Racism is a type of discrimination whereby people are subjected to different treatment basing on the connotation and social values attached to the color of their skin. According to Naber (2012), racism is not only limited to the color of the skin rather, the position of an individual in the social ladder is of great significance in dictating his status in the society. In the US to be precise, the acts of racism dates back to the time of slavery whereby the Africans were segregated in the south while the whites occupied the northern states. During that time, the Africans were regarded as properties of the slave masters. Also, no African was supposed to own neither property nor participate in any electoral process. Nonetheless, the massive protests during the civil right movement saw the passage of laws that outlawed discrimination against racial lines.
Cultural racism is a form of racism that has developed form the commonly known type of racism. This type of racism entails the description of racist ideologies, arguments, reasoning and notions that legitimize discrimination and the exclusion based on the culture of an individual. Such notions may include misguided concepts that depict Muslims as terrorists.
In the United States, the judicial system has been perpetrating cultural racism for a long period of time. Black- Americans are often considered to be violent people who always think about breaking the laws and the involvement in the drugs. Since many Africans in the US are poor due to their lowers social status in the society, most of the Blacks who abuse cocaine are forced to use crack cocaine which is cheaper than powdered cocaine. The US judicial system had enacted anti-narcotic laws that targeted Africans when it comes to the crackdown of the drug lords. For instance, a person found abusing crack cocaine used to face a longer jail term as compared to the one found selling or using powdered cocaine that was associated with the whites. As noted by Whitley and Kite (2009), the discriminative legislation has been in operation in the United States until 2010 when President Barack Obama championed the amendment of the law so as to have equal treatment of people found using drugs in the US.
Cultural racism has also promoted a notion that white people are superior to the people of the color, a fact that has seen many people associate Africans with the lower social status. Daraiseh (2012) opines that these prejudices against the people of the African decent has exposed them to limited opportunities. Many Africans have missed out of the job opportunities a fact that has seen the widening of the social and economic gap. Most of the Africans in the US are living in abject poverty compared to the whites.
The police in the United States have been perpetrating cultural racism for a long period of time. For example, Whitley and Kite (2009) reiterate that the chances of a black motorist being stopped on the highway by the anti-narcotic detectives are higher than those of a white motorist being stopped. This is because the American society associates Africans with violence and criminal acts. The police in the US apply selective rules that target Africans. Most of their vehicles are being searched while the vehicles of the white motorists are not being searched. Whitley and Kite (2009) indicate that the selective application of the anti-narcotic laws have derailed the fight on drugs since many black drug barons collude with unsuspecting white motorists to transport drugs.
Prejudices along religious lines entail, the act of placing more value on a certain religion or the treatment of a person or a section of people in the society differently basing on their religious inclinations. For instance, this form of discrimination entails unequal treatment or persecution of people basing on what they believe (Bahk 2011).
Religious bigotry has been witnessed in many parts of the world. For example, in New Zealand and Canada, the governments established legislations that allowed the development of Christian schools. The Christians are the only ones who have the rights to establish schools. This move was well calculated so as to stop the spread of Islam in New Zealand. However, it is ironical that the government used taxpayers money to sponsor various churches that wanted to establish schools they both the Christina and non-Christians paid their taxes. Besides, the Christian sponsored schools had biases when it comes to the hiring of teachers and the admission of students basing of religious inclinations. Most of the schools rejected the applications of teachers and students from the Islamic background (Bahk 2011).
Christians in Iraq have faced constant persecutions from Muslims who are the dominant population. According to Naber (2012), the Christians in Iraq have never seen peace since the passage of discriminative legislatives by Saddam Hussein in 1880s that targeted non-Muslim communities in Iraq. In the recent past, the invasion of the Mosul region by the ISIS has seen many Christians flee the area due to constant persecution wedged by the militia group. Besides, many churches have been destroyed by the ISIS to stop the spreading of Christianity in the Middle East. The constant attack of Christians in Iraq has seen the number of Christians drop by 6%.
The Shia Muslims who are the majority in Iraq have been at war with the Sunni Muslims who are the miniority.Tha antagonism between the two religious sects have escalated the activities of the Al-Qaeda and the ISIS militia groups. The persecution of the Christians and the Sunni Muslims has denied the two religious groups their fundamental human right and the freedom to assembly.
The Arab communities in the United States have been victims of have been victims of cultural racisms. This is because of the fact that many Native Americans have a misconception that Arabs have cultures that do not fit in the American culture. Despite the fact that the Arabs have been in the US for over 100 years, most of the Native Americans still believe that their culture is not American. Besides, many conservatives have a backlash on Islam which is the common religion among people of the Arab descent. A study by Daraiseh (2012) indicates that Islam is often associated with terrorism and violent extremism. This notion has seen many Arabs in the US miss out of employment opportunities due to a negative connotation that is associated with Islam. Many employers fear to contract the services of the Muslims in the US for fear of violence in case of a disagreement.
Another aspect of cultural racism in the US is evident by the policies that were set by the US in response to the increased influx in the number of immigrants from Asia. In 1924, the United States Congress passed laws that tightened the laws of immigration since the influx of the Arabs into the United States was considered as a security threat. This prejudices led to the mistreatment of the Arabs in the in schools and other public places. Most of the Arabs are always screened thoroughly while entering buildings and airports since they are always perceived to be terrorist. The Americans also had a notion that the Arabs will take over the US owing to their entrepreneurial skills that have seen most of them set up multi-billion business ventures.
The US media has been at the center state in promoting cultural discrimination. For example, many Hollywood films for a long time portrayed Islam as a violent religion. Also, the media has been focusing many violent incidents where the Blacks and the Muslim communities are involved yet many Whites have been involved in many cases that do catch the attention of the media.
During the attack of the Pentagon house by the Al-Qaeda, there was a backlash against the Muslims in the United States since the militia group responsible for the 9/11 terror attack professes Islam religion. Most of the American Arabs were placed under spotlight by the American society. In addition, many Muslims had fears that they might be attacked by non-Muslim communities. According to Daraiseh (2012), Islam is a peaceful religion that does not condom the killing of innocent people. The fact that a few Muslims participate in terrorist acts does not mean that all Muslims are terrorist
According to Volpp (2000), the controversial marriage of Tina Akers who was 13, to Wayne Compton who was 29, elicited debate in Maryland. Tina got married to Compton after she bore a baby boy. Despite the fact that the laws in Maryland have not stipulated the minimum age for one to get married, any person who is over sixteen years can get married with the consent of the parents. Many activists in the US called for the investigation of Compton against sexual assault. Also, the critics wanted the state lawmakers to criminalize the marrage. However, Compton is yet to be prosecuted. Since both Tina and Compton were Americans of the white descent, nobody defined the marriage as being part of the American culture. However, it was treated as a selective case of an aberrant behavior.
The opposite is seen in the case of Adela 14, and Pedro Sotelo 22; when the media exposes this incident that happened in Texas. The incident involves an immigrant who was not a Native American. The two teenagers were arrested by the law enforcers. The case media depicted the collision between the Mexican and the American culture. This case exhibited how the aspect of cultural racism is deeply rooted in the United States. The American society considers immigrants from Caribbean countries like Mexico and Puerto Rico as being immoral and drug addicts. Many Americans perceived the early sexuality and marriage of Adela Quintana to be a product of the Mexican culture and definitive of the Mexican identity. Contrary, the US media does not highlight the early sexuality case of Compton and Tina as a product of the White culture.
The US has become home for many immigrants from the Middle East, especially, Iraq who are fleeing from war in their country. Since most of these Immigrants are Muslims, the Sharia laws allows for polygamy as long as one can fend for the extra wife and children. Many Americans have in the recent past raised concern about the issue of polygamy as a threat to the moral culture of the United States. Despite the fact that there is a multicultural clash between the American and the Islamic culture, most of the Americans have associated polygamy with Muslims. Naber (2012) opines that it is wrong to make an assumption like all Muslims are polygamous since various cases of polygamy and men cheating on their wives among the whites have been reported in the US. Also, most of the cases of polygamy in the United States have received little or no attention and nobody has ever termed the acts of polygamy among the whites as being a representation of the white culture.
Multiculturalism and feminism have been blamed for enhancing cultural racism. Most of the people in the US have stereotypes against immigrants. For example, African immigrants are considered to be polygamous and that women are considered to be inferior to men. Despite the fact that feminism is of great significance in the emancipation of women, the approach used by the feminists in the quest to liberate immigrant women enhances cultural racism. This is because the feminism theory often describe women as victims who need the intervention of the society for emancipation. Feminism depicts women as passive participants in their liberation. However, most feminists that target the white women do not regard them as victims (Volpp 2000).
References
Bahk, S. (2011). Exploring perceptions of cultural differences in IRB family sponsorship decisions. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Daraiseh, I. (2012). Effects of Arab American discrimination post 9/11 in the contexts of the workplace and education. Accessed on 5 June 2016 from http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=mcnair.
Naber, N. (2012). Arab America: Gender, culture, politics and activism. New York: NYU Press.
Volpp, L. (2000). Blaming culture for bad behavior. Accessed on 5 June 2016 from cholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1119&context=facpubs.
Whitly, B., and Kite, M. (2009). The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination. London:
Cengage Learning.
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