Racism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Racism - Essay Example Patterns of racism keep transforming over time and a more universal definition of racism is "Prejudice or discrimination by one group toward others perceived as a different 'race', plus the power to enforce it." Groups of students may be almost identical physiologically, yet be divided against each other on the basis of culture, language, religion, nationality, or any combination of the above which is not an uncommon experience in schools. Teachers tend to pay more attention to "white" students in the group because subconsciously they relate "white" to etiquette, opulence and high society even though it might not always be true. Prolonged influence of racialised opinions from families and society in general results in preconceived notion which shows up as an attitudinal bias. Whatever the roots of racism may be, it tends to perpetuate itself. A group of students are defined as "lesser" and denied access to resources, then the results of such denial is used to justify defining them as "lesser." "Racism" is never shrugged off. For example, when a White Georgetown Law School student reported earlier this year that black students are not as qualified as White students, it set off a booming, national controversy about "racism." The dogma has logical consequences that are profoundly important. If blacks, for example, are equal to Whites in every way, what accounts for their poverty, criminality, and dissipation Since any theory of racial differences has been outlawed, the only possible explanation for black failure is White racism. And since blacks are markedly poor, crime-prone, and dissipated, the global society must be racked with pervasive racism because nothing else could be keeping them in such an abject state. Racialisation is not a natural concept, rather it was born and perpetuated within the society and the feeling of "color-bias" has been passing over along with genetic material over the generations ever-since. It is argued by socio-biologists and some schools of psychoanalysis that our instincts are programmed to hate those different to us by evolutionary and developmental mechanisms. As the world is turning into a global village, the inter-mixing of cultures is inevitable; hence, the population of children with a mixed ethnicity is on a rise. Racial identity becomes more a matter of concern than it was ever before and the new generation is not paranoid about accepting and even experimenting with different cultural factors like language, food, music and attire. This has been aptly demonstrated in Helen Wullff's research ( South London, 1980) on inter-racial friendships in which a group of teenage girls from different and mixed cultural backgrounds were observed for relationships and p eer acceptance and bonding. On the other hand, any scan of urban or suburban school districts and classrooms will demonstrate that students are still kept unequal along racialized lines; private conversations between teachers, administrators or students clearly demonstrate that race does still factor in to how people treat, fear and relate to each other. It is virtually impossible to fix racial inequality and improve race relations without talking

Conventions & Genres Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Conventions & Genres - Research Paper Example In this article I will be highlighting how an author’s subjectivity influences an article he has written on a particular topic. This is a very common aspect and it can be said to be in writers, teachers and people who do reviews and they tend to display their views to the topic they are discussing. The pairing of opinion due to subjectivity I have chosen the book "The Border Patrol State" by the author who goes by the name of Leslie Marmon Silko. This border between Mexico and the united states have been subject to various discussions. Questions are raised on how efficient this border is and if it actually restricts those who should not traverse it at bay. The subjectivity from Silko is highly witnessed in the book because she raises the issue on a personal concern. Silko’s subjectivity is viewed on the way she expresses her opinion on the border patrol. The patrol at the border should be an organ that provides security, promote development and peace along the border. A ccording to Silko's, her point of view is that the border patrol are there and are acting as a hindrance to Americas indigenous people. Some of these people actually just want to travel back to their homeland.She believes that these hindrances are interfering with the indigenous American’s rights to freedom of movement and are restricting the economic development of the Native Americans. She accuses the border patrol of harassing people on the basis of their skin color. She talks of how she got stopped while driving home and was detained for hours just because of her being a native. This angered her and drove her to write this article vetting her anger towards the border patrol. The patrol at the border, according to the author, protect the colonizers of ancient time who are the elite who have continued ruling America rather than guard against crime and acts of terror. Her subjectivity is based on her anger towards the border patrol for discriminating against cultures and tri bes. She is a native American and thus she shapes her opinion concerning border patrol is based on how they wrongly treat the native Americans. What really Silko says is that despite the measures put in place in the border, however expensive and advanced, the natives will continue to cross it despite the challenges they will face. Silko concludes that, â€Å"No person, no citizen is free to travel without the scrutiny of the Border Patrol† (Silko, 1996, p. 111). Subjectivities role to me as a teacher Anytime you are in class, subjectivity will show to the students especially when you are giving your own opinion to the students on the subject of discussion. There are two subjects that when I indulge in them,I might end up giving my own opinion to the students and thus reflect my subjectivity to the students. These topics involve politics and religion. Everybody has a right to their own opinion in these two factors. This may make my opinion to sometimes be different from that o f my students due to the divergent backgrounds of the students. With regard to the topics above (religion and politics) you can influence the opinion of many students. Take a case of religion, Spinoza, for example, was a Jewish philosopher who was of the opinion that God is not the creator of nature but was nature itself. This was a subjectivity witnessed in Spinoza. The topic of homosexuality always elicits a lot of reactions from people. As a teacher, I