Racism refers to beliefs, practices, and institutions that negatively
discriminate against people based on their perceived or ascribed race. Sometimes
the term is also used to describe the belief that race is the primary
determinant of human capacities, or that individuals should be treated
differently based on their ascribed race. There is a growing, but controversial,
tendency to state that racism is a system of oppression that combines racist
beliefs, whether explicit, tacit or unconscious, with the power to have a
negative effect on those discriminated against at a societal level.
In 19th century Europe and America, some scientists developed various theories
about biological differences among races, and these theories were in turn used
to legitimize racist beliefs and practices. Much of this work has since been
rejected by the scientific community as flawed and even as pseudoscience.
Today there are some scientists who claim that
"race", in the general sense in
which the term is used, is a social construct: the way in which individuals are
classified into racial groups varies from person to person, and from place to
place, and from time to time. These scientists say that superficial
characteristics which are associated with racial groupings are poor predictors
of genetic variability. There can be more genetic variation within a racial
grouping than between two racial groupings. Other scientists counter that "sex"
and "species" are likewise seen by some as socially constructed. After all,
humans and chimpanzees (or males and females) are far more genetically alike
than different. Therefore categories need not be absolute in order to have
scientific utility. George W. Bush, in Nova Online, notes that "Slightly over
half of all biological/physical anthropologists today believe in the traditional
view that human races are biologically valid and real."
Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts,
feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that
promote inequalities among "races". Although some speakers attempt to express a
semantic distinction by using the word racism rather than racialism (or vice
versa), many treat the terms as synonymous (see below).
Racism may be divided in three major subcategories: individual racism,
structural racism, and ideological racism.
Researchers at the University of Chicago (Marianne Bertrand) and Harvard
University (Sendhil Mullainathan) found in a 2003 study that there was
widespread discrimination in the workplace against job applicants whose names
were merely perceived as "sounding black." These applicants were 50% less likely
than candidates perceived as having "white-sounding names" to receive callbacks
for interviews, no matter their level of previous experience. Results were
stronger for higher quality resumes. The researchers view these results as
strong evidence of unconscious biases rooted in the country's long history of
Racism is usually directed against a minority population, but may also be
directed against a majority population. Examples of the former include the
enslavement of black Africans and repression of their descendants in the United
States. The existence of the latter is often controversial, but agreed upon
examples include racial apartheid in South Africa, wherein whites (a minority)
discriminated against blacks (a majority); this form of racism also occurred
during the former colonial rule of such countries as Vietnam (by France) and
India (by the United Kingdom).
"Reverse racism" is a controversial concept; it refers to a form of
discrimination against a dominant group. In the United States, many people,
mostly conservatives, criticize policies such as affirmative action as an
example of reverse racism. They say that these policies are race-based
discrimination. Supporters of affirmative action argue that affirmative action
policies counteract a systemic and cultural racism by providing a balancing
force, and that affirmative action does not qualify as racist because the
policies are enacted by politicians (who are mostly part of the white majority
in the United States) and directed towards their own race.
Some Americans believe that reverse racism exists in the United States, but that
it is cultural racism, and not primarily systemic. For example, some
African-Americans discriminate against white people -- this too can be called
reverse racism. But some would argue that this is not racism (which they would
see as primarily systemic) but actually personal prejudice because
African-Americans lack the cultural, political and economic resources to
systemically disenfranchise European Americans.
In addition, some white people believe that political correctness has led to a
denigration of the white race, through perceived special attention paid to
minority races. For example, they consider the existence of Black History Month
(February) but not a White History Month, Amerindian History Month, or Asian
History Month to be de facto racism directed at the majority and non-black
minorities. Yet again, others argue that the lack of a White History Month is
due to the fact that much of the school year is devoted to teaching history from
the viewpoints of white conquerors and slave owners.
Racial discrimination is and has been official government policy in many
countries. In the 1970s, Uganda expelled tens of thousands of ethnic Indians.
Until 2003, Malaysia enforced discriminatory policies limiting access to
university education for ethnic Chinese and Indian students who are citizens by
birth of Malaysia, and many other policies explicitly favoring bumiputras
(Malays) remain in force. Russia launched anti-Semitic pogroms against Jews in
1905 and after. During the 1930s and 1940s, attempts were made to prevent Jews
from immigrating to the Middle East. Following the creation of Israel,
land-ownership in many Israeli towns was limited to Jews, and many Muslim
countries expelled Jewish Arabs and continue to refuse entry to Jews.
In the United States, racial profiling of minorities by law enforcement
officials is a controversial subject. Some people consider this to be a form of
racism. Some claim that profiling young Arab male fliers at airports will only
lead to increased recruitment of older, non-Arab, and female terrorists. (Some
terrorism experts disagree with this claim.) Many critics of racial profiling
claim that it is an unconstitutional practice because it amounts to questioning
individuals on the basis of what crimes they might commit or could possibly
commit, instead of what crimes they have actually committed. See the article on
racial profiling for more information on this dispute.
Take a moment and look at the young people around you. Are they surrounded by
crime, victims of drug abuse and drug abusers, dispassionate about violence and
suicide that have poisoned their perspective? Are declining educational
standards and increasing illiteracy part of the same disturbing package? Do your
family members or your friends think or act defensively because of their race or
So-called ethnic cultures are under a terrible assault these days. We see it in
modern industrial nations such as the United States, Germany, Australia, and New
Zealand, as well as in less developed countries from Bosnia to Rwanda. The
assaults are caused by a scourge which knows no boundaries and tolerates no
diversity. The name of the scourge is racism.
Man has stood in racism's shadow from the moment someone recognized that not
everyone is the same as everyone else. The result has been a legacy of hate,
hardship, misery, and often bloodshed. The source of racism has been widely
debated. Some say it springs from ignorance or the fear of what is different.
Others analyze it in political, economic, or even territorial terms. Yet others
ascribe it to some dimly understood genetic imperative. Whatever its source,
there is no denying its effects: disintegrating cultures, poverty, ruined youth,
turmoil and even genocide. Nor is there any denying that it is among the primary
evils of our "enlightened" modern times.
And whatever racism's source, it persists. No matter how passionate the
entreaties of our religious leaders, no matter how determined our politicians'
programs, and no matter how dedicated the efforts of our teachers, racism
Again, there are a lot of theories, but our purpose is not to examine them.
Instead, based upon our research, we intend to show the insidious racist
influence of something that has destructively influenced our very thinking,
something that has become so much a part of our modern life that few except its
victims ever give it a second thought.
It is a profession that claims to act in the name of help. Its pronouncements
fill our magazines and its spokespersons are regularly seen on our television
screens. It is funded by our governments, studied by our educators and active
among our poor and dispossessed. And, above all, posing as a science, it speaks
with the seldom-contradicted voice of authority.
Its members are "expert" witnesses in our courts. They advise our educators,
counsel our youth in schools, screen applicants for positions in both the public
and private sectors, and influence the thoughts of large masses among our
populations by promoting their message through advertising, entertainment and
even literature. The profession is psychiatry. And its pernicious influence upon
the perpetuation of the evil we know as racism is a story that has seldom been
If you believe the common image of the kindly psychiatrist, smoking his pipe and
wisely nodding while his patient on the couch tells his life story, then what we
are saying will shock you. But if you read these pages and examine the true
activities and the real results of widespread psychiatric intervention in
society you will understand more about psychiatry's role in continuing racism
and why you need to act.
We are not saying that every psychiatrist on the face of the earth is a racist.
Nor are we saying that every psychiatric practitioner helps propagate this evil
blight on our society. Yet it is impossible to separate the seeds of the tree
from the fruit it bears. The seeds from which psychiatry sprang did not have our
best interests at heart. And the outstretched hands which offer help carry only
the poisonous fruit of betrayal.
Psychiatry exploits man's desperate need for a workable solution to resolve
spiritual travail. It has consciously used pseudo-scientific terminology and
experimentation to secure a fraudulently obtained position of authority on the
subject of the human psyche. It is a problem masquerading as a solution.
The result has been escalating crime, a rise in violence, an epidemic of drug
abuse, plummeting education standards, religious intolerance, a widespread
decline in morals, the collapse of the family unit and racism. In fact, every
area of society in which psychiatry claims authority and influence has only
become worse as a result of its presence and influence. Persistent statistics
are there to make this an easily demonstrable fact.
Furthermore, documentation and evidence amassed by the Citizens Commission on
Human Rights (CCHR) for several decades on the subject of psychiatric violations
of human rights, clearly shows calculated psychiatric attacks on blacks and
minority racial and religious groups, all of which have helped to create the
troubled world in which we live.
Let awareness begins to dawn among members of your community, that you fully
retrieve your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that
something is done about creating a truly free and safe future, without the
destructive influence of psychiatry and psychology.
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The author can be reached at :
Racism - Society's Cancer,
the article, is indeed an eye opener towards the problem faced in reality.
Appreciations for the author. -