Why do racists exist

Fredrickson notes the paradox that notions of human equality were the necessary precondition to the emergence of racism.

If a society is premised on an assumption of inequality, producing an accepted hierarchy -- one unquestioned even by those relegated to its nadir -- then there is no need to locate the cause of the underlings' position in some specific characteristic on their part that makes them less worthy than others. However, as societies have become increasingly committed to the belief in freedom and equality -- as once revolutionary ideas about equal rights for all have become more widespread, especially in the West -- then those groups that are systematically denied these entitlements are claimed to possess what Fredrickson calls "some extraordinary deficiency that makes them less than fully human".

That is, racism arose as a result of the contradiction between egalitarian principles coupled with the exclusionary treatment of specific ethnic groups: the rejection of organically hierarchical societies brought with it the implied necessity to account for the fact that some groups were subjected to servitude, enforced separation from the rest of society, or ghettoization.

Beginning around the end of the eighteenth century, as Enlightenment rationalism replaced faith and superstition as the source of authority, the pronouncements of science became the preferred method for reconciling the difference between principle and practice. In societies in which there has been systematic discrimination against specific racial groups, inevitably it has been accompanied by attempts to justify such policies on scientific grounds.

Broadly speaking, there have been three types of scientific explanations offered in putative support for racial discrimination, each of them having a lengthy history. One approach has been to claim that there are biological dangers involved in racial interbreeding. Indeed, it was precisely on the basis of this belief that in the United States and South Africa for many years there were statutory prohibitions against intermarriage.

The first supposed evidence for this conclusion was provided in the mid-nineteenth century primarily by physicians, who claimed that, as a result of their mixed blood, "mulattoes" were considerably more susceptible to disease than either of their parents and thus exceptionally short-lived. In addition, were persons of mixed race to intermarry, according to leading anthropologists at the time, they became progressively less fertile, eventually becoming completely sterile.

This failure to recognize prejudices, accept responsibility, and be better is a key reason why racism is still so persistent. People are very quick to judge others based on their appearance, their clothing, how they talk, and other physical traits. For many people, blaming others is a reflex. Historically, racial and often religious minorities that put into that role.

To justify this scapegoating, racist beliefs are deployed. This fuels resentment and bitterness, making already vulnerable people even more vulnerable. Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism.

Subscribe to our newsletter! This includes an apathy toward systems of racial advantage or denial that those systems even exist. Discussions about passivism are particularly relevant now, Roberts said, as thousands take to the streets to protest against racism. At the end of the review, the scholars call for a move to anti-racism. Inspired by historian Ibram X. Oriana Skylar Mastro has built two careers simultaneously: one as an academic, the other, as a service member in the U. Air Force.

To commemorate Veterans Day, wreaths will be placed in Memorial Court and Memorial Auditorium, along with a letter from President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, to honor members of the university community who have served or are serving in the U.

Armed Forces. Stanford News is a publication of Stanford University Communications. Stanford , California Skip to content. Everyday racism acts to silence and demean minority ethnic people, and reinforces the inequalities they face. This happens even to people whose grandparents were born in Scotland. Even equality workers sometimes use language which suggests that minority ethnic people are less skilled or capable than white British or Scottish people, despite having statistically higher levels of educational qualifications.

The organisations they work for often know that minority ethnic people are under-represented as employees or service users, but do nothing to find out why and resolve it. To stop racism, we need to become anti-racist as a society. This means changing the way we think and act, and being prepared to challenge others to do the same. About Racism. What is racism?