Examining Racial Bias in America

Racism can be defined as views, practices and actions reflecting the belief that humanity is divided into distinct biological groups called races and that members of a certain race share certain attributes which make that group less desirable, more desirable, inferior or superior. The exact definition of racism is controversial both because there is little scholarly agreement about the meaning of the concept "race", and because there is also little agreement about what does and doesnt constitute discrimination. Some definitions would have it that any assumption that a persons behavior would be influenced by their racial categorization is racist, regardless of whether the action is intentionally harmful or pejorative. Other definitions only include consciously malignant forms of discrimination. Racism include discriminatory behaviors and beliefs based on cultural, national, ethnic, caste, or religious stereotypes. The practice of treating certain groups preferentially, or denying rights or benefits to certain groups, based on racial characteristics is termed “institutional racism”. Stokely Carmichael of the “Black Panthers Movement” is credited for coining the phrase institutional racism in the late 1960s. He defined the term as “the collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture or ethnic origin”. Watch this video: .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qMOw37jcEA&feature=relmfu

Racial Bias