Introduction
While racism in society remains a historically painful subject, the gains that have been achieved over the past years even culminating in the first African-American president are huge. Obvious racist actions and remarks are nowadays not common and are only found in extreme cases. However, there still exists discrimination that is somehow masked and very subtle according to Nelson (2000, para.1-2). While people may not be actually racially abusing others, race is influencing how they treat and perceive members of society. This sort of racism is seen in various ways and the term modern racism, is used to encompass various types of discrimination and not just in terms of color (Sherman, 2009, para.1-4).
Examples of modern racism
Such types of racism can be witnessed in institutions where women hold down many of the working positions but they have a significantly lower representation in senior management positions as Sherman (2009, para.2) notes. This arises from the perception of being the weaker sex and thus while they may have the required qualifications; sex is unfairly used as a criteria. Other good examples of institutionalized discrimination can be found in the marketing and advertising world. The sexualized use of women to promote products like cars that are not exclusively for women and the preference of employing attractive women and sometimes men exclusively based on their effect on the opposite sex to sell products
Young African-American youth continue to be treated with more suspicion than their white counterparts due to the earlier depictions of them as being more violent and more prone to acts of misdemeanor. These group are also shown to score averagely low marks in examinations like the SAT’s and as a result, individuals find it extremely hard to prove their credentials because of generalized statistics reflective of them but controlled by other factors like poverty and institutions of learning (Harrison & Dye, 2008, pp. 68-124).
Another example of such prejudiced attitudes is in the entertainment and sports industry where some aspects of entertainment are exclusively viewed as typical of one culture and thus other cultures discourage their use among their children, a good example being rap music. Such an example highlights the viewing of some races as being somewhat primitive and lacking some required sophistication. Some sports like basketball and American football which are infiltrated by a majority of African-Americans leads to a common perception that they are better at physical activities as compared to other races.
Religious discrimination and also discriminations based on sexual orientation are some of the other common examples of modern racism. These are hard to counter since opinion is divided over what they entail. People who are gay are finding states being against them and curtailing their rights that other people enjoy.
Conclusion
We need to recognize that people from different races grew up knowing different role models thus their influences in sports and entertainment have come to define success and also discouraged other races from pursuing some of these fields. Other different factors as in the case with education should also be considered when coming up with generalizations in terms of races. Seeing people as they are first before classifying them based on color, sex or even sexual orientation is what has led to discrimination in this day and age.
Those who have also suffered racism should also avoid branding others names and likening a trait to a specific term; a term like “white boy” can also be viewed as racist. They also need to stop these comparison treatment scenarios in things like comedy and others like talk shows because they create a sort of exclusivity and different placement. Young ones should be encouraged being themselves and not ascribing to certain predetermined perceptions on how they should behave and act.
References List
Harrison, B. C. and Dye, T. R. (2008). Power and Society: An Introduction to the Social Sciences Custom version. New York: Thomson Wadsworth.
Nelson, S. E. (2000). Modern Racism on Campus: A Survey of Attitudes and Perceptions. Web.
Sherman, R. (2000). Modern racism.