Bias and labeling of particular groups of people have always been a significant social problem. Discrimination is the key term of the issue that can be interpreted as behavioral biases against social groups, while prejudice is a negative emotional reaction to a certain social group (Fiske para. 2). Racial labeling is one of the most serious aspects of discrimination. The term racism implies that people of all skin tones belonging to the same race are subject to negative attitudes (Hunter 55). Colorism is another important notion referring to prejudice towards people based on their skin color regardless of their race (Hunter 55). Colorism is closely connected to racism and is considered its subsystem.
The main difference between discrimination and prejudice is that the latter is not based on evident facts and is connected with an individual’s thoughts, while discrimination implies a more apparent expression of a negative opinion. Therefore, discrimination is the notion of behavioral bias, unlike emotion-based prejudice. It is also important to understand the differences between overt and covert racism. Overt racism includes explicit and public actions of hatred, such as Nazi abuse and Ku Klux Klan rallies (Solomos 147). On the other hand, covert racism is more subtle and does not imply obvious actions (Solomos 147). The examples may include racial steering, which is discrimination of customers in the sphere of real estate, and concealing racism behind liberal movements.
Racial tensions remain an important problem in modern American society. The most recent and obvious example is the death of an African American George Floyd, which triggered mass protests across America. Other cases include the deaths of African Americans Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, proving the existing problem of colorism (Response to Racism para. 1). Moreover, there is a tendency of both colorism and racism in schools (Hunter 55). To conclude, there are evident signs of spreading discrimination across the country, and proper measures, such as anti-racist regulations and raising society’s awareness, are needed to protect people of all races and skin colors.
Works Cited
Fiske, Susan T. “Prejudice, Discrimination, and Stereotyping.” Introduction to Psychology, edited by Jorden A. Cummings and Lee Sanders, University of Saskatchewan Open Press, 2019, Web.
Hunter, Margaret. “Colorism in the Classroom: How Skin Tone Stratifies African American and Latina/o Students.” Theory Into Practice, vol. 55, no. 1, 2016, pp. 54-61.
Response to Racism. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2020, Web.
Solomos, John, editor. Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Racisms. Routledge, 2020.