Introduction
Racial and ethnical discrimination and stereotypes are important issues that contemporary society faces. In this paper, we are going to address the issues of race and ethnicity and define and analyze the components of discrimination and stereotyping.
Historical and contemporary perspectives on discriminatory practices
Contemporary discrimination practices have their roots in the history of development of the United States and closely related to American anti-Semitism that was part of the late-nineteenth century racism emigrant from all parts of the world, as well as African Americans, Native Americans and Mexicans. The discriminatory treatment included closing the doors to immigration from Europe and Mexicans, between 1882 and 1927 (Ore 2009). Contemporary discriminatory practices are similar for African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans, they include denying equal access to opportunities, certain housing areas or membership in social organizations.
In the contemporary society, there is still a room for hidden forms of racism against ethnic groups mentioned earlier. The situation has changed since the early 1990’s when blatant racism was more common for them.
In the contemporary society, there is still a room for hidden forms of racism against ethnic groups mentioned earlier.
“Race” and “ethnicity”
Various interpretations of terms “race” and “ethnicity” can lead to the types of discrimination identified in the first section. Thus, “race” is often associated with physical specifications such as skin color, and “ethnicity is defined through the background, historical or cultural. Historically, people created various forms of prejudices about race and ethnicity. Thus, the prejudice that African Americans are “low-intelligent” race leads to the institutional and employment discrimination. There are two models (social and biological), according to which race and ethnicity are defined. Both of them state that there are dominant and subjective race. However, they have considerable gaps. For example, from the biological perspective, all people have the same construction and functions of the body and it is ridiculous to distribute people into different races. From the social perspective, all people are members of the society they live in and live according the same social rules, thus, this gap in the sociological model cannot proper reflect race and ethnic identity.
Voluntary and involuntary models used to promote discrimination
There are voluntary and involuntary models used to promote discrimination. Separatism model suggests that racial groups should be segregated from the rest of society. Assimilation model is associated with the issue of racial supremacy. For example, it defines what races are allowed to assimilate with the dominant culture, and what races will not fit social and political standards of the dominant race. Pluralistic model defined a racial group as a distinguished one and, according to Hochschild and Rogers (2000), “groups will not dissolve into an anodyne melting pot, but individuals will have considerable leeway in deciding how and how much group identity matters to their lives”.
Personal, spiritual, political, and procedural conflicts
Thus, racial profiling contributes to personal, spiritual, political, and procedural conflicts identified in the previous assignment. For example, as it has already been mentioned, the PATRIOT Act’s provisions are discriminatory and leave many individuals especially aliens vulnerable to harassment and torture. The race of the individual becomes “an identification” used to attribute him/her to terrorists. Moreover, federal agencies have right to freeze bank accounts of persons perceived as terrorist, it a form of racial discrimination as well.
The PATRIOT Act
This analysis can be helpful in addressing the issue of international relations of the United States with other countries. We suggested that it is necessary to consider the diverse nature of employees within organizations, as well as people in communities, schools and other organizations. Racial prejudices should not be issues for classifying people in “bad” and “good” ones. In addition, international relations should be improved with diplomacy being preferred instead of military confrontations based on racial diversity.
Conclusion
Race and ethnic identity of a person is often a reason for social discrimination. The PATRIOT Act should find different approaches to international relations so that prevent racial and ethnic discrimination.
Reference List
Hochschild, JL, Rogers R. (2000). Race Relations in a Diversifying Nation. Washington D.C.: National Planning Association.
Ore, T. E. (Ed.). (2009). The Social Construction of Differences and Inequality: Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality. New York: McGraw-Hill.