Racism Sociology Essay Research Paper What does

Racism Sociology Essay, Research Paper

What does Paul Gilroy means when he argues There ain t no black on the Union Jack .Racism is a broad topic. It covers a large area of the human mind and an expanse of society that includes culture, morals, and power. It affects those of the same culture and religion. The term race has no biological basis, yet some may attempt to differentiate between the biology and politics of racism. Racism has been defined, as a belief that race is the fundamental element of human attribute and capacities. Racism, this essay would argue, can be seen as marginal to the normal processes of life and endorses the view of black people as an alien presence.Gilroy illustrates the complexity of racial politics in England today. Exploring the relationships among race, class, and nation as they have evolved over the past twenty years, He highlights racist attitudes that transcend the left-right political divide, and challenges sociological approaches to racism. Gilroy demonstrates effectively that cultural traditions are not static, but develop, grow and change, as they are influenced by and adapting other changing traditions around them. Essentially Paul Gilroy argues that the form of Naturalism present in Britain is a celebration of England and Englishness or Britishness, and this systematically excludes Black People (page 12). Black people are seen as a problem; the core reasoning of racism, and victims incapable of active, considered behaviour. Paul Gilroy deplanes the separation of race issues from the social and political processes; he fevers his argument through the key issues of race and class, black community and the law, anti racism and black expressive culture.This essay seeks to outline Gilroy s main argument towards understanding what is meant by this exclusion for Black Britians.Questions of race and racism have come to occupy a central role in political debate in Britain in recent years. At one time definitions seemed to be straightforward; today many social scientists have defined race as a human group, which is defined by other groups as different by virtue of innate and immutable physical characteristics. These physical characteristics can be viewed as being intrinsically related to morals, intellectual, and other non- physical attributes. 1Antony Flew, (1992) argues that the characteristics by which the individual is seen as different are strictly superficial. He writes that factors such as pigmentation, shape of skull and skin are all on the surface. In other words, we are all the same beneath the skin. Gilroy challenges the absolute definition of race and values issues with Marxist analyses of class. Marx s views on power assumed a class structure with a foundation that is based on economic dominance of capitalist employers and property-less workers. He believed that Politics and the state reflected this structure. Marx viewed Governments to be a coercive model of authority. Many would argue that a fundamental part of the British system is based on class structure. Marx also stated that power originates primarily in economic production, he claimed that it permeates and influences all aspects of society. Marx suggested that the main wielders of social power are social classes, and government is essentially servant of the dominant social class. Gilroy views Marx s class analysis as accurate, by the assumption based on the factuality that certain institutions of British society such as the civil services, judiciary, and the armed forces are all run by the elite (page 27). Furthermore, until quite recently it excluded black people from its hierarchy structure. Gilroy sees this as a crisis for the representation of black people. The state emphases racial categories and therefore a struggle against racism are a struggle against the state. The problem of what connects one anti-racist element to the next is not recognised as a substantive political issue (p.144).Contemporary racism is rooted in national decline rather than imperial expansion. However, ties such as the trade union struggles and traditions of anti-colonial struggle have helped to form a black social movement that is not part of the traditional class struggle Anti-racism has become a program of affirmative actions to be realised by administrative means and a political phenomenon. Socialism has lost many of its 19th Century assumptions regarding the superiority of some cultures to others. However, most black people have a concrete grievance that is not specifically about race. Instead of biological essence, cultural differences such as family relations, housing, education and employment are considered as being the cause for any lingering inequalities and social disadvantages of the ethnic minorities. This can be seen in the report by 2 The Office for National Statistics (1996). The report shows that black, Indian and Bangladeshi unemployment rates are three times higher in comparison to whites. The CPAG (1990) concluded that every indicator of poverty showed black people to be more at risk than, white people to homelessness. This is due to high unemployment, low pay, shift work, poor social security rights and because they were more likely to be treated for Schizophrenia. 3Furthermore, studies have shown that 52% of black people are more likely to be diagnosing as schizophrenia, in comparison to 13% of white British. This could be due to different referral rates to hospitals by GPs or other psy