Essay on the Ideology of Racism – Racism is used as an ideology by a dominant group to legitimate its interests. An ideology or set of beliefs defines the existing system as just and moral. “Racism is an ideology based on the belief that an observable, supposedly inherited trait, such as skin colour, is a mark of inferiority that justifies the discriminatory treatment of people with that trait.”
Racial Ideology Supporting the ‘Self-Fulfilling Prophecy’:
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The ideology of racism also supports the existing inequalities by the social process of the “self- fulfilling prophecy” [Merton, 1968], American sociologist W.I. Thomas explained this idea in the form of a simple statement which is popularly known as “Thomas Theorem “. “If men define situation as real, they are real in their consequences”.
This is made clear by Merton by means of an example: If people wrongly believe that a bank will go bankrupt, they will rush to withdraw their money with the result that the bank will go bankrupt. The self-fulfilling prophecy is a false definition of a situation, but the definition leads to behaviour that makes the prediction come true. The actual course of events then seems to justify and confirm the original prophecy.
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This self-fulfilling prophecy also works in the case of race relations. The racist ideology of the dominant group defines the minority as inferior. Since the minority group is branded as inferior, they are considered as unfit for higher – status jobs, higher education and responsible positions in society.
Hence, they are denied these opportunities. As a result, they are forced to stick to low – status jobs, and are poorly educated. This situation makes the minority group inferior, and the racist ideology is confirmed.
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Four Beliefs at the Root of Racism:
Simpson and Yinger in their classic text on racial and cultural minorities highlighted four beliefs at the root of racism. They are as follows:
(i) The first one is the doctrine of “biologically superior and inferior races1
(ii) Members of different races have different personalities;
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(iii) That there are identifiable “racial cultures”, and
(iv) That ethical standards differ from one race to another.
Social scientists have rejected all these doctrines or beliefs which are at the root of racism as baseless through their studies over the past 6-7 decades. But even though these doctrines have been discredited they continue to play a major role in intergroup relations in many nations. And this tendency to denigrate or degrade socially defined racial groups extends to members of particular ethnic groups as well.