Racism Today
Nicholas Gorda
Professor Nekervis
Sociology
17 April 2012
Racism Today Racism is the belief that one’s own race is superior to another. It is one of the major problems going on in America right now and has been for some time. Many people may not even be aware of how racism is still negatively affecting our schools, workforces, and society as a whole. The United States is thought of as the land of opportunity, where people of all different races and ethnic backgrounds can live together in peace, but racism poses a major issue to this actually being a reality. Racism is still an enormous problem in the United States and occurs more frequently than one might think. All you have to do is turn on the television, go to the evening news report, and more often than not you will hear a story that deals with some kind of discrimination or hate crime. “The Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains one of the greatest achievements in United States history. It had implications internationally, making racial discrimination illegal, but its effectiveness in the employment domain remains contestable.” (Stainback 2005) Racism in the workplace can have such a negative effect throughout the entire organization. In the United Kingdom for example, racism has been shown in the nursing field as well as the metropolitan police. “There is a glass ceiling preventing promotion and black and minority ethnic managers feel they have to work twice as hard and have twice as many qualifications to succeed.” (Coombes 2004) This inequality in the medical profession stems all the way back to the medical school application and testing process. If racism is apparent in the testing process it definitely will exist throughout the profession after qualification. “Racial discrimination damages both those discriminated against and those doing the discriminating.” (Smith 1993) The consequences of racism in the healthcare field are endless. Workers who are discriminated against will have a
Professor Nekervis
Sociology
17 April 2012
Racism Today Racism is the belief that one’s own race is superior to another. It is one of the major problems going on in America right now and has been for some time. Many people may not even be aware of how racism is still negatively affecting our schools, workforces, and society as a whole. The United States is thought of as the land of opportunity, where people of all different races and ethnic backgrounds can live together in peace, but racism poses a major issue to this actually being a reality. Racism is still an enormous problem in the United States and occurs more frequently than one might think. All you have to do is turn on the television, go to the evening news report, and more often than not you will hear a story that deals with some kind of discrimination or hate crime. “The Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains one of the greatest achievements in United States history. It had implications internationally, making racial discrimination illegal, but its effectiveness in the employment domain remains contestable.” (Stainback 2005) Racism in the workplace can have such a negative effect throughout the entire organization. In the United Kingdom for example, racism has been shown in the nursing field as well as the metropolitan police. “There is a glass ceiling preventing promotion and black and minority ethnic managers feel they have to work twice as hard and have twice as many qualifications to succeed.” (Coombes 2004) This inequality in the medical profession stems all the way back to the medical school application and testing process. If racism is apparent in the testing process it definitely will exist throughout the profession after qualification. “Racial discrimination damages both those discriminated against and those doing the discriminating.” (Smith 1993) The consequences of racism in the healthcare field are endless. Workers who are discriminated against will have a
Cited: Calabresi, Massimo (May 17, 2006) “Is Racism Fueling the Immigration Debate?” (http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1195250,00.html) Coombes R. Mountains to Climb. Health Serv J. 2004; 114(5925): 39-46. Dovidio J. The subtlety of racism. Train Dev J. 1993; 47(4): 50-57. Gutman, Matt (March 20, 2012). “Trayvon Martin Exclusive: Friend on Phone with Teen Before Death Recalls Final Moments” Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools (New York: Crown Publishers 1991) Sheikh A. What’s to be done about racism in medicine? J R Soc Med. 2001; 94(10): 499-500 Smith R. Deception in research, and racial discrimination in medicine. Br Med J. 1993; 306: 668-669 Stutzman, Rene. “Trayvon Martin shooting 911 calls”. (http:articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-17/news/os-call-20120316). Wemple, Erik (March 31, 2012). “NBC to do ‘internal investigation’ on Zimmerman segment” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/nbc)