What Is White Supremacy?
White supremacy is an ideology that regards those of European descent to be superior to other races. In terms of the ingroup bias, this is an understandable thought to a certain extent. It follows Tajfel’s social identity theory in that white supremacists discriminate against people of color to positively enhance their own characteristics. After all, according to Sapolsky, it is human nature to root for those like yourself. But the racist ideology takes a dark turn when feelings of hatred and actions of violence begin to emerge. So, when does the harmless idea of white people supporting other white people become a belief that white people should socially and institutionally dominate minorities? First, we could examine recent surges of white
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It would make sense that if you saw white people as intellectually superior and more competent, a black person winning the election would pose a threat to your mental schema. So, here is a possibility: if empty justifications of your own superiority come under attack, your mind must undergo cognitive cartwheels to explain why you are still better. A white supremacist may show hatred toward minorities because they are personal threats to his or her beliefs. What begins as a simple ingroup bias now becomes hatred because there is more at stake. There is a “Them” in a position of power whose message is that “Thems” can succeed in America. It is important to point out that racist ideology against white people did not see the same surge when white presidents were elected in the past. Perhaps this is due to the status quo – presidents have always been white, and seemingly always will be. Since people of color accept this, there is no perceived threat with a white president. If Caucasians have always made up the majority of the U.S. population, have always dominated political and economic institutions, and have always been disproportionally represented in media, it makes sense that some would view the growing visibility of immigrants and other people of color as a personal attack against their self-worth. A country that has always justified a white person’s superiority is now giving powerful voices to the
It would make sense that if you saw white people as intellectually superior and more competent, a black person winning the election would pose a threat to your mental schema. So, here is a possibility: if empty justifications of your own superiority come under attack, your mind must undergo cognitive cartwheels to explain why you are still better. A white supremacist may show hatred toward minorities because they are personal threats to his or her beliefs. What begins as a simple ingroup bias now becomes hatred because there is more at stake. There is a “Them” in a position of power whose message is that “Thems” can succeed in America. It is important to point out that racist ideology against white people did not see the same surge when white presidents were elected in the past. Perhaps this is due to the status quo – presidents have always been white, and seemingly always will be. Since people of color accept this, there is no perceived threat with a white president. If Caucasians have always made up the majority of the U.S. population, have always dominated political and economic institutions, and have always been disproportionally represented in media, it makes sense that some would view the growing visibility of immigrants and other people of color as a personal attack against their self-worth. A country that has always justified a white person’s superiority is now giving powerful voices to the