Racial distinctions and race-based discrimination
Lecture Three
Are we there yet? This being the 21st century, one of the most pressing issues is whether racial reconciliation has been fully attained despite the entrenchment of racial distinctions and race-based discrimination in key areas of the mainstream American society. Bantum (2016) insisted that although major legislative and institutional developments have contributed to the promotion of racial equality and diversity, the narrative of racial progress is still incomplete and subdued. Prevot (2018) concurs that although the post-racial status of the modern American society has been extensively emphasized in the socio-cultural, economic, educational and political realms, the downfall of racism is far from being attained. Research findings indicates that the racist ideology of white privilege and white supremacy has greatly undermined the pursuit of racial justice and social equity, and this has paved way for an apathetic culture of bystanders to flourish in what can be described as ‘white America’ (Tisby & Moore, 2019).
ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE ESSAY
Lewicki (2021) noted that the centrality of whiteness as a cultural standard is reinforced by how many of the racial minorities are further othered as inferior and the mere objects of help. In other words, although white people have historically been portrayed as wealthy and influential, their racial minority counterparts are depicted from a deficit standpoint as lacking, in poverty and incapable of salvaging their needful situation. Moreover, there appears a common misconception that white people are naturally needed and possess the ample resources that inherently positions them as the privileged donor, and hence the hierarchical differences between them with the needy recipient is informed by the centrality of whiteness (Bost, 2020). These findings indicates that although a majority of people condemn the existing racial injustices and inequalities, the shift from a culture of white supremacy to that of white fragility and white guilt and maintenance of white centrality is evident.
entrenched myth of white supremacy and white privilege
