Table of Contents
Summary
Beginning
Ancient History Today
Evolutionary Science
Nature vs Nurture
In conclusion,
Summary
The terms racism and prejudice are interchangeable, but they have different meanings. Prejudice is the idea formed by observing facts or personal experience. The belief that Europeans are superior was described as cultural racism. Darwin has explained racism through the evolution of culture and biologically. In the past, humans have been grouped into exclusive groups that inadvertently influenced racialized attitudes. From a cultural-psychological perspective, racism is shaped by our culture, and our culture is formed by racism. This perspective argues that adopting such behaviors thwarts any intervention attempts. Evolutionary psychology argues that genes are selected by evolution to give certain traits a chance of survival. This view suggested that racism developed because our ancestors were able to discriminate against other races. Darwinism argues that the evolution of species is a result of “survival by the fittest”, which destroys the weak. Racial discrimination began in the 1500s.
Keywords: Racism and prejudice
IntroductionRacism exists in all cultures. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary’s definition of racism, it is “the belief racial differences are the primary determinant in human traits and capabilities and that they produce an inherent inferiority of one race over another” (Racism, 2003). The belief that one group or race is superior to the other. This hatred is caused by differences in language, skin tone, or color. It is a persistent and complex social issue. Racism does not only come from feelings or reactions, and it is also not a result of prejudice. A study found that racism can be a systemic issue, affecting the way in which cultural artifacts are used, how they are discussed, and even how institutions work. Racism impacted all kinds, classes, and groupings of people. This paper discusses the evolution of this ideology and its sociological aspects. This paper addresses the important points that are needed to eradicate racism in future.
Ancient History for TodaySince its inception, racism is a topic that has become prominent when social psychologists discuss the subject. People claimed racism was evolutionary or biological. Researchers found racism to be a part of everyday life. We still create racialized communities through our choices and preferences. We live in places culturally that encourage these behavior (Banton, 2018). Racism is interconnected and woven into our daily life. In the 19th Century racism was a written argument based on Scripture. Between 1850 and 1949, the debate was settled in biology. The historical debates centered around the idea racism was inherently present in our history. The studies found that racism and ethnic diversity have increased as the number of White Americans has decreased. Researchers suggest that some beliefs are a result of the change in the population, from majority into minority. According to one article: “We offer a model for understanding and predicting intergroup effects, including the influence of relative group status, power and positive contact.
Evolutionary ScienceEvolutionary science is adamantly opposed to the idea that race can be determined by phenotypes. American scientists hypothesized the populations can be distinguished by their alleles. C. Loring Brace was an anthropologist who concluded that phenotypic drawings of races are not accurate because they do not show significant traits. Another researcher divided the groups by anatomizing skulls. Samuel Morton adapted this theory in order to prove his assertion that intellectual disparities between races are reflected by the capacity of a person’s skull. Scientific racism was the basis for colonialism and slave trade. Galton, who founded Eugenics in 1880, attempted to persuade the public of the idea that groups with desirable characteristics were more superior. Galton supported Darwin’s theories and Darwinian evolution. Due to the conflict between natured and nurtured, he created the argument. Darwin, 1862) was translated by a feminist scientist. She stated that “superior races were destined to replace inferior ones” and that one should think twice before claiming equality in politics and citizenship between people of Indo-European descent and those with a Mongolian or Negro majority.
The issue of Natured vs Nurtured racism is a systemic problem that is deeply ingrained in the history of our country. This ideology is present in our culture and history. It also exists as artifacts. Researchers have described racism using an evolutionary approach. Evolutionary psychology explained this ideology by using a scientific explanation for the superiority certain groups. These notions of prejudice are not innate in individuals. Many believe that people learn these attitudes from their childhood. Research and theory in cultural psychology show that racism is not just a problem “in your head”, but must also be addressed “in real life” (Salter et.al., 2018). Scientists have debated on whether racism comes from a biological cause, a cultural one, or another theory. Everyone agreed that racism has negative effects and ramifications. One study said “This definition of race is based on social and historical factors and is used by people to justify the many divisions they have between people of different ethnicities, religions, or geographical backgrounds” (Anderson, et al. 2004).
According to an evolutionary viewpoint, scientists suggest that tribes often interact with one another through marriage and switching tribes. According to a report, there were no records of racism. Anthropologists claimed that hunter-gatherers were “extremely flexible” in their membership and geographical boundaries (Burch & Elliottiana, 1994). Psychologists have claimed that your culture is more likely to influence how you perceive race than you. People believe Blacks to be more violent and older people forgetful. Women are also emotional, according to some studies (Nauert). Racist beliefs, ideologies, and cultures were responsible for these behaviors toward women, elderly people, and Black Americans. Scientists believed that racism was a learned ideologies after daily exposure to this type of ideas. From the 1930s to 1950s, racism became a commonplace behavior. Civil Rights Movement was formed to protest racism. It was now a theory that racism is a cultural problem. Some people believed that inequality would diminish with time. This new theory actually denied that race is relevant, but it continued to be used as a basis for racism.
Darwin classified people based on their skin, hair or eye color. He believed evolution to be a progressive concept, and the white races had a greater evolutionary advantage than other races (Rose (2009). This advantage helped to create contrasts and distinctions between social and hierarchical classes. It also allowed this ideology to be justified. A study published in 2015 supported evolutionary theory and explained racism. The study concluded that “Evolutionary theory predicts the organisms to discriminate often, because helping partners who are similar and harming others who are different increases the fractions in the genes of the discriminating side” (Krupp & Taylor). Darwin’s evolutionary theory has been used to support Eugenics. One scientist split up groups, declaring that non-whites were a result degeneration and that white people are beautiful. The current way to think has been described by social psychologists as complex and inconsistent. This viewpoint has created the notion that racial dominance is real, and has reinforced persistent inequalities.
There are many ways to fix the racism and prejudice ideologies. Education is the first step, as we must counteract any misinformation being spread about certain races. Most white Americans, for example, believe that blacks are violent. In order to stop racism, we need education, intervention and the ability to hold people accountable. In order to eliminate these notions of superiority, legislation and consequences are needed. It is important to create a cultural and social market to stop racism.
ConclusionAlthough evolution has been hailed as a science that clarifies, it cannot measure morality. Darwin’s works, Galton’s Eugenics or flawed genetics are still used to scientifically back up their ideologies. The Genome Project, other studies, and the Civil Rights Movement have all provided evidence of racism. History of racism can be a difficult subject to understand. In conclusion, racism does not come from an evolutionary psychological standpoint. Dr. Krupp designed a new framework that uses inclusive fitness to describe our behaviors. This model suggests our behaviors are determined by the procreation success of both our community and ourselves. In order to stop racism, we must come together culturally and socially. Although the world changes, people’s beliefs have stagnated. The misinformation propagated by science, history and society must be retaught.
