Racism and Sexism

Racism and Sexism

In this presentation… • Discrimination • Racism and sexism • Merit and formal equality • Equality ofopportunity

Discrimination • We all discriminate for and against people. For example, it is perfectly rational and reasonable to discriminate among applicants for a job to selectonly those who are the most qualified based on individual ability and merit.

Discrimination • However, there are irrational and unreasonable forms of discrimination, such as racism and sexism. • Treating a person in an unfavorable way simply because of that person’s race, sex, religion or sexual orientation is morally unjustified.

Discrimination • Discrimination involves differential (i.e. unequal) treatment of people. • Discrimination, as a moral and social problem, can be defined as the unequal treatment, whether intentional or unintentional, of people on the basis of group identity rather than individual merit.

Discrimination A ‘stereotype’ is a popular or ingrained belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. Stereotyping involves making sweeping generalizations about a group of people by treating every member of the group as if they were all alike.

Discrimination • The trouble with stereotyping is that a characteristic may be typical of a group of people, but it does not follow that every member of that group necessarily has that characteristic.

Discrimination • Consider physical strength. Men are typically stronger than women. Nevertheless, some women are stronger than some men. • Even though women are typically more nurturing than men, it would still be likely that some men would be more nurturing than some women.

Discrimination • To guard against unfair treatment, it is necessary that we consider what characteristics an individual has rather than what is typical of the group to which he or she belongs.

Discrimination Many people favor some groups over others because of unconscious stereotypes. For example, gender stereotypes have been thought to be one of the causes of sexual inequality or the unfavorable treatment of women.

Discrimination • Unequal treatment of people on the basis of group membership or characteristics can hardly be morally justified. • It is unfair and unjust, for example, to refuse to hire black people because of their skin color, or pay women less than men for comparable work.

Discrimination • On the other hand, treating people differently on the basis of factors related to individual merit (such as talent, ability, academic qualification, or work experience) is not discrimination as it is commonly understood.

Discrimination Freedom from discrimination is one of the universal human rights listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One person’s right is another person’s duty. If everyone has a right to be free from discrimination, we all have a duty not to discriminate against others.

Discrimination • To sum up, discrimination is morally unacceptable because it violates basic human rightsand treats people unfairly on the basis of group identity rather individual merit.

Discrimination • Why is discrimination harmful not only to the victims but also to society as a whole? Why is it unjust to treat some people less favorably on the basis of their race or gender?

Racism and sexism • Racism and sexism are two common forms of discrimination. • As said earlier, there are other forms of discrimination, such as discrimination on the bases of age, social class, occupation, sexual orientation, religion, etc.

Racism and sexism • A distinction can be made between race and ethnicity. ‘Race’ is a biological classification whereas ‘ethnicity’ is a social or cultural classification. • A similar distinction can be made between ‘sex’ (a biological category) and ‘gender’ (a social or cultural category).

Racism and sexism • Race, as a biological concept, is largely based on skin color and other anatomical characteristics. • Ethnicity, as a social construct, is a way of classifying people according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.

Racism and sexism • Racism is the belief that [1] humans are divided into different races, [2] the characteristics possessed by some races make their members intrinsically more valuable than members of other races, and [3] the superior races have a right to dominate the inferior races.

Racism and sexism • Racism entails the inability or refusal to recognize the rights, needs, dignity, or value of people of particular races or geographical origins. • Racism is also morally unacceptable because of its adverse social, economic and political consequences for those unjustly affected by it.

Racism and sexism • Racism can be either ‘personal’ or ‘institutional’. • ‘Personal racism’ refers chiefly to the biased beliefs and discriminatory behavior of individuals towards certain racial groups.

Racism and sexism • ‘Institutional racism’ describes any kind of system of inequality based on race. • One of the results of institutional racism is the differential access to goods, services, and opportunities among different races.

Racism and sexism • In the United States, blacks (African Americans) have suffered more than 300 years of racism. • In the past, slavery as a form of institutional racism was justified on the grounds that blacks were incapable of acting as responsible agents, and therefore required the direction provided by their masters.

Racism and sexism • After the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, legal segregation was introduced to insulate whites from contact with blacks. • Such prejudices and historical practices have unjustly limited the political, social and economic opportunities of African Americans.

Racism and sexism • Until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, white domination over blacks was institutionalized and supported at all levels of government, by denying blacks their rights and opportunities.

Racism and sexism • Even today, the legacy of racism still permeates American society. It can be witnessed, for example, in African Americans’ high rates of unemployment, poverty and incarceration, and in inequality of opportunities generally.

Racism and sexism • Educational, employment and promotional opportunities are still strongly influenced by race. • The infant mortality rate for blacks is more than double that for white children. Almost half of black children under the age of 6 are living in poverty.

Racism and sexism • Not many blacks can finish high school, and even fewer can make it to college or university. The dropout rate for black college students is higher than for white students. Compared to white students, black students are 20 percent less likely to complete college within a six-year period.

Racism and sexism Blacks and other minorities typically earn only a fraction of what whites earn, and they tend to hold political offices far less often than their numbers in the general population should warrant.

Racism and sexism ‘Racial profiling’ is the police practice of stopping, questioning, arresting, and/or searching someone solely on the basis of the person’s race or ethnicity. Many in the law enforcement authorities in the United States argue that racial profiling is both effective and necessary simply because crime rates are higher in some communities.

Racism and sexism Is racial profiling a form of unjustified discrimination because it involves treating people differently on the basis of their skin color? Is it unfair to blacks that theyare subject to more police searches and arrests than whites?

Racism and sexism • ‘Sexism’ refers to anything (attitudes, behavior, institutions, etc.) that creates, constitutes, promotes, or sustains an unjustifiable distinction between the sexes.

Racism and sexism Sexism typically involves [1] false beliefs about people because of their sex, or devaluing them because of this, and [2] social, political or economic institutions that seek to legitimize the power of men over women.

Racism and sexism By attributing inferiority to the capacities, abilities and dispositions of women, sexists deny that women should be granted the same rights and moral status, or treated with the same respect, as men.

Racism and sexism • Some organizations, for example, may carry on a tradition that excludes women from high-paying work. Employers may unfairly judge female employees by their gender rather than individual merit or qualifications.

Racism and sexism • ‘Socialization’ is a learning process by which values, goals, and roles are acquired. Women and men are socialized differently. • ‘Gender roles’ are socially and culturally defined roles that individuals are expected to perform. They affect the way individuals think of themselves and how others thinks of them.

Racism and sexism • ‘Gender role socialization’ is the process by which males and females learn to display behavior considered appropriate for their own sex or gender. • Women are usually expected to take care of the housework, the child care, and the general emotional welfare of their husbands and children.

Racism and sexism • Economically, women are substantially worse off than men. Women do not receive any pay for the work that is done in the home. As members of the labor force their wages are significantly lower than those paid to men, even when they are engaged in similar work and have similar educational backgrounds.

Racism and sexism • John Stuart Mill, perhaps the first modern philosopher to stand up for gender equality, argued that since women had not been provided with adequate educational and employment opportunities, what was needed was a social transformation that would give them the levels of access usually accorded to men.

Racism and sexism • Mill thought that the opportunities offered to women and men should be based on a perfect equality of opportunity. • Women, according to Mill, should be allowed to win their social positions through fair and open competition.

Racism and sexism • The 1970s saw the beginning of the modern women’s movement, along with an unprecedented influx of women into the workforce, higher education, and the professions. • Changes in the labor market and the Civil Rights Movement combined to produce a vocal feminist movement.

Racism and sexism • For example, the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ – the notion that a woman doing the same job as a man deserves the same pay – has been championed to promote the social and economic status of women.

Racism and sexism • Women have sought equality with men in the workplace, in education, and in public life generally. • At the same time, they remain the primary child-care providers, which places them at a disadvantage in terms of advancement in their careers.

Racism and sexism • Even today, managerial and executive positions are still predominantly filled by men. • It is estimated that men still represent over 90 percent of senior executive positions in the largest corporations of the United States.

Racism and sexism • Most firefighters are male. Do you think that the recruitment process of firefighters involves unfair discrimination against women? Are there any justifications for favoring male applicants over female applicants?

As noted earlier, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination are not morally justified because race, sex, nationality, etc. are irrelevant to how people should be treated. Merit and formal equality

Merit and formal equality • Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination all make the same mistake of judging an individual in terms of group identity – people are treated differently not because of who they individually are, but because of some ways in which they are classified.

Merit and formal equality • Another reason why racism and sexism is unjust and unfair is that unequal treatment is often the result of the concentration of political, social and economic power and advantage in the hands of the dominant race or gender.

Merit and formal equality • The principle of equal respect for persons: A basic assumption of common morality is that every person has equal intrinsic value, that each person’s interest and well-being is equally important, and that everyone should be treated with equal respect.

Merit and formal equality • The implication of the principle of equal respect for persons is that everyone is entitled to equal rights and equal opportunity simply by virtue of being a person, regardless of class, race, sex, religion, nationality, culture, ability, sexual orientation, and so on.

Racism and Sexism