Racism Paper
Aaron Riehle
March 30, 2011
Racism Paper
Prof. Thompson
Racism is the systematic oppression and exploitation of human beings on the basis of their belonging to a particular racial group or people. “Systematic” indicates that we must look at the status of the group as a whole, and not at those few individuals who may have climbed a “ladder of success” in the white society. The word “systematic” also connotes practices and policies which are pervasive, regardless of whether they are intentional or unintentional. Racism is different from individual prejudice because it requires the possession of genuine power in a society. So racism is not merely prejudice, but prejudice with power. Once a colonial system is established historically, those in the superior position seek to monopolize basic resources. In this process, privilege becomes institutionalized, that is, it becomes imbedded in the norms (regulations and informal rules) and roles (social positions and their attendant duties and rights) in a variety of social, economic, and political organizations.
Economic racism is the theft of land, property, resources and/or labor from people of a racial or ethnic group other than one’s own. The first stage of economic racism is the initial theft of the land, property, resources and/or labor belonging to another racial or ethnic group by violence as extreme as that required accomplishing the theft. Such as an unprovoked aggression, invasion, full-scale war, massacre and/or kidnapping. This theft is supported by the first stage of cultural racism. This is the assertion that the victims of the theft are innately immoral, even innately evil, e.g., demons, cannibals, head hunters, savages, bloodthirsty, merciless, sadistic, vicious, child killers, rapists, heathens, in league with the devil, criminal, devious, sly, sexually perverse, dishonest, cunning, etc. The second stage of economic racism is the long-term control by the aggressors/conquerors of what they have taken
March 30, 2011
Racism Paper
Prof. Thompson
Racism is the systematic oppression and exploitation of human beings on the basis of their belonging to a particular racial group or people. “Systematic” indicates that we must look at the status of the group as a whole, and not at those few individuals who may have climbed a “ladder of success” in the white society. The word “systematic” also connotes practices and policies which are pervasive, regardless of whether they are intentional or unintentional. Racism is different from individual prejudice because it requires the possession of genuine power in a society. So racism is not merely prejudice, but prejudice with power. Once a colonial system is established historically, those in the superior position seek to monopolize basic resources. In this process, privilege becomes institutionalized, that is, it becomes imbedded in the norms (regulations and informal rules) and roles (social positions and their attendant duties and rights) in a variety of social, economic, and political organizations.
Economic racism is the theft of land, property, resources and/or labor from people of a racial or ethnic group other than one’s own. The first stage of economic racism is the initial theft of the land, property, resources and/or labor belonging to another racial or ethnic group by violence as extreme as that required accomplishing the theft. Such as an unprovoked aggression, invasion, full-scale war, massacre and/or kidnapping. This theft is supported by the first stage of cultural racism. This is the assertion that the victims of the theft are innately immoral, even innately evil, e.g., demons, cannibals, head hunters, savages, bloodthirsty, merciless, sadistic, vicious, child killers, rapists, heathens, in league with the devil, criminal, devious, sly, sexually perverse, dishonest, cunning, etc. The second stage of economic racism is the long-term control by the aggressors/conquerors of what they have taken