Abstract
Racism is defined as a belief in that race is the major determinant of the human characteristics and capacities and it’s a fact that racial differences is characterized by an inherent dominance of a certain race. Racial scapegoating is whereby a certain group will be having power over another one because of their physical differences. One group is discriminated against, and it is denied political, economic, social and military power. This places one group more superior than the other and most powerful.
The disadvantaged group is the oppressed and it’s not allowed to enjoy fully its freedom and rights that human beings are supposed to enjoy. These are aspects of prejudice because the oppressed group is not placed in a position to benefit from power and authority. Racism comes with a lot of harmful effects and the group that is treated with contempt is inflicted a lot of injuries. The worst aspects of racial scapegoating are social-economic discrimination. The oppressed are linked with low class and poverty and this makes their life to appear more complicated and confused.
They are not allowed to enjoy the social, civil and the political rights that are outlined in the constitution since they are judged on the basis of race and color. This is what makes the difference in the society as one grouped is overlooked and it controls the other disadvantaged group. The United States of America was a victim to racial scapegoating and a lot needs to be done so that racism can be fought to an end. If people are fast to learn about the outcomes of racism, they will notice the causes of racial scapegoating hence put measures to curd this nightmare.
Racial Scapegoating in United States can also present itself with the recent outbreaks of riots. The riots are witnessed in the nation as they spread from one city to another. When people try to find out what has happened, they notice that the incidents of riots are a scapegoat to racial discrimination. It is not right for people to think that we live in a post racial era since racism has not ended and it’s becoming more popular despite its harmful effects. The cause of riots is attributed to the practice of race significance in forming social identity and divisions.
The United States is becoming a more racially and ethnically country since the rates of riots is increasing at alarming rates. The economic frustrations and high levels of poverty is a common tool of racial scapegoating in the United States. It is a responsibility for every individual to change his perceptions and stand up to avoid these racial divisions. The conflicts between various parties must be solved under a collective responsibility. The incidences of violence are becoming more common and innocent killings are on the rise.
All these harmful events happen with race acting as scapegoats. In the United States, the whites consider themselves more superior than the rest and they under estimate the blacks. There are places that the blacks cannot access as the whites believe that they must stay in places with a high dignity than the rest of the people. There are many misfortunes that are present in the society and are associated with racism as a scapegoat in the U.S.
In the United States, racial and ethnic relations were assessed and people discovered that the country was greatly polarized. Andrew hacker said that, “a huge racial chasm remains, and there are few signs that the coming century will see it closed.” A civil activist derrick bell added that,” racism is an integral, permanent, and indestructible component of this society.” The blacks and Hispanics are the ones that these statements aimed. There are those who believed that being a black was not an obstacle to a better life in the United States despite the racism.
Blacks were ready to fight for equal opportunities in the society and their progress was real and unified. Racial segregation is linked to unequal accessibility to health facilities, housing, quality education, employment, opportunities and transportation. Racial scapegoating is the separation of the African Americans from other races and the denial to equitable rights. It is also considered to be the physical separation of individual on the basis on their race, color, gender and ethnicity. The oppressed groups did not enjoy their democratic space in the society because the superior groups seemed to the control over everything. The groups that were discriminated against found it hard to live a happy life since many events served the purpose of demeaning their existence and well-being.
Racial Scapegoating provides with an explanation of the reasons for conflicts. It co-relates the economic despair moments and the increased prejudice and hostility towards certain groups. In an example, it is noted that, the anti-black violence that occurred in the southern of the United States in 1882-1930 showed a correlation of poor economic conditions and the emergence of violence against the black people. It is noted that the white people underwent economic frustrations and decided to attack other groups as a scapegoats. When the price of cotton increased due to the poor economy of that time, riots were observed to increase as the whites continued to attack the black people to reduce frustrations.
Racial scapegoating will require individuals to decide on certain targets that they blames for the problems that faces them. Scapegoating is also common when a group of people experiences certain difficulties and negative experiences for a long time. These problems strengthen the relations between people who share the similar ideologies and the outcome of their frustrations may even lead to genocide. This is what is known as scapegoating because individuals will have an excuse of racial difference while the truth is that violence is a form of frustrations that arises in their lives due to challenges facing them. Scapegoating is also common between minority groups. This is because among the oppressed groups, there are those groups which want to show a form of superiority in the minority. This is more harmful because the oppressed are in difficult levels to join hands and fight their common enemy.
In a nutshell, racial scapegoating in the United States is becoming more popular. In my opinion, there is need for the government to step up and fight against all forms of racial discrimination. There is a need to create employments and opportunities platforms to all individuals regardless of their race, color, gender or ethnicity. Every individual is needed to fight against any form of discrimination and avoid incidences of scapegoating in the society. The United States has a challenge to create a strong economy that will be stable enough to provide for all.
References
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Charles E. Hurst (2007). Social Inequality: Forms, causes, and consequences (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson. ISBN 978-0-205-69829-5.
