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Changing America's view of Blacks and Whites

Agustina Diana Putri

18111086

Background

Racism is a belief system or doctrine which states that the biological definition inherent in the
human race determines culture or individuals that a certain race is superior and has the right
to cultivate another race. Some authors have used the term racism to tax preferences for
certain ethnic groups, fear of strangers (xenophobia), rejection of racial relationships
(miscegenation), and generalization to certain groups of people (stereotypes). Racism has
become a national driving factor, segregation and racial violence, including genocide. The
political syringe uses racial issues to win votes. The term racist has been used with no ill
connotations since the 1940s, and the system of a group or person as racist is often
controversial.

Racism is related to the concept of race in society. The formation of racism can occur if
physical differences are considered an important thing in society. Racism can also arise
because of differences in psychology, ideology and economics. Conditions that can lead to
racism in society are the existence of several racial groups with different cultures and the
institutionalization of inequality in each race which is interrelated with one another.

Racism in the United States has been rampant since the colonial era. Legally and socially,
rights and gifts are granted to white Americans but denied to Native Americans, African
Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanic or Latino Americans. European Americans
(especially white Anglo-Saxon Protestants) were granted exclusive grants in educational
materials, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land ownership, and criminal procedures
over a period of time stretching from the 17th century to the 1960s. However, non-Protestant
immigrants from Europe; especially Irish, Polish, and Italian, who experience xenophobic
exclusion and other forms of ethnic-based discrimination in American society, are still
considered racially inferior and not fully white. In addition, Middle Eastern American groups
such as Jews and Arabs face continuing discrimination in the United States, and as a result,
some who belong to these groups do not identify as white. South East Asians also face
racism in America.
Today the United States has a thriving, if somewhat tenuous, black middle class. By
conventional measures of income, education, or occupation at least a third of African
Americans can be described as middle class, as compared with about half of whites. That is
an astonishing–probably historically unprecedented–change from the early 1960s, when
blacks enjoyed the “perverse equality” of almost uniform poverty in which even the best-off
blacks could seldom pass on their status to their children. Conversely, the depth of poverty
among the poorest blacks is matched only by the length of its duration. Thus, today there is
greater disparity between the top fifth and the bottom fifth of African Americans, with regard
to income, education, victimization by violence, occupational status, and participation in
electoral politics, than between the top and bottom fifths of white Americans.

Even though the civil war in the United States ended more than 150 years ago (1861-1865),
the ghost of racism still looms over the country with the number one economy in the world.
People of color, such as citizens of Asian Americans or African Americans, are often the
targets of acts of racism. Recently, the media in the United States has reported about the
physical abuse of Asian grandmothers and grandparents in America which resulted in the
victim being injured to death due to serious injuries.

One such case occurred in San Francisco. An 84 year old Asian grandfather was hit while
walking. He also died from his wounds.A 65 year old Asian grandmother in New York City
was knocked down by a large man. The security guard who witnessed the incident was
silent. The grandmother had more than 12 stitches on her wounds. In a similar story in the
city of Seattle, an Asian American woman traveling with a male friend was hit in the face by
an assailant wearing a sock filled with stone. Her teeth were knocked out and her face was
injured as a result of the brutal attack.

Ethnic African-Americans, or Afro-Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States


whose ancestors mostly come from Sub-Saharan Africa and the West. The majority of ethnic
African Americans are African, European, and Native American. [Citation needed]

The terms used to refer to this ethnic group throughout history include negroes, blacks, and
another term in English: colored, Afro-Americans. The words negro and colored are now
used less frequently and are often considered derogatory. African-American, black is now
used more frequently, although the term African-American is often misused to refer to black
citizens who are not also residents of the United States. According to the 2003 US census,
there are 37.1 million blacks in the US, which is 12.9 percent of the total population. New
York City had the highest urban black population in 2000 at 2 million.
Blacks were first sold and sold to southern America from 1607 to 1807 when the importation
was finally banned. After Abraham Lincoln, who was a friend of slavery, was appointed US
President in 1860, slavery was abolished in 1863 through legal status.

However, racial differences were still felt until finally around the beginning and middle of the
20th century, black people began to rise up against discrimination against their ethnic
groups. The climax occurred in the 1960s with the complement of the Human Rights
Movement under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Roy Wilkins so that black
people in the US have had a much better life and treatment. Their economic situation and
rank in society have also improved. Even so, collectively, they are still inferior to the white
people in these fields. Many social problems, such as inadequate access to health and
difficulty in finding jobs, also persist in blacks in the US.

Blacks were first sold and sold to southern America from 1607 to 1807 when the importation
was finally banned. After Abraham Lincoln, who was a friend of slavery, was appointed US
President in 1860, slavery was abolished in 1863 through legal status.

However, racial differences were still felt until finally around the beginning and middle of the
20th century, black people began to rise up against discrimination against their ethnic
groups. The climax occurred in the 1960s with the complement of the Human Rights
Movement under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Roy Wilkins so that black
people in the US have had a much better life and treatment. Their economic situation and
rank in society have also improved. Even so, collectively, they are still inferior to the white
people in these fields. Many social problems, such as inadequate access to health and
difficulty in finding jobs, also persist in blacks in the US.

Problem Formulation

Based on data that has been collected from various sources of journals and articles, this
research can be formulated:

1. how racist according to psychologists

2. How do whites view blacks?

3. how do you change the view of black people towards whites?

4. Why is it important to change the view of the American people?


Objective

The purpose of this research is an overview of the research results to be achieved from
various articles and accurate journals after the process is carried out, the formulation of this
objective is based on the formulation of the main problems of thought as outlined in the form
of questions. included to answer questions that are being formulated and is the main goal to
be achieved. By summarizing some information. The main object of this discussion is how to
change America's view of the differences between coolies.

This goal also relates to the view of the white American society towards blacks. Not a few
incidents of racism in America, according to the articles I have read, racism occurs every day
in America. according to BBc News Indonesia, the term "Berwana" can offend black and
black people. In the US, a country that has experienced racial segregation, the term is used
to describe black people and is one of the most offensive words.

"The term is used to describe a number of people who are not white, meaning that white
people are 'normal' or 'should be'," said the humanitarian agency Show Racism the Red
Card.

"If we refer to the above, then every human being has a skin color, so technically we are all
colored."

Historically, this word has been associated with segregation or segregation, especially in the
United States, for example black people have to be separated from white people either on
public transport or in drinking establishments. The rule known as "Jim Crow's law" was in
effect in a number of countries in the United States, from the 1870s to the 1960s.

The phrase Jim Crow originates from a song and dance character in the 1800s. On the
stage of the performance, a white actor is seen playing a "black" who becomes a slave to
Africa. But no one is sure how the US relates to the racial hierarchy.

According to the humanitarian agency Show Racism the Red Card, the use of this phrase is
seen as contributing to racist behavior. The word also seemed acceptable and used in
Britain until the 1960's and 1970's.

Discussion
Structural problems such as racism that is currently hot in the United States (US) cannot be
separated from the historical development of market capitalism. Racism in the US is deeply
rooted in the history of the conquest of the Indians as Native Americans and the history of
black slavery.

Without the conquest of the indigenous people and without the trade of the African
community, there will be no industrial plantation that supports the development of US
industrial capitalism as we see it today. This means that racism and the development of
capitalism in the US cannot be separated. Racism is referred to as a structural problem
because from birth white society has grown up with a tendency to be racist towards people
of different skin color.

It was the resistance of the people of color for hundreds of years that then opened a room
for discussion and provided an opportunity for some of the white citizens to exchange ideas
and then realized that their attitudes which were initially understood as something that were
"natural" were in fact the result of social construction of society.

Their view that whites are the superior national group and the view that colored people are
not superior cannot be separated from the importance of obtaining cheap labor on American
plantations. Unfortunately, not all white Americans are enlightened. It can be said that
perhaps the majority of white citizens in the US are still racist towards people of color
ranging from those from the African continent, then from Latin America to Asia. The idea of
racism is mainly to strengthen the structure of American capitalist society which places
minority groups as a source of cheap labor.

The National Partnership for Women and Families (2020) notes that women of Hispanic or
Latin American descent are typically paid just 54 cents for every dollar paid to white men or
non-Hispanic groups. The average annual salary for a Latin American full-time job in the
United States throughout the year is US $ 33,540 (approx Rp.472 million), while the median
annual salary for a white, non-Hispanic male is US $ 61,576. million). There is a difference of
28,036 US dollars (Rp394 million) per year. The wages of black women are somewhat better
than Latin women, although they remain low and discriminated against white women, both
men and women.

This figure suggests that whites enjoy the structure of inequality that exists in America
because it benefits them in terms of wages. On the other hand, minority groups, especially
Latin American minorities, suffer a lot. US citizens of Latin American descent are the second
largest demographic or 18.3 percent of the total US population of 329 million in 2019. The
black group ranks third, at 13.4 percent, and the rest are Asian ethnic groups. If the wage
gap experienced by minority groups is eliminated, for example the large gap experienced by
women workers of Latin American descent as in the example above, then they can get
facilities and education that can open up their vertical mobility. For example, they can get an
additional three years of tuition at a public university for four years, or the entrance fee for a
private college for two years.

1. How racist according to psychologists?

The roots of racism can be seen from how the construction of ideas is formed for certain
reasons and purposes. For example, a study of the psychology of racism in South Africa
shows that the formation of the idea that white people have a special position has led to
political hegemony since the postcolonialism era in the 1900s in that country. Racism is
defined as a set of ideas and beliefs that have the potential to cause a person to form
prejudice which in turn leads to negative behavior towards certain groups of people.Simply
put, wrong ideas and beliefs form prejudice; prejudice then results in negative behavior,
namely discrimination. Discrimination is a product of human intellectuality that is rooted in
cognitive error. In cognitive psychology, the human brain is a processor that processes
overall information which then produces decisions and actions.

The human brain processes information that enters and leaves the mind including perception
(negative / positive), attention, language, memory, reasoning processes and awareness.
Bad prejudice exists to improve the self-image of an individual or group. Individuals or
groups who look down on other groups emotionally will produce the prejudice that he is
better than other people or groups. When an individual or group feels much better than
another group, then naturally he will have the perception that he has the right to lead or
dominate other people or groups. Prejudice can be present in the human mindset because
this process does not involve a complex thought process. The human brain naturally avoids
complex cognitive processes as well. Prejudice is present quickly and efficiently in human
cognitive processes. Prejudice forms uniformity of information in human reasoning which is
then known as stereotypes.

Long-established stereotypes discourage a person from engaging in long, careful, or


systematic thinking processes. The provision of "knowledge" obtained from childhood
becomes an individual shortcut in giving labels to others. Alice Eagly and Amanda Diekman -
psychologists from the United States - explain the concept of prejudice that is easier to
understand. According to them, prejudice is a very contextual attitude. The context in
question is the conformity between stereotypes and expectations of the social role of a
particular social object. If discrepancies are found, then negative attitudes, or discrimination,
emerge. So, theoretically, discriminatory actions are the result of long-established
stereotypes. Stereotypes are formed in the process of forming the character of an individual
since childhood and then sticking naturally to the unconscious brain.

2. How do whites view blacks?

Research on media portrayals of African Americans has found that African Americans have
been frequently portrayed in stereotypical occupational roles (Seggar & Wheeler, 1973;
Warren, 1988), with negative personality characteristics (Cosby, 1994), as low achievers
(Bramlett-Solomon & Farwell, 1996; Seggar & Wheeler, 1973) and with positive stereotypes
(Donagher,Poulos, Liebert, & Davidson, 1975; Gunter, 1998).

most white people always look down on black people, in their eyes white people always
have a low economy, and have low education. Most white people also always considered
black people to always have low jobs, according to the journal Racial Inequality. From
several sources of articles and journals that have been researched, they also discuss this.
White society has always thought that black people were not on their level. Therefore, there
is racism against the black community.

Negative Personality Characteristics

African Americans are frequently portrayed with personality characteristics that are
stereotypically negative. In one of the earliest examinations of 242 N. M. Punyanunt-Carter
African American portrayals, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1977) found that African
American television portrayals typically depicted the following stereotypic personality
characteristics: inferior, stupid, comical, immoral, and dishonest. Dates (1990) later noted
that other stereotypes of African Americans existed, including disrespectful, violent, greedy,
ignorant, and power-driven. After determining that Blacks in the media tended to be
portrayed as menacing, untidy, rebellious, disrespectful, buffoonish, sexual, immoral,
hopeless, untrained, uneducated, and noisy, Cosby (1994) concluded that most roles Blacks
portrayed were negative and stereotypical. ( journal howard )
3. how do you change the view of black people towards whites?

based on some of the articles that I have read, here are some ways to reduce racism :

- Understanding Racial Inequality

"What anti-racists are doing first and foremost is identifying racial injustices,"
Racism produces inequality and inequality in various areas of private and public life. These
include politics, health programs, judiciary, education, income, employment and property
ownership.
Being anti-racist means knowing and learning about the inequalities and differences that
give one racial group over another. Acknowledging that there are races and ethnicities who
are disadvantaged.

A racist person will associate bad things and the group with the economy that follows a
behavior and refers to the group. Meanwhile, an anti-racist considers the problem not to be
with the group, but from the racial policies that cause the group to suffer losses.

What we can do is to understand the knowledge and ideological layers so that we can get rid
of the bad relations between these races / ethnicities.

- Stop Saying "I'm Not Racist"

"Denial is the heartbeat of racism,"


Opinion "I am not racist" does not change the situation and self-view of racism.
Thinking of oneself as non-racist, or unwilling to enter into the mission of racism, makes it
difficult for us to see whether ideas, thoughts, and actions are racist.
The existence of claims and admissions of error can be a reason to change something.
The Indonesian government also needs to do the same if it wants to solve the problem of
racism, the government must recognize acts of racism and discrimination against Papuans.

- Opposing the idea of racism


After being able to identify racial disparities, next are the views, beliefs and political support
that we have justifying racial inequality. We must change our view, consciously or
unconsciously.
Such as the view that white people are more attracted to black people, or the bad stigma we
associate with a racial or ethnic group. Political support also influences racial inequality. How
do you support a leader who raises the issue of racial disparity or vice versa? This reality is
what often happens, sometimes we do not realize that actions and behavior are racist,
ignorant and do not face the problem related to the problem of choice for people who want to
be anti-racist.

In other words, what can be done is to change the economic inequalities and disparities
related to economic, knowledge and social access which are the basis of racism through
active action.

- Support and Educate


We cannot be anti-racists without active action. According to Kendi, one way to be active is
to support activists and organizations that oppose policies that create racial disparities. This
can be done by following and funding activists and organizations that support equality and
want to change racist policies.
Active action can also be done by educating the next generation. In particular, educate
about how important equality is for all cross-ethnic and all ethnic people in all aspects.

4. Why is it important to change the view of the American people?

There have been many studies that say that racism is an act that can worsen the physical
and mental condition of its victims. From a physical health perspective, people who are often
victims of acts of racism have the potential to experience stress which, if prolonged, will
damage the body by increasing the risk of several diseases.

racism is a negative act that can damage someone mentally. We need to change the view of
American society towards blacks, because living in peace without anyone hating is fun, and
we can help people who are mentally damaged by racism. Not only that, sometimes the
racism they commit is in the form of crimes that can hurt physical, not only mental health.
Therefore, we must change the way the American society views black people the same way,
so that there is no discrimination. because all humans are the same.
Conclussion

Racism is related to the concept of race in society. The formation of racism can occur if
physical differences are considered an important thing in society. Racism can also arise
because of differences in psychology, ideology and economics. Conditions that can lead to
racism in society are the existence of several racial groups with different cultures and the
institutionalization of inequality in each race which is interrelated with one another.

Racism in the United States has been rampant since the colonial era. Legally and socially,
rights and gifts are granted to white Americans but denied to Native Americans, African
Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanic or Latino Americans. European Americans
(especially white Anglo-Saxon Protestants) were granted exclusive grants in educational
materials, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land ownership, and criminal procedures
over a period of time stretching from the 17th century to the 1960s. However, non-Protestant
immigrants from Europe; especially Irish, Polish, and Italian, who experience xenophobic
exclusion and other forms of ethnic-based discrimination in American society, are still
considered racially inferior and not fully white. In addition, Middle Eastern American groups
such as Jews and Arabs face continuing discrimination in the United States, and as a result,
some who belong to these groups do not identify as white. South East Asians also face
racism in America.

The purpose of this research is an overview of the research results to be achieved from
various articles and accurate journals after the process is carried out, the formulation of this
objective is based on the formulation of the main problems of thought as outlined in the form
of questions. included to answer questions that are being formulated and is the main goal to
be achieved. By summarizing some information. The main object of this discussion is how to
change America's view of the differences between coolies.

The imponderable in ethnic relations is how the increasing complexity of ethnic and racial
coalitions and of ethnicity-related policy issues will affect African-American political behavior.

The human brain processes information that enters and leaves the mind including perception
(negative / positive), attention, language, memory, reasoning processes and awareness.
Bad prejudice exists to improve the self-image of an individual or group. Individuals or
groups who look down on other groups emotionally will produce the prejudice that he is
better than other people or groups. When an individual or group feels much better than
another group, then naturally he will have the perception that he has the right to lead or
dominate other people or groups. Prejudice can be present in the human mindset because
this process does not involve a complex thought process. The human brain naturally avoids
complex cognitive processes as well. Prejudice is present quickly and efficiently in human
cognitive processes. Prejudice forms uniformity of information in human reasoning which is
then known as stereotypes.

capitalism is the beginning of the emergence of racism. In the past, black people were slave
labor for people white skin. It also still happens today with different packaging, So that white
people still think that black people stay in a low position. However, not everyone will have
racism. There is some who choose to avoid or give up on the situation are some who remain
choose to stand firm in the midst of racism and not influence personality of the person.
Racism did not make Jackie waver and fear inside stance. He was right on his feet and
faced all the trials that came his way of the many whites on the one hand he was the only
black player in american world baseball.

There are many ways we can respond to racism, I think black people can show that they are
just like white people. black society is able to equal education and even the economy like
white society. with the black community serious to prove it by working hard, and they can be
highly educated, it can reduce racism that occurs.
Reference

Saad, lydia.2020.” U.S. Perceptions of White-Black Relations Sink to New


Low”.galup.https://news.gallup.com/poll/318851/perceptions-white-black-relations-sink-new-
low.aspx.

McCoy,Henrika.2020.”Black Lives Matter, and Yes, You are Racist: The Parallelism of the
Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries”.Chicago.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10560-020-00690-4.

Goldberg, Susan.2017.”Black and White”.Whasington


Dc.https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazines/l/ri-search/.

Hochslid,L Jennifer. 1998.”American Racial and Ethnic Politics in the 21st Century: A
cautious look ahead”.cambridge.https://www.brookings.edu/articles/american-racial-and-
ethnic-politics-in-the-21st-century-a-cautious-look-ahead/.

States,United.2008. “RACISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY: UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL


CHALLENGES AND IMPLEMENTING SOLUTIONS”.united
states.https://www.csce.gov/international-impact/events/racism-21st-century-understanding-
global-challenges-and-implementing.

Brown A, Dorothy.2004.”Fighting Racism in the Twenty-First Century”.


Washington.https://law2.wlu.edu/deptimages/Law%20Review/61-4BrownIntro.pdf.

Fryer. Ronald.2010.” Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of
Discrimination”.cambridge. https://www.nber.org/papers/w16256.

Jhonson, Robert wood.2017.”Experiences and views of african Americans”.Cambridge.from


journal discrimination in America”.

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