Comparison and contrast in academic analysis

¶ … Psychology of Racism

Racial prejudice has been an unfortunate part of human society since at least the dawn of history, and probably since human beings first formed societies at all (ADL, 2001; Gale, 2001). This is just one form of prejudice that can and has existed since that period; others include religious prejudices or even simple matters of gender or appearance. Careful research has shown that such prejudices are a natural and intrinsic part of human group formation, which necessarily includes mistrust of and prejudice towards members of an outside group (Feinberg, 2000). Prejudice is something that all humans have within them, whether they like to admit it or not. This only becomes truly negative, however, when it is acted on. Then, prejudice becomes discrimination (Feinberg, 2000). If the discrimination is racial in nature, it is labeled racism.

Thus, it can be seen that while prejudice is universal, racism is not -- acting out our prejudices is not as inevitable as our having them (Gale, 2001). What, then, causes some people to be racist, while others recognize the error of their prejudices (if they even recognize their prejudices at all) and do not act on them? A psychological analysis of what creates a racist and a non-racist individual sheds some light on the way the issue of racism works in our society at large.

According to Clara Moskowitz in Discover Magazine, recent psychological research has shown that optimism and racism show an indirect relationship -- the more positive someone's general outlook on life is, the less likely they are to be racist (Moskowitz, 2007). There are several theoretical explanations for this theory, and more research is necessary to come to any firm conclusions, but it seems like this research might give some real insights into the way the brain works, and why it causes some people to develop into racist individuals.

First, it is important to distinguish between two types of racism -- individual racism, and institutional racism. Institutional racism is often much more complex, and requires a sociological as well as a psychological racism (Adams, 2007). It is very much tied to individual racism, but is a separate phenomenon strictly speaking. The research Moskowitz discusses in her article involves individual racism, and the way it forms -- or doesn't form -- in individual minds. Racism, many psychologists believe, is the result of repeated negative associations (Moskowitz, 2001). These negative associations most likely formed as an evolutionary bonus -- people who were more able to quickly notice things that might kill them were more likely to avoid or escape them, so the faster negative associations are formed the better survival skills the individual has -- but some people do not form negative associations readily, and these people exhibit almost no tendency towards racism or prejudice at all (Moskowtiz, 2001).

If it is true that some people do not form negative associations readily, it seems likely that there are also those who form them more rapidly than others, and these people would be more likely to be racist. Though prejudice seems to be a natural, hard-wired part of the human brain, racism is a learned trait, but the research discussed in Moskowitz's article suggests that there are predispositions in people's brains away from racism (and therefore probably towards racism as well). That is, when it comes to racism some people are simply faster learners than others. But though individual brain function explains some racism, it is far from the whole answer.

The research Moskowtitz explains only shows a predisposition towards the leanrned trait of racism; it ultimately fails to explain the source of racism. This is where institutional racism really connects to individual racism. In a society that as a whole is even slightly racist -- as many scholars suggest our is -- there are subconscious cues all around about the "good" and "bad" race or races. People who do not form negative associations do not pick up on them as easily, and presumably people who easily form negative associations pick up on them quickly and have the message constantly reinforced. It is the racism at the heart of human society then, born of universal human prejudice, that can ultimately cause individual racism.