially in places where classical racism is not politically incorrect (Oxendine, 2016). Other evident factors of contemporary racism are the failure to take in refugees stating culture protection.
Further, the ban on worship using any language are other forms of modern racism. For instance, in Italy ex-immigrants are deprived of citizenship without the use of any legal formulation. Also, in the Netherlands, a restriction of wearing religious clothes in public came into play in place in 2016 and 2017.
Many countries today are embracing right-wing radicals. This aspect is promoting the introduction of modern racism into these countries policies. One of the reasons governments are introducing current policies into their coalitions is to assimilate the growing number of minority groups. Nationalist voters are significantly frightened by the drastically changing migration process, which is an essential source of votes (Morrison et al., 2017). In many instances, the majority view modern polices as a way of revenging against the historical injustices committed by these minority groups. Surges in antisemitism that exist in Europe gets positively linked to Arab-Israeli conflict, the continued diversification of anti-Islamic protest, DAESH terrorist activities, and the coming up of Russophobia in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hence, minorities become slaves to external situations that they have no control.
Racism contributes to political discourse in a different shape. The element of nation-state becomes adjusted in countries that recognize modern racism. These countries are beginning to associate more with the idea of ‘people like us’ which translates to a monolithic approach within a given government or society (Oxendine, 2016). Such a nation becomes perceived as having a collective personality encompassed with national values, language, and culture. Thus, a community transforms into homogeneity and a monoculturalism. In an aspect, such as democratic values and freedom of diversity within a cultural context controlled by modern racism, interests are slowly taking over. Thus, there is a gradual shift of democratic societies into “universal states.”
Social-cultural risks that arise from modern racism result in a decrease in the quality of education amongst minorities. In many instances, children who study in native language tend to have limited opportunities as compared to those that study in foreign languages, especially in remote areas where children do not communicate using other languages (Morrison et al., 2017). There are unequal opportunities in the labour market amongst ethnic minority and majority groups. The minority groups would have limited options in the job market, as many studied in their native languages. Education experts perceive native language as an essential element in the formulation of children conceptual apparatus. However, today, the majority of elementary school teach children in a non-native language which alters a child development significantly.
In conclusion, discrimination is not the only aspect that promotes modern racism. Persistent inequalities amongst racial and ethnic groups stem significantly on multifaceted influences. Nonetheless, discrimination has continued to have an impact on the individual’s opportunities to explore and become that which they intend (Levchak, 2018). Unless institutions change their perception of racism, the aspect will continue to eat on society silently and slowly change institutions perception and approach towards racism. Today, many institutions still practice discrimination unconsciously as the community has allowed some of racists actions to thrive, such as diminishing other people’s culture and view themselves as superior. As such, it will require various institutions to adopt policies that discourage modern racism.
References
Levchak, C. C. (2018). Microaggressions, Macroaggressions, and Modern Racism. In Microaggressions and Modern Racism (pp. 13-69). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Morrison, T. G., & Kiss, M. (2017). Modern racism scale. Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences, 1-3.
Oxendine, D. B. (2016). Gender, Race, and College Major: Do They Predict Modern Racism?. Journal of Social Science Studies, 3(2), 90-102.