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Racism
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Racism was at the heart of North American slavery and the overseas colonization and empire-building activities of some western Europeans, especially in the 18th century. The idea of race was invented to magnify the differences between people of European origin in the U.S. and those of African descent whose ancestors had been brought against their will to function as slaves in the American South. By viewing Africans and their descendants as lesser human beings, the proponents of slavery attempted to justify and maintain this system of exploitation while at the same time portraying the U.S. as a bastion and champion of human freedom, with human rights, democratic institutions, unlimited opportunities, and equality. The contradiction between slavery and the ideology of human equality, accompanying a philosophy of human freedom and dignity, seemed to demand the dehumanization of those enslaved. By the 19th century racism had matured and the idea spread around the world. Racism differs from ethnocentrism in that it is linked to physical and therefore immutable differences among people.
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The enter for the Healing of Racism is a grassroots organization. In the early summer of 1989, an ethnically diverse group of individuals began to meet together around the topic of racism to examine the role it had played in their lives, and the pain they had suffered and witnessed. The emphasis was on personal growth and healing, and finding ways to work proactively to eliminate racism by spreading understanding of the principle that it violates—the oneness of humanity. Other persons joined the group, and members became involved in studying and equipping themselves with the knowledge and skills necessary to reach out to the wider community. To this end weekend workshops were sponsored.
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Racism has a broad range of influences, with particular communities, whole countries or even entire continents able to suffer from its effects. 'Racism' can take varying forms, from subtle acts of exclusion to determined and premeditated acts of violence. It can affect people because of how they look, what they believe, where they come from, or who their parents happened to be. There does not appear to be a distinct and universally accepted definition of 'racism'. No one group practises it or suffers from it, no one action constitutes it. Nevertheless, whatever 'racism' is, it is generally recognised as being a bad thing.
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Racism has many faces; its particular expressions are dependent on the socio-economic, religious, and cultural situation of any given society. This versatility notwithstanding, the moral overdetermination of skin colour is one of its most conspicuous, ever-recurring elements. The Christian world has excelled at consigning dark complexion to the realms of the mysterious and the bad. In pagan antiquity... this was quite different: the stereotypes associated with black Africans were rather of a positive nature: blackness signified qualities such as wisdom, or the love of freedom and justice.
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Racism is still alive today. One of the first laws dealing with runaway slaves, occurred in Virginia, 1690. Three men broke their contracts, one Scotsman, one Dutch man, and one Black. The two non-blacks received three year of hard labor, and the Black man was given a life sentence for his escape. Today, in Florida, a judge refused to sentence a white male, a two-time felon, to prison because he might get raped! After this concern for the White felon, other Florida judges sentenced two minority youths to life terms without the same concern for the safety of personal dignity of these 13 and 14-year youths.
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Racism refers to a belief system that humans can be separated into various groups based on physical attributes and that these groupings determine cultural or individual achievement and the value of human beings. This can lead to hostility against individuals based on a perceived or ascribed "race". This racist outlook in assuming that the human species can be hierarchically divided into races, is often bred of ignorance, fear, and prejudice. Racism often includes the belief that people of different races differ in aptitudes and abilities, such as intelligence, physical prowess, or virtue. Most individuals who use the concept of racial categories believe that different races can be placed on a ranked, hierarchical scale. By definition one who practices racism is known as a racist.
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