According to the common understanding Racism can be mistaken to denote the process of establishing and rationalizing the white privilege in a non white culture setup. In the real understanding it can be used to denote a mode of thought that offers a particular explanation of the fact population groups that can be distinguished by ancestry are likely to differ in culture status and power.
In the attempt of defining the major differences basing the argument on the South African and the western traditions there has emanated reasons why a comprehensive work of comparison has not yet been met. To mention but a few, the major inclination of the historians tend to differ from that of the social scientists. While the historians are concerned with discovering and testing the general hypothesis about human behavior and social organization the social scientists deal with special features of the individual societies (Fredrickson, 71). Two, unlike the social scientists historians persists in looking for causes and explanations for the phenomenon they describe. They perforce and develop comparative perspectives.
According to my own opinion I would regard the following as the main differences and similarities between the South African South American and the North American way of thinking about the origin of race thinking and racism.
Similarities
The understanding and the perception of the transition from slavery to freedom in the both cases under consideration has a common inclination. In both cases the comparatives have invoked such variables as inherited religious and legal traditions of Old World Origin, demographic and environmental pressures, ruling class ideologies cultural values associated with modernization or traditionalism and forms of color consciousness arising from the differing somatic norms of dominant groups. The full complexion of the South African race relations is also another aspect of similarity between the two cases under consideration the most numerous and significant nonwhite groups in South Africa are unanimously believed to be the Indigenous African majority and not the imported slaves of their descendants (Fredrickson, 48). This is the common agreement and especially when associated with the white attitudes ideologies and policies that have emerged.
Another major similarity is the history of the white supremacy. According to the studies the trends in the transitions were similar although the rate of development ideological expression and institutional embodiment varied. Again similar issues arose regarding the parallel rise of racial slavery in the colonial south and the cape (Fredrickson, 67). Another similarity was the impact of industrialization on race relations. Its major concern was the way inter-racial competition for industrial jobs was treated and solved. Last but not the least was the growth of racial segregation. This was a common phenomenon both in Africa and in America.
Difference
In the attempt of defining the contradicting issues between the American and the South African setup we consider demography. The ratio of white settlers to indigenous nonwhite is a critical difference between the American and South African situations (Fredrickson, 89).
The second difference is the physical and the geographical environment and the possibilities it has offered for economic development. The third difference is the semi autonomous realm of government and politics.
According to my own conclusive analysis, racism can be viewed to have its roots inclined in America than in South Africa. It hence remains of vital importance that America considers South Africa their mentors and role models in curbing their spirits against racism.
Work cited
Fredrickson, G. M. White supremacy: A comparative study in American and South African history. Oxford [Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press.1982 print.
