Racism Vs Old Racism Essay

According to Feagin, Vera and Batur (2001), racism is “a century-old system intentionally designed to exclude Americans of color from full participation in the economy, politics and society” (p.2). The basis of racism is from racial prejudices and racist ideologies (Dovidio, 2000; Feagin, Vera, & Batur, 2001). Racism has been a national issue that plagued the United States throughout its history. Over the last several decades, overt expressions of racism has significantly decreased thanks in part to changing norms and laws prohibiting discrimination based on ethnicity or race (Dovidio & Gaertner, 1998; Schuman, Steeh, Bobo & Krysan, 1997). However, racism is still an issue that American society faces today and it can take many forms.
Old fashioned racism. Throughout American history, old fashioned racism was the norm.
Modern racism is the belief that racism no longer exists since new rules and regulations prevent discrimination. Modern racists view any demands or initiatives that assist minorities to correct consequences of past racism (such as affirmative action) as being unfair and unnecessary. They view minorities as “pushing too hard, too fast and into places where they are not wanted” (McConahay, 1986, p.93). Thus any gains that minorities obtain are undeserved and is at the expense of others, especially at the expense of White individuals (McConahay, 1986). The modern racist does not overtly support racial segregation or discrimination, but they believe that since racism no longer exists there should be no special initiatives or programs that help minorities advance. According to modern racism, if minorities are currently disadvantaged it is not because of years of historical oppression but due to internal attributes of the minority individual (e.g. motivation to succeed). The modern racist does not hold a view that their beliefs are racist because they believe that they are acting on empirical facts (Gawronski, Peters, Brochu and Strack,