The sophistication and discovery of transport and communication coupled with the ever-evolving technological revolution have turned the world into a global village. People from the seven continents of the world mingle freely save for the few and insignificant challenges. Education is almost similar in most of the seven continents and people can access a job from anywhere across the world.
Communication gadgets like handsets and iPads enable online chatting with friends and business associates from any part of the world. On the other hand, racism is a social problem that erupted during the slavery times (Hilliard & Pine, 1990, p. 598).
The majority groups (whites) had a pernicious notion that they were superior over other racial groups like the Blacks, African-Americans, and Native American among others. However, globalization has led to frequent intermingling of these racial groups internationally. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore the relationship between globalization and racism.
Due to globalization, the current generation of youths has not experienced much racism. Youths from different races attend the same education system, entertainment joints, and conferences leading to stable relationships. Other youths use online services to build relationships with the whites, Asians, Indians Hispanics among other races.
There are agreements between nations to enable freely movement of their citizens between borders, passports, and visas for people to travel internationally. People are multilingual and besides, the difference in the skin color, they can communicate easily. There are no cases of black and equality movements calling for the abolishment of social prejudice as it were the case before.
Furthermore, due to constant interaction the different racial groups have accepted each other reducing the incidences of racial discrimination. Sadly, Globalization has presented a new way of racial practices that nobody can easily detect as expounded in the next discussion.
According to some sociologists, the integration of the world into a single economy has generated global problems, and racial discrimination is among them. United States of America presents the best economic growth in the world. Consequently, the country attracts people from other nations through green cards and other forms of immigration.
Although racism is on the decline, the lifestyle of the minority groups in the United States of America is below standards (Sassen, 1998, p. 168). When compared to the majority groups, the African-Americans, American Asians, pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and American Indians have the lowest income, which barely sustain their basic needs.
Children in low-income households enroll in schools with poor teaching resources, which lead to either low paying jobs or unemployment. The disparity in the lifestyle is unrecognized especially in developed countries where everybody believes the lifestyle is better.
Therefore, the minority groups live in segregated neighborhood, which contributes to the creation of social crimes. On the other hand, the whites live a sedentary life because they have accessibility to power and high offices forgetting other races.
Globalization has led to a sharp increase in the gap between the poor and rich. In countries with multiple racial groups, only the majority control the nation’s economy. Although direct harassment, genocide, murders, and discriminations are extinct, the races with the power to control the available resources practice favoritism and racism.
For instance, in the United States of America, the health and education strategies are similar among all the races but only the majority accesses them (Longworth, 2007, p.10). Similarly, in Africa especially in South Africa only few people (mostly whites) posses’ wealth while others languishes in poverty (blacks).
Poverty is like a disease in the current world. Unfortunately, the people who attend conferences and endorse strategies to fight the crisis are the either the wealthy, rich or middle-class. Eventually, due to greed, the poor people never improve their lifestyle.
Therefore, although Globalization has increased international cooperation, the concentration on economical empowerment leads to indirect racism. Everybody or leaders are busy amassing wealth and in the process, the poor who are mainly the minority groups live in poverty.
Slavery was a name, which the whites associated with the blacks during the colonial era. The minority had to work forcefully on plantations under poor conditions. When President Abraham Lincoln abolished the vice, the whites had to find another way.
Currently, globalization has given them another chance to control the African economies indirectly, and that is racism. Africans can never penetrate the American or European economy/leadership. The United States and Europe possess the best technological and industrial advancements; therefore, Africans have to depend on them.
Nevertheless, they have to follow and accept the terms and conditions of the whites. For instance, incases where the whites offer grants for road construction, they will make sure that the company that heads the operation, or work originates from their country (preferably international company).
Finally, all the money flows back into their economy yet Africans will have to repay the loan. That is indirect colonialism or segregation. There is discrimination of the blacks when handling international matters, which is an indirect form of racism. Globalization has presented a platform for the majority and ‘superior’ race to rule but in a non-forceful way.
Most of the international unions like United Nations Development Programme, United Nation Environmental Programme, World Health Organization, and International Monetary fund fall under the leadership of the whites. More over, besides a few of them like UNEP, the headquarters is in Europe while most of the leaders are from America, Europe, or Asia.
A few of them are Africans, but the places pose financial challenges because donors pull out. For example, UNEP is experiencing financial constraints because of its location in Africa. Donors are proposing the transfer of its headquarters to Geneva for easier management.
Thus, globalization has created a social problem that the society needs to fight or criticize. The decision to offer higher offices to people from specified races proves that, racism is still reigning in the world.
The free integration of nations, interracial, interethnic, and multicultural marriages have led to cultural assimilation. The technological and industrial advancements have enabled people to move around and socialize, which results into relationships, and some of the relationships culminate into marriages (Steger, 2009, p.20).
However, the intermarriages have led to erosion of cultural practices. Spouses tend to embrace the cultures of the superior race (Daniels, 1997, p.54). For instance, if it is between a black and a white woman, the woman will force the husband to practice her culture.
The man may not only forget his cultural practices, but his children will also follow the mother’s culture. Thus, globalization tends to present culture from a given group as more important. Racism has taken different routes that rarely do people notice.
In America social crimes like drug and alcohol abuse, homicides and robbery are vices, which the society associates with the African-Americans or blacks. Globalization has increased the level of crimes in these communities. With the developed and advanced transport systems, technology, and weapons, the segregated groups strive to avenge.
When the youths from racial discriminated groups have no access to the desired jobs, they join criminal gangs like robbery or kidnapping. Some engage in illicit trades like drug trafficking or unlawful importation and exportation of goods evading revenue payment.
What if there was equality in education and job opportunities in all races? Globalization would not have led to illegal trade and culminated into criminal gangs. Therefore, globalization has sidelined certain races that decide to take charge of their lives in a negative way.
Conclusively, globalization and racism have an indirect relationship. Globalization has changed the face of racism. There is no direct racial segregation. On one hand, the economy is on the rise but the social well-being of the minor groups’ lags behind. Nobody minds the poor or the minor races especially amid a powerful economy like the United States of America.
Discrimination in schools, workplaces, and health sectors forces the minor races to engage in criminal activities to make ends meet. Higher international offices are under the whites; only the lucky Africans and Indians penetrate them while the rest have to follow the Americans or Europeans. Through globalization, the developed countries control the economies of the developing countries.
The world is a global village, but the comparison of the lifestyle of the minority groups in America and most people from developing country is unusually low. Therefore, why is globalization unable to create equality in all sectors around the world? Finally, only racism control globalization but the racial practice seems advanced.
References
Daniels, J. (1997), White Lies: Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality in White Supremacist Discourse. New York: Routledge.
Hilliard, A., & Pine, G. (1990, April 9). Rx for Racism: Imperatives for American schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 71(8), 593-600.
Longworth, R. C. (2007). Caught in the Middle: America’s Age of Globalism. New York: Bloomsbury.
Sassen, S. (1998). Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: New York Press.
Steger, M. (2009). Globalization. New York: Sterling Publishing.