In What Ways, If Any, Does The Concept Of Ideology Help Us To Understand Racism? part 2 Essay - 3,189 words

... of race. However, the root of the problem was a crisis of capitalistic state. Focusing on the period of 60s when New Racism replaced the blatant racism of the past, Solomos examines a new discourse that was shaped by internal and international political economical force. The language of racism changed, but the message was that those who were different or from the outside were dangerous to British way of life. People of difference of skin color and culture were constructed ideologically as a rational problem . .


. rendering them subject to specific spheres of control and repression (Miles 38.) The failing capitalistic state racialized certain groups to preserve the existing order. They made the Black population the scapegoat, using not the concept, but the idea of race and difference as the explanation for the breakdown of the state. Central to the thesis of this essay is the comment from Solomos et al: even when race is not mentioned in so many words, it is the element, which cements common sense notions of why violence is increasing, and why the existing order is under stress (Solomos 33). While employing the term, race several times in the essay, phrases like control and containment of resistance (Solomos 15) logically exposes the framework of oppression and racialization to resolve political and economic crises. The government was able to influence the public because the idea of race is prevalent in commonsense knowledge. While the scientific community has repeatedly proven as a biological doctrine, racism is dead (Satzewich 25), academic and political discourse has in some ways perpetuated the common sense notion of the false doctrine.


The challenge is to reorganize how we think about racism and racialization and develop understanding of the implications of certain language. One area of impact would be a chapter on Racism in Introductory Sociology. The framework for discussing these issues must be within a structure of Power and Dominance. Central to the discussion must be the dichotomy of white/black as the Western world is the predominant actor in racialization. The implications of language used must be considered and the authors of the new chapter must take care to avoid passive terms such as disadvantaged and oppressed which minimize the active role of those responsible for racialization. Equally important is to address problems of racialization not as individuals against individuals but as group action that is often institutional.


The psychological processes involved should not take precedence over the deeper social, cultural and economic dimensions involved (Miles 30) Examination of the change of social relations in a time of economic crises should also be included. Throughout history, in the presence of two or more different races or creeds there has been some degree of racism. The centuries of disdain have compounded and created ironclad stereotypes that are present in most societies. During the middle Ages, prejudice towards Jews began to fester. Jews had been refused many menial jobs to allow Christians to work. Thus many Jews became wealthy in the more profitable industries of clothing and banking (Segal, p.


44). Christians resented Jewish success and many unfounded rumors of atrocities were attributed to Judaism. Jews were imagined to kill Christian children in the celebration of Passover and other farfetched ideas. Incidents of conflict like the Dreyfus Affair, where a French Jewish Captain was falsely accused of treason, and The Times's accusal of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, strengthened prejudice. Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution, the fall of Germany, and political unrest in every European country. Each calumnious episode added to previous hatred.


This anti-Semitism followed the colonists to the New World where it developed further. "In the early nineteenth century the United State took heed of the European stereotype of the cunning and too-capable Jew: Jews were subject to legal discrimination in the USA as well" (Segal, p. 81). Currently in Great Britain, the forms of racist organizations are as diverse as the minorities they hate. These racist right groups are of three general types: Neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and racist skinhead. Neo-Nazi groups promote the ideals of Adolph Hitler through militant, violent actions. White supremacists believe the white race is superior to all others; this belief is often attached with the Protestant extremism.


Skinheads are one of the most violent and disorganized groups, persecuting minorities with anarchist agendas. All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or denigrate an entire class of people, typically for their beliefs or immutable characteristics. Skinheads and Neo-Nazis are similar and often allied groups. Both claim to be "soldiers of the Fourth Reich" (Segal, p. 86), the Third being Adolph Hitler's rule. Both are extreme right wing groups with little structure.


These groups preach tenets of violence and could not legally and publicly exist for very long. However skinheads consider themselves white berets, not Nazis. Although they use many Nazi slogans, designs ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: racism, adolph hitler, great britain, hate groups, black people

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