Compare and Contrast Symbolic and Traditional Racism

¶ … science, history, and advances in technology many of the myths and misconceptions that justified racism are gone. We now know that all humans are biologically the same both physically and mentally. We also now have a reliable scientific theory as to why human beings posses different colors of skin pigmentation. The civil rights movements and the hard work of many righteous people both in the spheres of religion, politics and the social sciences have helped erase and virtually eliminate the racist and prejudice attitudes that existed in America. Traditional racism has now been replaced by symbolic racism, which as described by David O. Sears and P. J Henry is a theory that "has its origins in a blend of black affect and conservative values, particularly individualism" (Sears, Henry 1). Symbolic racism is a perceived movement in which whites have abandoned traditional racism and have through their use of political influence and statements shown their dislike towards Blacks in a hidden or underlining manner.

During much of the slavery-era and the post slavery-era up until the civil rights movements of the 1950's and 1960's racism was blatant and rampant. Most Whites showed little of no shame when displaying their racist thoughts and attitudes. Racism stemmed from a series of erroneous ideologies and beliefs that whites held about blacks. Whites believed that the Caucasian race was inherently better in a variety of ways; whites assumed that they were superior physically, mentally and also spiritually. They believed that biologically, blacks were inferior, the deemed blacks to be less than human. Blacks were ostracized and exploited due to their muscular physical appearance, strength and girth. Whites interpreted this as being sign of Black's being animalistic and therefore meant to serve whites, much like a horse or mule would. For a long time blacks have been ridiculed and called intellectually incapable and inferior, Whites contended that by nature Blacks did not possess the adequate cognitive skills necessary for learning. They claimed that Blacks were incapable of understanding or becoming well versed in the sciences or the arts. Therefore, Blacks were relegated to physically labor and excluded from educational institutions. In the era when racism was an excepted social norm blacks were never given a chance to prove that they are cognitively and intellectually equal to other races. Spiritually whites thought that they were favored by God and that it was their job to control, convert and dominate this breed of animalistic pagans from Africa. Whites contended that the tribal spiritual and religious rituals native to the lands of Africa were associated with evil. Whites especially Christians believed that they were favored by God due to their white skin color, which for a long time has been associated with goodness of purity. By the same token they despised the Blacks for their color of skin. In the eyes of western culture, the color black has always been associated darkness, death, evil and the unknown.