Defining Racism
Article “Defining Racism” by Beverly Daniel Tatum talks points out many issues of problem of racism in our society. She concentrates on how people are exposed to information about other races and how stereotypes about them are introduced to us. This article applies to the sociology of ethnicity and race.
The best of points of the article are the paragraphs where she explains reason why people are so influenced by stereotypes. First she mentions the problem of being isolated from other racial groups. Without the firsthand experience people are not able to confirm the information we have about other races with the reality. People tend to believe what they have been told about different people without trying to verify if this information are true. People do not know all the fact about other and making assumptions on secondhand information which are very often distorted, shaped by cultural stereotypes, and left incomplete. Second, the author points out the seriousness of the problem of omitting information. This issue might have similar effect to misinformation. As an illustration she gives the example of the teacher who tells student that there are no Black authors what makes student think the same way. If nobody would change this statement all student will assume that they are no Black writers because they have never been exposed to anyone. The author mentions the problem of prejudice as an effect of mentioned above misinformation and omitting information. She assumes that everyone have prejudice, not necessary because we want to have them but as a result of being exposed to misinformation about others. The author compares prejudice to smog – we do not see it but we all breathe it. Even if we do not do anything to produce the smog we are still responsible for its existence. People just cannot avoid facing the prejudice same as we cannot do anything with the fact we breath the smog with the air.
The weakness of the article is that it might seem as a not fully
The best of points of the article are the paragraphs where she explains reason why people are so influenced by stereotypes. First she mentions the problem of being isolated from other racial groups. Without the firsthand experience people are not able to confirm the information we have about other races with the reality. People tend to believe what they have been told about different people without trying to verify if this information are true. People do not know all the fact about other and making assumptions on secondhand information which are very often distorted, shaped by cultural stereotypes, and left incomplete. Second, the author points out the seriousness of the problem of omitting information. This issue might have similar effect to misinformation. As an illustration she gives the example of the teacher who tells student that there are no Black authors what makes student think the same way. If nobody would change this statement all student will assume that they are no Black writers because they have never been exposed to anyone. The author mentions the problem of prejudice as an effect of mentioned above misinformation and omitting information. She assumes that everyone have prejudice, not necessary because we want to have them but as a result of being exposed to misinformation about others. The author compares prejudice to smog – we do not see it but we all breathe it. Even if we do not do anything to produce the smog we are still responsible for its existence. People just cannot avoid facing the prejudice same as we cannot do anything with the fact we breath the smog with the air.
The weakness of the article is that it might seem as a not fully