Attached.

Racism as a Social Tension - Outline
Thesis statements: In the USA for instance, racism is evident in recruitment, social
media posts and other areas of life. The social impacts of racisms are adverse, and therefore, it
has to be addressed in the context of the current day societies.
I.
II.

Introduction
Sociological perspectives

III.

Conflict theory

IV.

Critical race theory

V.

News articles
A. BBC
B. New York Times
C. Comparison

VI.

Conclusion


RACISM AS A SOCIAL TENSION

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Racism as a Social Tension
Name
Institution

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Racism as a Social Tension
Introduction
In the early 20th C, it was common to see signs such as “whites only” in the United States
of America and other countries such as South Africa. During the time, racism was treated as a
normal thing, and therefore people did not discuss it as much in scholarly forums. However,
currently, after various struggles for the abolition of practices that were openly racist, the social
issue has taken other various forms and still leads to tension among people of different origins.
In the USA for instance, racism is evident in recruitment, social media posts and other areas of
life. The social impacts of racisms are adverse, and therefore, it has to be addressed in the
context of the current day societies.
The tension surrounding racisms is the ideas that people are classified into different
groups based on the colors of their skins. People are seen as either white black, brown or other.
The differentiation of people based on their skin colors is usually accompanied by the idea that
some races are intrinsically better than others and are therefore more deserving than others. The
phenomenon of racism also include people being ranked based on their skin color (Hayle,
Wortley & Tanner, 2016). The social tension that results to the superiority struggle among
people of different races if that while some people get the upper hand just because they are
thought to be better than others, the minority races are less advantaged in education, health,
employment and other aspects of life. Therefore, it is important that sociologists discuss the issue
of race to create awareness among both people who oppress others and the oppressed to allow
changes to take place towards equal coexistence of people of different origins.

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Social Perspectives

The subject of racism has to be discussed based on the various sociological perspectives
to make sense in sociology (Hayle, Wortley & Tanner, 2016). Several sociological perspectives
may apply to the subject of racisms. The perspectives include the critical theory, the feminist
theory and the conflict theory among others (Ritzer, 2015). In the case of the paper, the
discussion of racisms will consider the conflict theory and the critical theory. Both of the schools
of thought are applicable in the examination of the subject of race albeit in different ways.
The Conflict Theory
The conflict theory is a sociological theory that is based on the Marxist school of thought.
According to the theory, people or groups in the societies associate based on conflict or
disagreement rather than agreement and consensus. According to the method, groups attain
varying amounts of gain both materially and nonmaterially via the different types of conflict that
they interact with each other. For example, the interaction between the poor and the rich leads to
the rich getting richer and the poor suffering while working for the rich (Hayle, Wortley &
Tanner, 2016). According to the theory, dominant groups of people will apply their power in the
society to ensure that they maintain their power and that they exploit the less dominant groups.
The theorists of the school of thought perceive conflict as a means of change because conflicts
result in contradictions that are sometimes resolved leading to new conflicts as well as
contradictions among the conflicting groups. For example, in historical materialism, Engels and
Marx believed that the history of humans is because of the conflict among the classes that change
with time according to the needs and situations surrounding the modes of production of the
society. In the subject of racism, the conflict theory has been found to apply to several
controversial issues. For instance, police brutality has been found to be more against black

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teenagers as compared to their white peers. Latino teenagers are also more likely to be arrested
as compared the white teenagers. According to a study that as conducted in Canada, black
teenagers are more likely to be stopped by the police rather than their white counterparts (Hayle,
Wortley & Tanner, 2016). The researchers found that unlike street children who were likely to be
searched as compared to their high school because of their behavior, the black teens were
arrested because of racial bias. In the study, the researchers found that the police were more
likely to stop and search black minority teens in high school as compared to their white
counterparts. They also found that the police were more likely to stop and search street teens
more than their high school colleges. The race did not matter in search of the street children.
Therefore, the researchers concluded that while the searches of blacks were because of the racial
conflict between the police and the black teens, the search of street children was because of
consensus. The research confirmed founding that African Americans are eight times more likely
to be stopped and search as compared to the white counterparts (Hayle, Wortley & Tanner,
2016).
According to the conflict theory, racism causes sociological tension by causing conflict
based on the color of people. One group believes that they are more superior than the other and
that their practices are more civilized than the rest. A...