Racism What Causes Racism

We live in a time of extreme exposure and this exposure is no longer limited to the old ways of reporting; where radio, news papers or the Television were the primary ways. There is now Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many other ways that allow for current events to be exposed and for individuals to express their views.One of the consequences of this is that people’s actions, often the ones in the public eye, are seen and heard like never before; which has the potential for higher levels of judgment and scrutiny. Certain events are given extreme exposure and with the original context of a story being changed.Racism in FootballOne of the recent events related to racism is the incident involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand. This has raised questions around the effectiveness of the ’say no to racism ‘campaign and also as to why there are not more black managers in football.

Professional footballers are role models for so many people and with the status that they have in our society; it was inevitable that it would lead massive exposure and uproar.My InterestI am of white/Caucasian decent, and I have never experienced racism directly and neither do I claim to understand what it must feel like to experience such abuse. What I do have is my own ideas and views about racism. These are about the psychology of racism and about what I believe are some of the reasons behind it. I have watched, heard and read about different situations where racism has been active and have been around others who have been abused in this way. And I now want to share my current perspectives.The Definition of Racism Racism is defined as: a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others. The Typical ApproachOne of the common approaches to eradicating racist behaviour is through logic and repression. That is to define racism as bad or wrong; with the expectation that it will be solved by coming to this conclusion. BehaviourHowever, the problem here is that the majority of behaviour is unconscious and is triggered at an emotional level. If the average person were to be asked why they behave the way they do, why they believe what they do or why they feel the way they do; they probably wouldn’t know or it might be a challenge at best to answer this question.