Racism Essay, Research Paper

The “Invisible” Problems of Racism

The problem with racism is that many people don’t think it

is. Many live their lives not even realizing what is

happening the world around them. “Racism, here, nah.”

Others know all about it, but they don’t realize that they

themselves, yes, themselves, are racists. “Huh, I’m not

racist. What do you mean? I’m more open minded than

that. Give me some credit.” Then they turn around and

discriminate against someone else’s human rights. Not

racist, yah right.

What is one of the main problems with racism? It’s that

many people live in racist conditions, without even seeing

it. It flies right over their heads. Schools, the workplace,

our community, our friends house, even our homes. We

hear a racial slur, oh well, it’s just a joke. Hardly. If you

think racist joke are harmless than you should take a

reality check. Racist jokes are just the start of it. Many

people think the jokes are funny. Maybe they are, but they

still hurt the people the jokes are about.

Some of the worst racists are the ones who think that they

are not racist and really are. They really have to come to

grips with reality. Why are they some the worst racists?

They are, because they can’t comprehend what is

happening. They don’t realize what they are saying and

doing are racist. Until they come to grips with it there is no

problem. No problem, in their minds. They say that they

aren’t racist, even when they don’t hire the East Indian

employee who was the most qualified of the candidates.

Even when the basketball team that they coach is all

white. And even the time when they moved from their

seat at the movie theater because of the black person next

to them. Well, gee, they could have been a criminal. A

robber from “the hood.” After all, isn’t that what most of

“them” are. No one deserves to be prejudged like that. The

prejudice of people in the world is disgusting. The worst

part of it all is that they don’t even know that they are

doing it. They think it’s j! ust no rmal behavior. It doesn’t

even phase them when they do it.

Then there are those who are completely unaware of

racism in the world. They walk down the streets, through

the stores and working at their job, completely oblivious.

They’re so blind! Why can’t they see what is happening

around them? Have they really lived such sheltered lives?

Or do they just not want to believe it is happening? If you

take someone and put them in the heart of a racist area,

they still won’t notice the problems. They will see it with

their own eyes, but it won’t register in their mind. If these

people don’t open their eyes, they will never see what is

happening. What is going to happen to the world if people

don’t start realizing what is happening? Will we be plunged

into a time where racial tension is everywhere? Will we

soon start having racial wars? Will racial violence be a

normal every day occurrence? I don’t know. No one could

know. Unless we start taking action and helping people

come to grips with the way they are we can’t combat

racism.

People who don’t see that racism is a problem are almost

as bad as the racists themselves. Now, don’t take that

comment in the wrong way, but as long as they are

unaware, racism won’t stop. I am aware of racism. I am

also not a racist myself. I have lived in a racist community

for most of my life, thank god I haven’t turned out like the

rest of them. There is hope for everybody.

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Is the Unites States Political System a Legitimate

Democracy?

In any system which claims to be democratic, a question

of its legitimacy remains. A truly democratic political

system has certain characteristics which prove its

legitimacy with their existence. One essential

characteristic of a legitimate democracy is that it allows

people to freely make choices without government

intervention. Another necessary characteristic which

legitimates government is that every vote must count

equally: one vote for every person. For this equality to

occur, all people must be subject to the same laws, have

equal civil rights, and be allowed to freely express their

ideas. Minority rights are also crucial in a legitimate

democracy. No matter how unpopular their views, all

people should enjoy the freedoms of speech, press and

assembly. Public policy should be made publicly, not

secretly, and regularly scheduled elections should be held.

Since “legitimacy” may be defined as “the feeling or

opinion the people have that government is based upon

morally defensible principles and that they should therefore

obey it,” then there must necessarily be a connection

between what the people want and what the government

is doing if legitimacy is to occur.

The U.S. government may be considered legitimate in

some aspects, and illegitimate in others. Because voting is

class-biased, it may not be classified as a completely

legitimate process. Although in theory the American

system calls for one vote per person, the low rate of

turnout results in the upper and middle classes ultimately

choosing candidates for the entire nation. Class is

determined by income and education, and differing levels

of these two factors can help explain why class bias

occurs. For example, because educated people tend to

understand politics more, they are more likely to vote.

People with high income and education also have more

resources, and poor people tend to have low political

efficacy (feelings of low self-worth). Turnout, therefore, is

low and, since the early 1960s, has been declining overall.

The “winner-take-all” system in elections may be criticized

for being undemocratic because the proportion of people

agreeing with a particular candidate on a certain issue may

not be adequately represented under this system. For

example, “a candidate who gets 40 percent of the vote, as

long as he gets more votes than any other candidate, can

be elected-even though sixty percent of the voters voted

against him”(Lind, 314).

Political parties in America are weak due to the anti-party,

anti-organization, and anti-politics cultural prejudices of the

Classical Liberals. Because in the U.S. there is no national

discipline to force citizens into identifying with a political

party, partisan identification tends to be an informal

psychological commitment to a party. This informality

allows people to be apathetic if they wish, willingly giving

up their input into the political process. Though this apathy

is the result of greater freedom in America than in other

countries, it ultimately decreases citizens’ incentive to

express their opinions about issues, therefore making

democracy less legitimate.

Private interests distort public policy making because,

when making decisions, politicians must take account of

campaign contributors. An “interest” may be defined as

“any involvement in anything that affects the economic,

social, or emotional well-being of a person.” When

interests become organized into groups, then politicians

may become biased due to their influences. “Special

interests buy favors from congressmen and presidents

through political action committees (PACs), devices by

which groups like corporations, professional associations,

trade unions, investment banking groups-can pool their

money and give up to $10,000 per election to each House

and Senate candidate”(Lind, 157). Consequently, those

people who do not become organized into interest groups

are likely to be underrepresented financially. This leads to

further inequality and, therefore, greater illegitimacy in the

democratic system.

The method in which we elect the President is fairly

legitimate. The electoral college consists of representatives

who we elect, who then elect the President. Because this

fills the requirement of regularly scheduled elections, it is a

legitimate process. The President is extremely powerful in

foreign policy making; so powerful that scholars now

speak of the “Imperial Presidency,” implying that the

President runs foreign policy as an emperor. The President

is the chief diplomat, negotiator of treaties, and

commander-in-chief of the armed forces. There has been

a steady growth of the President’s power since World

War II. This abundance of foreign Presidential power may

cause one to believe that our democratic system is not

legitimate. However, Presidential power in domestic

affairs is limited. Therefore, though the President is very

powerful in certain areas, the term “Imperial Presidency”

is not applicable in all areas.

The election process of Congress is legitimate because

Senators and Representatives are elected directly by the

people. Power in Congress is usually determined by the

seniority system. In the majority party (the party which

controls Congress), the person who has served the longest

has the most power. The problem with the seniority

system is that power is not based on elections or on who is

most qualified to be in a position of authority. Congress is

also paradoxical because, while it is good at serving

particular individual interests, it is bad at serving the

general interest (due to its fragmented structure of

committees and sub-committees).

The manner in which Supreme Court Justices are elected

is not democratic because they are appointed by the

President for lifelong terms, rather than in regularly

scheduled elections. There is a “non-political myth” that the

only thing that Judges do is apply rules neutrally. In

actuality, they interpret laws and the Constitution using

their power of judicial review, the power explicitly given to

them in Marbury v. Madison.

Though it has been termed the “imperial judiciary” by

some, the courts are the weakest branch of government

because they depend upon the compliance of the other

branches for enforcement of the laws.

The bureaucracy is not democratic for many reasons. The

key features of a bureaucracy are that they are large,

specialized, run by official and fixed rules, relatively free

from outside control, run on a hierarchy, and they must

keep written records of everything they do. Bureaucracies

focus on rules, but their members are unhappy when the

rules are exposed to the public. Bureaucracies violate the

requirement of a legitimate democracy that public policy

must be made publicly, not secretly. To be hired in a

bureaucracy, a person must take a civil service exam.

People working in bureaucracies may also only be fired

under extreme circumstances. This usually leads to the

“Peter Principle;” that people who are competent at their

jobs are promoted until they are in jobs in which they are

no longer competent.

Policy making may be considered democratic to an extent.

The public tends to get its way about 60% of the time.

Because one of the key legitimating factors of government

is a connection between what it does and what the public

wants, policy making can be considered 60% legitimate.

Furthermore, most of what the federal government does

never reaches the public. Public opinion polls represent the

small percentage of issues that people have heard about.

Though the individual workings of the American

government may not be particularly democratic, it must be

somewhat legitimate overall because without legitimacy,

government fails. However, “the people who run for and

win public office are not necessarily the most intelligent,

best informed, wealthiest, or most successful business or

professional people. At all levels of the political system,?it

is the most politically ambitious people who are willing to

sacrifice time, family and private life, and energy and

effort for the power and celebrity that comes with public

office”(Dye, 58-59). The legitimacy of the United States

government is limited, but in a system of government

which was designed not to work, complete democracy is

most likely impossible.

Dye, Thomas R. Who’s Running America? The Clinton

Years. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,

1995.

Lind, Michael. The Next American Nation: The New

Nationalism and the Fourth American Revolution. New

York: The Free Press, 1995.