Racism
Racism is defined as the theory or idea that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and certain traits of personality, intellect, or culture and, combined with it, the notion that some races are inherently superior to others. It is difficult to establish the origins of racist thinking, but certainly one of the most influential of such thinkers was the French writer and diplomat, Joseph-Arthur, comte de Gobineau, who published his four-volume Essay on the Inequality of Human Races in the middle of the 19th century. He taught the superiority of the white race over all others, and, among the whites, of the Aryans as having reached the heights of civilization. Before Gobineau, in 1808, James Cowles Prichard, an English physician, formed his own race theory. He maintained that the human race had originally been black and whiteness was a latter development. In support of his position, Prichard was convinced that domesticated breeds become lighter in color, and !he thought civilized life had ha a similar effect upon the whites. Where people are still to found in the savage state; they are invariably dark in color. Prichard's theory and the Darwin theory of evolution were the basis of many social scientists accept
ment by mostly African-Americans demanding equal rights and disproving early race theories. Furthermore, public integration and the displacement of racial stereotypes have further refuted those early race theories. Unfortunately, racism still persists in today's society and continues to hinder the proliferation human kind. Modern-day racism can take various forms. There is old-fashioned racism that includes prejudices based on stereotypes. This promotes segregation in schools, jobs, housing, and transportation. Averise racism is where the majority endorses egalitarian systems, and many harbor negative feelings towards the minority. Another form of modern racism is realistic group conflict in which groups fight implementation of programs that will change the status quo. Illusory change identifies the tendency of a person to shy away from openly supporting the traditional forms of racism. Yet, at the same time, that person fails to support ways to fight racism. compose only 13 percent of the U.S. population but make up 35 percent of all drug arrests and 55 percent of all drug convictions. Some observers contend that if relatively high percentages of minorities engage in illegal drug abuse and other crimes, police should not be accused of undue bias when they pursue people of color as possible criminal suspects. Being stopped
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Approximate Word count = 909
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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