Introduction
Racism is old enough as far as human history for a couple of centuries for different factors. Social class or status including ruling and being ruled (upper-hand and lower-hand), color, socioeconomic benefit, and political interest are some of the factors. With this, gradually due to the aforementioned factors white supremacy was getting dominant against black people in many aspects. Concerning this issue, Michael J. Klarman discussed a lot about racism and discrimination from the sides of historical aspects and its incidence in the USA from the past to the present in a book titled “Unfinished Business: Racial Equality in American History”. Racism and discriminational mobbing and lynching are relied on a strategically systematic and well-organized system due to a supremacist mindset. A systematic approach could be created, operated, and protected by discriminators for the sake of their interests and privilege. For example, in the history of the black-American democratic voting process in early 1900, several black candidates were eliminated by well-organized and systematic ways, while they did not pay a registration fee that was not affordable for the black political candidates. Due to these reasons, black people's political participation declined from 95.6 percent to 1.1 percent in 1896 and 1904 respectively. Similarly, the number of black voters also fell to 3,000 in 1903, while 180,000 in 1900 due to the new registration laws or legal codes had not assisted both black voters and black politicians' candidates.
Related to this matter, this article endeavors to present and analyze what is supported by a few examples relying on the archive of literature, library as well as media news on racism and discrimination in the content of color in media, football tournaments, education, and among others. Finally, it is concluded and recommended some notions aligned with a strategy for policymakers, reformest, and various other stakeholders.
Historical Overviews of Racialization
The term racialization is very popular during the nineteenth century, while in the UK context, it is famous and linked with the ‘race relations’ pattern. However, the concept of racialization has different expressions in the concept of various understandings. For Instance, Frants Fano expressed it as synonymous with “dehumanization”, whereas European colonialism referred to “racial categories and race-thinking-process” to legitimate the power of white supremacy, take care of and continue their legacy accordingly.
Depending on historical views, the ethnoracial classifications in the “apartheid period in South Africa, pre-civil rights in the US, and Nazi Germany” are some of them. These classifications depend on “social stigmatization, legal subjugation, economic exploitation, and political repression”. Related to this ethnoracial classification underpinned population could have been impacted by segregated societies and ant-democratic polities and repressive state projects increased. Enormous studies revealed racial classifications rely on states, colonial subjects, culture, international politics, and so on. Depending on these categories it is mentioned as follows;
1)The states' classifications of individuals based on race provide the administrative foundation for the construction of explicitly exclusionary nations, grounded on principles and structures of racial inequality on the other side. It is supposed or expected that states serve ought to classify citizens to combat deep-rooted inequality, prevent discrimination or protect vulnerable minority groups. Nowadays State's official ethnoracial classifications entitle them to govern positive action in order to protect civil rights laws as well as enhance the effects of the collectivities action for entire communities. Such activities enable the ethnoracial classification to implement proper policies toward appropriate “democratization, social integration, and protections of civil and human rights.” Any form of ethnoracial classification has its own pro and cons – in line with the target segments of the bloc of exclusion or inclusion relying on discrimination.
2)Colonial subject racial classification of discrimination mainly is focused on several categories including social order like “Indian”, “African”, or “Castas – Spanish & Portuguese lineage”, discriminator legal codes or legal distinctions (free and slave). Free referred to based on “color or “race”, whereas “American born white -superior”, on the other side, Iberian means born-Indaian, African, and Spaniards focused on “black” slaves- negro. In addition, racial classification basis on the ideological dimension limpieza de snage (cleanness of the blood) protecting the ruling class, social-racial hierarchy related to the inheritance of social status, and others served the colonial power for the administration of the colonial population.
3)Cultural classifications commenced in the half of the second of the 20th century (the 1950s) in the census statistical collection of Latin America’s racial statistics. Researchers call this incidence the change of racial progress from race to culture due to the early query of the census “race” replaced by “culture” as a range of ethnically coded cultural practices.
4)On the other hand, international politics of ethnoracial classification classified align with the questions of indigenous and Afro-descendent identification, particularly in Latin America's early 21st-century census official ethnoracial statistics. Therefore, the 21st-century census by itself is not only symbolic statistics, but it is also a politics of recognition for countries.
Racism in Media Industry
Media is a powerful tool for information distribution and consumption which is called the fourth power. This power has been shaped and served in the ways of those who obtain and control it. Mostly, the ways media receive and disseminate information perhaps create a huge problem in social relations. Both mainstream media and new media (internet-based - social media) as well as others also have their handicaps during information distribution and consumption on social relations. The media has its own aims relying on its target and goals whether it may be for optimistic or pessimistic information. Several media both mainstream and social media distribution information without realizing the original notions and intentions due to their profit maximization and to get high subscribers from all corners of the globe. So due to these reasons, the media set pessimistic agendas, propaganda, and attack some groups or individuals, particularly “black people” in the development of media history. Thus, such acts of media against humanity, color, and so on are referred to as media crimes.
For instance, broadly, the issue of black media matters is the memories of human history started in the USA in the 19th century, based on the representation of black society in existing media and owned media as well. In the early 19th it was not allowed to own and earn a position of media editor for black Americans. Similarly, on the other hand, relating the effect of ‘chutzpah- camera obscura’ is associated with dangerous black men for lynching. And also, the media play roles in a showcase of black societies as a form of primitive and uncivilized, among others. In contemporary times, the media reported hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers perishing in the Mediterranean as opportunistic economic migrants and “legalization” of the boats caring for those migrants, in order to create and show them as a source of public or social problems and threats, while most of the asylum seekers come from Africa to Europe and American for searching a better life.
The other media paradoxes are linked with the denial of diversity, especially ethics and moral issues for collectives acts, on the other side, celebrating the plurality of “liberal” individual freedoms.
Racism and Discrimination in Football Entertainment
Football is a phenomenal entertainment sector in the contemporary 21st century across the globe. Despite its popularity and enormous games including the World Cup, and Olympic games, various sports activities among other tournaments practiced to bring different continents and countries with different diversity of backgrounds, colors, and talents into the same place. However, several times many individuals that are part of this tournament attacked, lynched, and abused due to their color racism, and discrimination. Racism may focus on skin color and lineage, gender-based, social status, or others in football or in socioeconomic and political- racism. The discrimination kinds vary from one place to the other place and from time to time, however, what it makes similar is relying on the context of color racism.
To fight against such racism and discrimination many countries, organizations, clubs, and others endeavor their effort every year. For instance, FIFA, the famous English Premier League, and other leagues take care and make forwards to fight racism by showing a slogan on a player's t-shirts’ armband called “No Room for Racism” to support African and Afro-American backgrounds against racism for humanity. In spite of all these attempts various footballers still attacked both in the England team and in the premier league as well as another European league. For example, it is worth mentioning some of the players attacked due to their color in the recent, including Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Jado Sancho the England team footballers after a penalty missed against Euro 2020 soccer between England and Italy at a final shout. And also, Vinicius Junior, Samuel Umititi, Ivan Toney, and others are some of the footballers who abuse and attacked racism in the recent, couple of weeks or months period ago.
Racism and Discrimination in Education
As attempted to mention earlier racism and discrimination are everywhere and in every industry including education at all levels. So sometimes it is good to stop somewhere and look at it to ask some brainstorming questions regard to it. How do we recognize racism and anti-racism education? How do racism and discrimination influence education and what is a proper way out for anti-racism educators to challenge and support each other? And so on.
Colonial education is mainly focused on well-organized “Euro-Enlightenment paradigms” that have been classified around the globe in “race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and ability”. However, anti-racism education looks forward to re-examining and re-imagine the past and the present education curriculum and pedagogical methodology to acquire a deep understanding of the big picture of the social practices in accordance with social relations in alignment with or able to serve the “intersections of the difference”. In this context, understanding the value of multiculturalism and the recent curriculum should be channeled into the context of best-fit courses at every level in education firms. In addition, outsourcing projects and the option of studying abroad must be in line with promoting the country's origin and genuine knowledge as well as it should also acknowledge the international education standard on the other hand.
Progress Toward Racism
Accidents of the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, by police in Minneapolis in the USA are galvanizing the issue of “black lives matter” from every corner of the globe, not only among Afro-Americans. To fight similar problems various civic organizations and institutions are on the frontline. United Nations launched a Human Rights Council commission to promote and protect human rights. The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN system composed of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of humanity worldwide.
UN report displayed that despite a little progress regarding racism across the globe, still, there is a “systematic racism and concrete steps” left that should be people to be aware of. The UN Human Rights twitted on @UNHumanRights as follows;
“Systemic racism against people of #AfricaDescent continues to inflict deep harm. Piecemeal Progress is not enough. The New @UN report calls for the transformative change to dismantle deep-rooted systems perpetuating racial discrimination.”
Accordingly, the UN report discussed the issue of genuine change and the way out including success at local, national, and international stages which is not succeeded yet. The 52nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council held in UN between 27 Feb and 4 April 2023 is going on.
Recently, an article titled “Breaking the ‘color bar’: the stories of Pearl Prescod and Len Johson” by Race & Class discussed the stories of Pearl Prescod and Len Johson during the 1940s to 1950s in Britsih. The press release presented the stories of the anti-racism struggle and the role they played against racism and class on January 19, 2023, in the context of the color bar. The lesson learned here is that “Recounting and reframing histories of resistance is important to work, especially when national narratives tend to depoliticize or homogenize such stories.”
Conclusions and Recommandetions
Official racial classification, related to racism and discrimination presumed purposeful to facilitate specific administrative ends- like during colonial power aligned with the ways they divide the population and classified. Depending on systematic strategies and well-organized activities the system has been deep-rooted for a long century. Thus, in order to stabilize and reviving the anti-racism challenge requires a strategic-oriented transformative plan.
The notion of official racial classification basically has been playing a great role in its pros and cons in the past, present, and also seems in the future. So as far as possible to align with more affirmative actions and encourage far-sighted views is crucial to understand before criticizing, recommending as well as will be able to propose policies, and comprehending strategic reforms. To sum up, in order to stop and fight against racism and discrimination in every sector including media, football games, education, and other sectors in the context of color and other kinds of racism, particularly towards Africans and Afro-Americans smart work is needed supporting by strategy. For instance, at the beginning and the basic level and legal issues, it needs to be aware of census statistics data collection in contemporary times to enhance the proper transformation at a higher stage.
Reference
Bhatia, Monish, et al., (2018), Media, Crime and Racism, Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media, and Culture, Palgrave Macmillan.
Klarman, Michael J., (2007), Unfinished Business: Racial Equality in American History, Oxford University Press, Inc. New York.
Loveman, Mara (2014), National Colors: Racial Classification and the State in Latin America, Oxford University Press.
Sefa Dei, George J. And McDermott, Mairi, (2014), Politics of Anti-Racism Education: In Search of Strategies for Transformative Learning, Explorations of Educational Purpose Vol. 27, Springer.
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