Racism: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race (Merriam- Webster, “Racism”
In an increasingly globalized world, there are critics that question the existence of racism. Claiming that it is not possible for racism to exist unless words such as “nigger”, “eskimo”, “dothead”, etc. are directly used (Racism doesn’t exist anymore and blacks need to get over it). The idea that, because the globe is so interconnect and we are so much more aware and educated about other cultures, religions, and so forth, it is impossible for racism to still occur. The issue however is that “racism is so normalized that is it invisible to most” (Cindy Blackstock).
As people (even scholars) we cultivate the idea of the generalized other (Mead) as a way to rationalize our perception of others. This generalized other, that is created through social stigma, media representation, hearsay, etc. creates a guideline of what certain people “should be” and feeds that to the general public as a means of creating a reality from an illusion (Thomas Theorem). “Race is a social reality, but an illusion from a biological perspective” (Kerry Greer). Race is an accumulation of largely superficial characteristics that are used to indicate that there are fundamental, biological differences (Kerry Greer), however, the biological differences between races are so minuscule that it makes the claim invalid. Race is a social construct (Kerry Greer) that the system perpetuates instead of confronting and fixing (Cindy Blackstock).
“Racism is starting to change but it is fundamentally the same problem” (Cindy Blackstock). Racism is starting to change in the sense that there is an awareness that the concept is a social construct and it is very much real in the sense that blacks in America are still facing racism prejudice with relation to crime , jobs, healthcare, etc. In addition to the ever increasing whitening and facial reconstruction industry in Asia.
Read the following articles for more details on the ways in which the media misrepresents blacks in the United States:
The Guardian: When the media misrepresents black men, the effects are felt in the real world
The Root: Throw Away the Script: How Media Bias Is Killing Black America
