EX TENEBRIS CRESCIT FLOS
AVERSIVE RACISM AND CONTINUING DISADVANTAGE
March 1, 2005
Discrimination against racial minorities, while it has been strongly
attacked legally and culturally since the 1950's, remains strongly ingrained
in society. While it may appear that progress has been made, racism has
simply changed; the overt legally-sanctioned discrimination has given way to
aversive racism [1], but historical and continuing effects conspire to prevent
people from reaching their full potential.
In general, whites are in a significantly better situation than most racial
minorities. History plays a large part in this - white people, having amassed
wealth in earlier generations, when discrimination was more overt, pass this on
to their children. This puts white people in better neighborhoods, with lower
crime rates and better schools. Better education leads to better opportunities
for employment, and therefore better health care.
Employers, due to the situation created in the past, are mostly white, and
male. Aversive racism may play a role here; while a hiring manager may not
consider himself to be racist, he may subconsciously prefer applicants with
whom he is comfortable and this may lead him to preferentially hire white
males. This assumes that he even has the option to bring in some racial
diversity - educational disadvantages have likely prevented racial minorities
from gaining the qualifications in the first place.
"The Education of Jessica Rivera", by Kim Phillips-Fenn [2], gives an example
of how minorities are kept down. In spite of poor economic circumstances
Rivera was accepted into college. But her family was on welfare and under
current federal law, she was required to work; there is no exception for
education. She was one of the lucky ones, however. Local programs helped her
and she was able to continue, but she was the exception. Middle-class
(usually white) people benefit from scholarships, loans, tax credits, and
good economic situations passed down through the generations. My parents
supported me through college - I did not have to support them. With
draconian welfare laws forcing people to work in dead-end jobs rather than
allowing them to pursue higher education, it is no wonder that racial minorities
remain poor.
In conclusion, the specific examples are practically endless, but in general,
one disadvantage begets another and another. With all these disadvantages
reinforcing one another, it is truly amazing when an individual is able to
overcome the odds and succeed.
Sources
[1] Dovido, John F. and Samuel L. Gaertner, "On the Nature of Contemporary
Prejudice: The Causes, Consequences, and Challenges of Aversive Racism."
In Rothenberg, Paula S., "Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, 6th
Ed." New York: Worth Publishers, 2004, pp. 132-143.
[2] Phillips-Fein, Kim, "The Education of Jessica Rivera." In Rothenberg,
pp. 322-324.
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