“Even under the most sophisticated death penalty statutes, race continues to play a major role in determining who shall live and who shall die.” – Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun
The scourge of bias against color has been the oldest in the history of mankind. Wars have been waged and civilizations enslaved over the difference in color of skin. From the aborigines of Australia to the natives of the Indies, people of a different “color” have taken the brunt of ethnic discrimination. The Apartheid of African countries is still counted as a modern day example of racial bias and discrimination. All this of this atrocity meted on people because their color was a shade darker than their brethren from foreign lands. Why it is that people of a fairer race considered superior to people who belong to “other” racial ethnicity? Who gave these races the right to dictate the fate of colored people? This article contemplates the aspect of Racial Bias and tries to debate the fact that why it should come to an end.
The world is unfortunately subdivided into people with different ethnicities that they developed during the course of human evolution. Human history is strewn with numerous examples of racial bias, with preference to fairer races. Although these examples have become a part of history but Racial Bias has not. It is a malign that still infects the society. With the development in sciences and technology, the world has come closer and multinational culture has become a common place. But with the closeness has increased the Racial Bias, preferences of the fairer and the rejection of the colored as people with different ethnicity and culture have come to live in close proximity and work together in the same environment.
There is ample of evidence of racial bias occurring around. An article on the website Equal Justice Initiative says, “More than half of the 3170 people on death row nationwide are people of color; 42% are African American.” The prejudice lies in the on-going animosity between differently colored people.
Racial Bias is so deep rooted that it finds mention in psychological study as well. The studies of cross effects in psychology talk about ethnic groups and in-group advantages. These are terms that are used to explain the basic biases that groups with multi-ethnicity may possess.
There are many reasons for Racial Bias, the biggest being the long and ensued oppression of other races by the fairer races throughout human history. The second reason for animosity based on Racial Bias is the low understanding that people of different races have amongst each other. Another important reason is that political leaders use the “Racism” factor in their political manifestoes to gain popularity or other selfish means. Psychological reasons include a psychological bias of preference and trust for same raced people.
The last reason is a direct result of the first, and though it is deep routed in the psychology of people, racial bias can be reduced through psychological methods. The rest are the direct result of the psyche itself. The problem lies in the fact that a program that can address the sensitive problem of Racial Bias openly is a difficult task to accomplish. The degree to which people can accept such a program is also unknown. Even though knowledge that can help accomplish such tasks exists, there has been very less effort to implement it.
It can be accepted universally that legal, professional and social biases are perpetrated from the basic psychology of the people. If what has been followed or believed for long is ethically wrong, it must be changed no matter what the argument for it, how many people believe it to be true or how they react to the change. Efforts need to be done to help people to get over their age old instincts of colored skin as something related to wrong.
Campaigns may back fire and quite revolutions may turn into hostile revolts. Therefore, these efforts should begin at the grass root level, the childhood, when a person develops and absorbs all their instincts. Psychology and ethics suggest some simple yet radical ways to bring out this effect. Trying to teach people about injustice of discrimination or asking them to be empathetic towards others is ineffective (Vedantam). It only repeats the age old stereo type in the psyche of a person. What needs to be done is introduction of an anti-effect, counter the stereo-types and negate what has been wrongly taught through custom (Vedantam).
Scientific and ethical clauses apart, the moral call for a person it to see their fellows equally and be compassionate not hateful. There is a lot that can be done to fight the Racial Bias on the moral front, though the fear of backlash keeps such radicle thinking at bay. This is a bane of the society that believes more in stereotype and custom than morals and ethics.
Racial Bias is a reality and to deny it is downright fallacy. A different perspective needs to be developed. This article calls for people to understand that fickle mindedness and staunch belief and argument based on someone else’s that must be questioned as well. The remedy of Racial Bias lies in the people and not through authority, and it may take time to cure but there is hope that it can be eradicated from the society and all the agencies related to it.
Works cited
Racial Bias. National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. N.D. Accessed 20 Oct. 2013.Online.
Racial Bias. Equal Justice Initiative. N.D. Accessed 20 Oct. 2013.Online.
Vedantam, S. How To Fight Racial Bias When It's Silent And Subtle. NPR.org. 19 July, 2013. Accessed 20 Oct, 2013.Online.
