Racism in Society Essay example - 1802 Words

American Racism Society In Nathan McCall’s â€Å"Makes Me Wanna Holler,† he describes the difficulties he must face as a young black boy experiencing the slow, never-ending process of the integration of blacks and whites. Through this process, his autobiography serves as an excellent example of my theory on the formation and definition of racial identity; a theory which is based upon a combination of the claims which Stuart Hall and George Lipsitz present in their essays regarding racial identity. Therefore the definition I have concocted is one in which racial identity consists of an unstable historical process through which one comes to know themselves in relation to an outside group. In this paper I will present Hall and Lipsitz’s†¦show more content†¦Throughout his essay, Hall applies his ideas regarding identity to race and racism through the examples he presents. He describes instances that show how members of certain races come to relate themselves to their race t hrough the identity process he presents. The discovery of race, how people interpret one’s biological makeup, is also attributed to history and â€Å"the Other.† The form of racism, the system of providing disadvantages and advantages due to race, that Hall talks about is a definition which shows the way all of our behavior/conduct is pervaded by certain racist elements. He argues that â€Å"racism is a structure of discourse and representation that tries to expel the Other symbolically†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hall, 11) Race is attributed to the mutual construction of one’s social position as seen by â€Å"the Other† and the individual’s position. In this respect, racism is relational because people rely on differentiation to â€Å"know who they are.† They must sustain the â€Å"Other† by recovering history to â€Å"expel the other symbolically.† (Hall, 11) In Lipsitz’s â€Å"The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the White Problem in American Studies,† he explores the political aspect of the history which is â€Å"recovered† in respect to race through a specific set of political policies. He argues that through the historical process of political institution and various explicit racist policies since World War II, whitesShow MoreRelatedRacism And Racism In Society1702 Words   |  7 PagesI am not a racist person, but it does exist. It is all over our country. Racism is left in the open anymore, but people still have racist thoughts against people that live in America. Racism was not a big problem during the 1940s, when people were racist against the people around them. 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