I am pretty convinced that human beings are quite stupid, ignorant, and too often malicious. Too many of us live in a box with very limited perceptions of the people and the world around us. We are too lazy to think and rely on stereotypes and pre-judgment. Too many of us associate mostly with like-minded people and never get challenged. Certainly racism is based on hatred, but I think that many attitudes are based on ignorance. HOW RACISM WORKS Racism is both prejudice and discrimination based in social perceptions of biological differences between peoples and inherent superiority/inferiority. Social policies create de facto racial segregation. As a result, cities in the US are very segregated which results in segregated schools, segregated and inferior services for non-white neighborhoods, and many other social problems. Prejudice and institutional racism has been in the past & may still today be expressed by: Red-lining: denying or increasing the cost of services such as banking, mortgages, rents, insurance, health care, food, transportation, etc to citizens in certain geographical areas/neighborhoods Lending discrimination: personal, home, business loans Restrictive covenants: (became illegal in 1948) that don’t allow home sales to non-whites Creation of highways that segregate neighborhoods Increase in cost of housing to price racial “minorities” out of neighborhoods “Steering” by real estate agents White flight and lending policies favorable to whites Lying by landlords to undesired tenants – saying the property is already rented Racist hiring policies and restriction in union membership Lower salaries to non-white employees and to women Anti-miscegenation laws (now illegal - prohibitions against interracial marriage) Mandatory segregation of institutions: sports teams, schools, hospitals, libraries Mandatory segregation in services: restaurants, public toilets, water fountains, hotels, bars, movies, gas stations… Voting suppression through literacy tests, poll taxes, gerrymandering, moving polling locations to inaccessible locations, restrictive voter ID laws that target minorities, the elderly, students, etc. Segregation in the military Restrictions/quotas to limit college admissions, private school admissions, etc.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 18:21:11 +0000
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