Influence Of Social Context On The Perceptions Of Race

Throughout history, the concepts of race and racism have affected many lives in society through the workplace, class, and gender roles. The concept of “race” has been a lens people look through in order to determine who belongs and who does not, categorizing people by their physical characteristics and thereby their race. False beliefs that some races are intellectually and physically superior to other “races” by the colour of their skin, socio-economic status, and gender identity is driven by supremacism. White supremacy has had an impact on human conflict with the use of racism. Racism itself derives from humans defining themselves in groups with similarities, while at the same time defining an “other” with differences. Historically, white supremacy was the driving belief to the enslavement of coloured people, resulting damaging residual ideologies coinciding with racism. No one is born with racist beliefs, it is something learned through the generations of white people, slowly adapting to societies’ changes in legislation and civil rights. Due to recent news coverage, the topic of racism is still relevant, creating controversy on incidents that have occurred in society. The question that arises with the concept of racism is how social context influences our perceptions on the intersectionality of race, class, and gender. Our perceptions in life are all constructed through our own experiences. The intersectionality of the contrasting principles with overlapping similarities of race, class, and gender organize the social construction of what has now become structured inequality within society, called racism. Racism has changed from “old-fashioned” racism to a more modern form of “symbolic” racism. Different perceptions of race can be understood throughout different areas in the world depending on the social context, the modern context in North America has turned towards the perceptions of the racial policy preferences, income inequality, and police and racial profiling.

Society is perpetually changing in regard to legislation and implementation of government policies and support. Through recent history, new forms of prejudice have been introduced by the shifting nature of racial policies (Virtanen, Simo V., and Leonie Huddy 1998). Other scholars have noted a recent debate over the decline of “old fashioned” or blatant racial prejudice as a political force (Virtanen, Simo V., and Leonie Huddy 1998). Theories of a new form of “symbolic”, “modern”, or “new” racism is what individuals face today. The context has shifted from the whites being unable to accept the non-whites as equal due to this dissatisfaction over what is seen as “special government treatment” of African Americans, in which whites claim they do not deserve. This ideology has been altered by the social context over the racial policy that has been supported empirically in recent studies. Originally, the racial policy agenda in the 1950’s and 1960’s revolved around an issue of whites to accept blacks as equal and minimize racial discrimination to a stabilizing extent. Presently, racial policies have been implemented in targeting all impoverished African Americans and individualistic programs aiming at a subgroup of deserving black individuals to provide equal outcomes or results for blacks. Government mandated racial policies that helped with school integration, workplace equity, and welfare support. However, with this change in racial policy, the issue of white resentment has resulted in a new racism that Virtanen Huddy explains based on the stereotypes used to portray African Americans as unwilling to work hard. Through the intersections of the black race and the labour markets, considerable empirical support has been found with the shifting nature of racial policies. Old-fashion racism opposes government racial policies. Racial policy programs implemented to increase and create equal opportunity for blacks, resulted in whites endorsing negative racial stereotypes and supporting their beliefs of the black race described as lacking ambition, violating the work ethic, and responsible for their own failures (Virtanen, Simo V., and Leonie Huddy 1998). Social context, in turn, has influenced the perceptions on the intersectionality of race not into an existing form of prejudice that is suitable to the thought of racial policies, rather than a new form of prejudice. There are many ways racism has adapted into a different form that is blindly overlooked in modern society because “the difficulty in the struggle against the new racist discourses is their denial of their own racism” (Grosfoguel, R., Oso, L., & Christou, A. 2015). By avoiding the word ‘race’, cultural racism claims to be non-racist. Racism emerged from early socialization and migration where through social interaction, the idea of “the other” had been created changing the way humans perceive each other. Virtanen and Huddy hypothesized distinct determinants, to conclude “negative stereotypes are influenced additionally by one’s current work and living context” (Virtanen, Simo V., and Leonie Huddy 1998). Through the use of quantitative research, Virtanen and Huddy asked a series of questions to a randomly selected sample confined to 1,107 white respondents to analyze the support or opposition for individualistic racial policies. Questions based on political effects on the sample were asked to receive answers comparing how group conflict, work context, and political view correlates with their racial perspective and prejudice. “As expected, the impact of negative stereotypes was distinct from that of old fashion racism …[however], the impact of old-fashioned racism on opposition to social welfare programs is entirely mediated by the effects of negative value stereotypes as seen in column 4 of Table 3” (Virtanen, Simo V., and Leonie Huddy 1998). Thus, the shift due to the racial policies implemented has changed and perceptions differ when the variables of intersectionality are introduced such as work, social class, gender, and race, which all have reformed to have blacks equal to whites. However, symbolically, social power is still imposed upon African Americans, while still holding prejudice due to old-fashion values and creating stereotypes to oppose racial policy support programs. With the support of Sniderman and Piazza’s research, modern day prejudice that is influencing support for social welfare than for affirmative action and racial desegregation can be further reframed and eliminated. Once old fashion racism is differentiated, creating a newer social context to change our perceptions of African American race in gender, work, and SES, with race-neutral fashion, will remove the effects of old-fashion prejudice on the racial policies by whites. Yet, post-industrial evidence shows that through the intersection of race, gender, and the labour market, the effects of this antiquated racism resulted in an income inequality due to the social context of the post-civil rights movements.

The term Intersectionality first introduced by Kimberle Crenshaw, a black feminist scholar, explained that Intersectionality uses various forms of social stratification that contribute together to explain certain concepts. One of the concepts being racism. Intersectionality claims the range of social stratifications that contribute do not exist separately and rather construct each other. The main components being race, class, and gender, which have changed throughout recent history with feminist rights movements. However, the racist ideologies that have been retained by the population from previous generations have systemically constructed the social context in modern day society. Income inequality is one of the many problems our societies face today, yet, people tend to blame the inequality on an individual’s gender and or race through negative stereotyping values. Originally, the right-wing traditional views always favoured working men, while women be housewives. This is a result of the gender and race being fluid, socially constructed concepts, because they are situationally contingent. The shift in social context throughout the industrialization era created negative images of black women. With this came negative stereotypes of black women, “the asexualized Mammy, the promiscuous Jezebel, and the profligate welfare queen” (Browne, I. and Misra, J. 2003). The negative images of black women socially reinforced racial divisions disparaging Black women. These images not only create racial inequality, but also gender inequality among Whites by proposing White women as weak compared to White men. With this shift in social context, the labour force retains the negative stereotypes leading in lower employment rates of Blacks as well as creating a wage gap between men and women; therefore, different social classes are adversely affected, and the wage gap is woven in with race and gender. Such resentment resulted in “the hourly wage of working-age white men to exceed that of blacks by about 30% (Browne, I. and Misra, J, 2003). The unionization and casualization of work is the central cause of the Black-White wage inequality along with joblessness among Blacks which Whites attempt to justify through a socially constructed image of the race. Survey research on Whites, done by the National Opinion Research Center, had asked to evaluate how work-oriented blacks are. Results had shown that 16 percent of whites had ranked blacks at the hard-working end along with just under half ranked blacks on the lazy end of the scale (Feagin, 2001). The reoccurring stereotyping had reached media outputs to which a CBS News/New York Times poll had published results on people questioned who “thought that most poor people were black and that most welfare recipients were black” (Feagin, 2001). Yet, African Americans only make up 27 percent of the poor living in America clearly demonstrating class-race type negative imagery of the poor individuals on social support programs. Through intersectionality, whites are using present social context to covertly express anti-Black ideas. Society must call for affirmative action and government mandated support for these targeted groups in order to find equality. It is entirely unjust to have this form of racism permissible and affecting the lives of coloured and non-coloured individuals, altering their perceptions on intersectionality as a whole. The consequences of the negative images lead to a distasteful view in hiring African American people which created such a large wage gap. This measure can be understood through median family income between black and white households. With increased automation in the industrial sector in society, working conditions, and job security worsened in recent years, severely affecting income. U.S. government census data shows median family income of Black families to be 55 to 61 percent of that of white families, Blacks having a median household income $25,351 which is around 60 percent of the median household White income of $42, 439 (Feagin, 201). As a result, white perception leads them to automatically criticize blacks on socially constructed negative ideas in regard to relying on welfare systems and government support.

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The construction of Racial theories has developed the intersections of one’s position in today’s social structure. One of the many racial theories is Racial profiling, which stems from biased policing. Race plays a significant role in developing attitudes towards police among racialized groups. Attitudes reflect not only personal beliefs but as well as a sense of group position in society. Current social contexts regard racial minorities through police practices and community relationships, which are consequently being questioned. In recent years, publications of fatal interactions between police and civilians of colour have been reported. Since 2012, there have been “shootings and deaths by police officers of 18-year-old Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri; 12-year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland, Ohio; and 37-year-old Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LA” (Nadal et al. 2017). With the increase of media coverage on such incidents, recent studies have been published to explain the deeper issues underlying interactions between civilians of colour and law enforcement. Perceptions of coloured communities on police has been a topic expressed through hip-hop culture, riots, and criminal justice systems. The emergence of subcultures arising from negative attitudes is further amplified through the music industry which has been portrayed by artists such as NWA. Along with music against law enforcement, incarceration rates showing an overrepresentation of coloured individuals support these beliefs. Research has shown that African Americans harbour increasingly negative perceptions of police than White Americans. Nadal’s use of intersectionality helps explain the influence social context has on police perceptions and racist actions that occur in society. A study done by Landers and Colleagues (2011) gave supporting evidence that Black male college students experienced more troubling interactions with police than Black females did. As a result, Nadal and Davidoff created a measure called Perceptions of Police Scale (POPS) asking a series of questions to acquire empirical data. Based off of the results of the POPS.

Branching off from these attitudes, police react negatively towards civilians to thereby trigger emotions related to racial profiling. Qualitative studies reported people who are unjustifiably stopped experience a range of reactions whether it be emotional, cognitive, or behavioural. The responses reported participants endure emotions that are often triggered by racism and racial microaggression. The harassment and murders of coloured civilians by police officers have made perceptions of police a controversial topic that is influenced by various media platforms, community organizations, bureaucracies, and political candidates. In 2012, New York Civil Liberties Union reported in all Stop Question and Frisk incidents by police, 85% targeted Black or Latino individuals and 88% of all incidents no one was arrested which deemed them as unjustifiable stops (Nadal et al., 2017). In turn, the SQF practices did not minimize crime but rather targeted people of colour more frequently than those of non-colour. The negative interactions through racial profiling methods create mistrust between law enforcement and the racialized community. Repetition of racial profiling alters not only the perspectives of those involved, but also the perceptions on a societal level.

Recent research included in this Special Issue has also suggested that repeated negative contacts with police, whether experienced directly or vicariously through social media, news coverage, or intergenerational transmission of narratives and beliefs, can be viewed as a form of racial trauma, which may alter people of color’s perceptions of safety and their views on the police (Nadal et al., 2017). Such racial trauma has led to various political and social movements, exemplified through the platform of “Black lives matter”. Racial profiling has led to negative perspectives of societies and distressful experiences as the victim, further growing human conflict symbolically.

In conclusion, racism has impacted generations of coloured people throughout history, adversely affecting future outcomes in society. As a result of racism, significant individuals led civil rights movements to eliminate racist legislation. Although societies may have eliminated all racist legislation, racist ideologies persist in adapting to the new social context by creating a symbolic form of racism. The change from old fashion racism to symbolic racism occurred with opposition of racial policies by whites as a result of negative racial beliefs. The opposition of equal opportunity for all people clearly demonstrates the human conflict that white resentment has left in today’s society. Racial policies are implemented to help further grow societies economically, socially and politically. From the dissatisfaction of government support for African American people, whites believe blacks are undeserving of this “special treatment”. Whites chose to impose their social power and social hierarchy on people of colour to subordinate in society through the opposition of racial policies. Although it may not be blatant prejudice or discrimination against people of colour, it clearly demonstrates a symbolically racist motion. Through the symbolic racism, comes the portrayal of negative stereotypes in social contexts. With the concept of Intersectionality being introduced and shift in context with the industrialization era, negative images of black men and women were portrayed in society. Race, class, and gender had collided through labour markets, with negative stereotypes significantly affecting income. The perceptions of coloured people resulting in the stereotypes of laziness, un-hardworking, and violating ethnic values is what had influenced job security, employment equity, and gender wage equality for people of colour. White male hourly working wage exceeds Black’s by 30%, while Blacks only make up 27% of the poor living in America. Even with poor living conditions, African American individuals defeat the negative stereotypes covertly expressed by Whites. Attitudes not only present belief but also social group position, furthering human conflict. Construction of racial theories occurring helped explain the difficulties faced by racialized minorities with law enforcement and how the negative perceptions on them affects their interactions with police. With the publications of recent fatal incidents in the news, studies were done to prove police practices retain raciest values by racially profiling individuals and Stop, Question, and Frisk practice to reduce crime. All of which are a result of perceptions which have been influenced by social context. Intersectionality of race, class, and gender has changed throughout time which influences Racism through racial policy preferences, income inequality, and police and racial profiling.

References

1. Browne, I., & Misra, J. (2003). The Intersection of Gender and Race in the Labor Market. Annual Review of Sociology, 29, 487-513. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30036977
2. Feagin, J. R. (2001). Racist America : Roots, current realities, and future reparations. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
3. Grosfoguel, R., Oso, L., & Christou, A. (2015). ‘Racism’, intersectionality and migration studies:
4. Framing some theoretical reflections. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 22(6), 635-652. Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://journals.scholarsportal.info/pdf/1070289x/v22i0006/635_iamsfstr.xml
5. Nadal, K. L., Davidoff, K. C., Allicock, N., Serp, C. R., & Erazo, T. (2017). Perceptions of Police, Racial Profiling, and Psychological Outcomes: A Mixed Methodological Study. Journal of Social Issues, 74(4), 808-830. Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://journals.scholarsportal.info/pdf/00224537/v73i0004/808_poprpapoamms.xml.
6. Virtanen, Simo V., and Leonie Huddy. “Old-Fashioned Racism and New Forms of Racial Prejudice.” The Journal of Politics, vol. 60, no. 2, 1998, pp. 311–332. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2647911.