The Psychology of Racism

“It doesn't take much convincing to make someone believe they're better than everyone else.” - Scott Westerfeld

One of the most unfair things in society today is the existence of racism, stereotyping and prejudice. It has been around ever since humans realized that everyone was not the same color. It causes families, schools, and communities to fall apart. It makes the oppressed races feel less important, and denies them from feeling the freedom that this country was once prided on. When I read about it in history classes, I find that I am always appalled by the unjust things that the people of the past have overcome. Being objected to certain places and seats merely because of a difference in pigment? How did we, as humans, allow this to go on for so long?

"Racism in the United States has been a major issue ever since the colonial era and the slave era. Legally sanctioned racism imposed a heavy burden on Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Mexican Americans. "

Obviously, racism, stereotyping and prejudices can mess with the psychology of a person’s mind.

African Americans and Hispanics have curves. When they see the typical size 0 white models in different magazines across the nation, what else can they do but wish to be that size? If those are the faces that everyone wants to see, why would anyone find the girl reading it beautiful? These manners of thinking caused an outbreak of eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia in huge numbers. “The more a woman, of any ethnicity, rejects her own heritage and identifies with the European American mainstream culture, the more likely that she will prefer a thinner body type and show more signs of an eating disorder. In addition to cultural influences and physiological predisposition, many eating disorder researchers have concluded that a disturbance in the self is the cause of anorexia and bulimia. These individuals are often dependent upon environmental cues for self esteem rather than an inherent sense of worth.”

“Fashion week had been becoming more diverse — it was only in the fall of 2007 that fully one-third of shows in New York had 100% white casts. Two years later, we calculated that 18% of spots in show lineups were booked by models of color — a real improvement in the representation of black, Latina, and Asian faces in the crucible where the beauty standard is forged.”

Another psychological problem that develops due to low self esteem based on lack of self worth is cutting. In a study of 290 self-mutilating women, they found that 22% of the subjects suffered from only bulimia nervosa, 15% from anorexia nervosa and 13% from both disorders, for a total of 50%. Among these subjects, the average age when the eating disorder first became evident was 16 years. Adolescence is also when superficial self-mutilation is usually first displayed. On a personal relation, I am a victim of both of these psychological problems. There are scars on my arms from where I used different objects to cut myself. These and the emotional scars I’ve inflicted upon myself will never go away. I have been a long suffering victim of a terrible mix of both bulimia and anorexia. I hardly eat, and when I do, I throw up. (The location of the toilet doesn’t matter to the person who is doing the vomiting. I’ve even done it in malls.) The whole she-bang had gotten to a point to where law enforcement officers had threatened to put me in an kiddy-type asylum if I didn’t stop. But what they don’t know only hurts me. And what does it matter if I, a person with a body she is ashamed of, get hurt?

That last line may give you insight into how the minds of teenagers work. If such depressing thought continue, the young teen may take drastic measures. “There are several different factors that made lead a teenager to take his or her life, but the most common is depression.” Maybe I’m asking for too much, but maybe if we change the way women of color are perceived, these numbers may strongly decrease.

There is something I learned in Biology class that I feel the need to tell the world that we are only one perfect different. 99% of our genetic makeup is completely like the other humans we see. One percent obviously goes a long way, and so do our genetics, but those are things that we cannot control. There are things called designer babies to make your offspring come out looking a certain way, but you cannot change the way your skin color looks. We just have to deal with it, and it’s not made easier when we are conditioned to not like what we see in the mirror.

“The thoughts and affections of men cannot be legislated; the secret hates and prejudices of an individual heart are not bridled by any law.”

Once one person thinks a certain way, they will infect others with their obnoxious way of thinking until it is spread to every corner of the nation and impacts every home. No matter what laws may be imposed to the nation, the hearts and minds of men may very well never change.

We have been battered down for far too long.

We have been given the more tedious, low-paying jobs.

We have been kept in bondage, both physically and mentally, so that we cannot see the light out of the deep, dark hole we have been pushed down into.

We have been told that we are the lesser man, and that we are nothing but property.

But one day, we will rise up like a majestic bird soaring over a mountain. You will watch us as we disappear, becoming a small speck against the burning skies. From then on, things will change for the better.

We will be as one, unifying to a better cause. We will prove to you that there is no lesser man, that we are all created equal.

We will prove to ourselves that nothing is truly holding us back.

We will be persistent in everything that is our right to receive as human beings.

We will protect ourselves and each other. Not just our kind, not just to those who appreciate us, but to anyone who needs services which we can give.

We can shine brighter than any star, if we are just given the chance.