Racism is a very popular topic in the sense that everyone has either experienced it by being the victim, encountered racism by watching someone get victimized or been the racist person. The text book definition of racism is “the belief that a visible characteristic of a group, such as skin colour, indicates group inferiority and justifies discrimination”, an example of racism would be telling someone or assuming someone of specific race can or cannot do something because of the colour of their skin (Brym & Lie, 2018, p.142). Along with racism also comes privilege and disadvantage, according to society’s views whites were seen as the privileged majority and African American’s as the minorities with disadvantages.
We are aware that back in the day racism was very prominent and occurred on a day to day basis and was very cruel as it turned into slavery. Racism often comes with many stereotypes on different people within the religion or culture they derived from.
Along with racism there is also institutional or systemic racism. Institutional or systemic racism is the “bias that is inherent in social institutions and if often not noticed by members of the majority group” (Brym & Lie, 2018, p.142). In other words, systemic racism is the idea that even after the civil rights movement which made racism less accepted. Racism is still among us occurring often and in social and political institutions but isn’t recognized to those people whom it doesn’t affect. The distinction between the two is that racism alone is the general cold-hearted discrimination based off of anyone who is of a different skin colour. Whereas systemic/ institutional racism is racism within different social and political institutions and is carried out by members within those groups, but don’t realize it because of how normalized it has become.
An example of institutional racism as read in the textbook would be the apartheid; which was the discrimination and segregation in terms of race that governed South Africa. This was led by Nelson Mandela who was known world-wide as an African American who was also known as a hero for protesting the racist system and was later sent to jail for 27 years for rebelling against the apartheid; this later led to his presidency.
I wouldn’t say that the differences between the two defined terms of racism are entirely different but would agree that there are interconnections between the two, all in all at the end of the day racism is racism and if it is discriminating and effecting someone else’s life, they are not different, as the end result and intentions are clear.
Within the conflict theories; theorist argue that one of the most crucial mechanisms advertising inequality and conflict between racial and ethnic groups is colonialism. Colonialism “involves people from one country invading and taking political cultural and economic control over people from another country” (Brym & Lie, 2018, p.142). Within colonialism the people who are invading take over the population gaining control of it and others, and they also begin to destroy their culture and values, claiming it as their own.
Furthermore, an example of this would be Canada’s aboriginal people who were forced to leave their territory by the European immigrants. The Beothuk also known as todays Newfoundland and Labrador in the sixteenth century was used by the Europeans as a fishing port, but the Europeans would go back to Europe each year after the fishing was done. When the seventeenth century came about the Europeans began to settle for the whole year, causing a revolution with the life of the Beothuk because they were seen as a bother to the Europeans. The Europeans started encouraging the Mi’kmaq Indians from Nova Scotia to get rid of the Beothuk. The Beothuk’s were eventually pushed into the interior as the settlement of the Europeans continued to expand into the eighteenth century, which ultimately lead to the extinction of them all. With that being said colonialism is seeming to be the biggest promoted factors in inequality and conflict between racial and ethnic groups.
A personal experience in which I have encountered pure racism was when I used to work at a Portuguese bakery which consisted of mostly Portuguese, Italians and one Asian worker; all of which were women. I remember one day a girl at my school was talking about applying and having an interview at my work place. So, when I found this out, I asked a co-worker if she got the job and she proceeded to explain to me how the boss did not hire her because she had a Hijab. At the time I didn’t fully grasp the meaning of this but looking back and thinking about when I found that out I feel truly disgusted to have worked at such a place that denied employment of a women due to her religious beliefs. This situation would be categorized within the conflict and feminist theories in which it is stressed that the disagreement between others is based of class, and in terms of this scenario the class can be identified as the race and culture of the Muslim girl who was denied employment.
Deviance and crime
Within the text book the term deviance is defined as the “departure from a norm that evokes a negative reaction from others”, and crime is defined as the “deviance that is against the law” (Brym & Lie, 2018, p.91). Back in the day alcohol consumption was seen as a norm as it was done by almost everyone. With the continuous consumption of alcohol, it shifted from being a norm to considered deviant, as it started to evoke negative reactions from others, the more and more it was consumed along with the more it started to affect the drinker.
As people drank more often, they began unable to control their actions and started to blame them on the fact that they were drunk, this is when alcohol consumption turned from being seen as just deviant to being seen as a crime. The over consumption of alcohol tends to take over an individual’s body, resulting in that person being in a different state of mind where they aren’t fully aware of their words or actions. This becomes a crime as you are evoking negative emotions out of people in a way in which is against the law, for example drinking and driving. When doing so you are making the conscious decision to drink enough to a point where you should not step foot in a vehicle but are still doing so, and this results in collision where you may end up killing innocent people. This action was against the law and therefore a crime was committed, whether there was intent or no intent. The over consumption of alcohol becomes an illness when you become an addict and are affected daily by the consequences of being drunk. Being an alcoholic becomes a serious issue as it changes how an individual acts and behaves when they lack the substance.
Within the theory of symbolic interactionist, we learn that deviant and criminal behaviour increases with the interaction of others, or while being in a group. This is the idea that being in a social group tends to result in worse behaviour, but also bring out the bad in people that had never been shown before. For example, if you are out with friends and they begin to smoke or drink, and they to peer pressure you into doing so, you most likely will join them. With that being pushed upon you, you may have never done that if it wasn’t for the pressure of your peers. Another example of this would be following along with the actions of friends without hesitation, a case of this would be drinking uncontrollably which will lead you to perform even worse actions.
As seen in the text book, the case of the two university students who were drinking large amounts which resulted in them committing several crimes and murdering a twenty-eight-year-old women. Although originally being charged with first degree murder, the charge was changed to a lesser charge of man slaughter after it became aware that the two men where highly under the influence of alcohol. Along with symbolic interactionism, the labelling theory “holds that deviance results not just from the actions of the deviant but also from the response of others, who label the rule breaker a deviant” (Brym & Lie, 2018, p.96). Depending on the crime, you are labelled in turns of the deviance that is performed, and what actions you have committed. With this being a source of evidence, it is clear that the over consumption of alcohol makes you do things you would not have typically done on a regular day if you didn’t get drunk and become careless in the process.
Within in the theory of functionalism the relationship between class and crime can seem to be unfair, as those who are in the upper class are deemed less responsible for actions that they are accountable for due to their social class. In the text book it is reported that surveys conclude that most criminals come immensely from the lower classes. It is known that there is a stronger relation between serious street crimes and class, whereas armed robbery and assault is more frequent amongst those of lower-class. Also, in terms of reporting crimes, police don’t always record white-collar crimes because they are taken care of by agencies other than police. Therefore, when those of lower class commit crimes it is plastered on the news for everyone to see, whereas when those of higher class commit crimes it is lowkey and not heard of.
Within the conflict theory, theorist explain that those who are rich and powerful in a society force deviant and criminal labels on other people. And for those with the money who get into any type of crime, they resort to using their money and pressure those to escape punishment for their own benefit. Consequently, this leaves those with less money at a disadvantage, because for those individuals who do have the money and commit crime it is less likely that they will be reported, convicted and prosecuted for criminal acts whereas the rest will.
Travis Hirschi developed the control theory which “holds that the rewards of deviance and crime are ample. Therefore, nearly everyone would engage in deviance and crime if they could get away with it. The degree to which people are prevented from violating norms and laws accounts for variations in the level of deviance and crime” ” (Brym & Lie, 2018, p.101).With that being said it is evident that many people would like to participate in the pleasure and excitement that comes with deviance and crime, but it is the consequences which stop people from doing so. In contrast for those of high-class it is their social status which allows them to procced which such deviance and crime.
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