Modern Racism: Insights from W.E.B. Du Bois and Institutional Realities

The Pervasiveness of Racism in Society

Racism has been around for generations, and we still face it in today’s society. This is due to social conditions that perpetuate and intensify racism. Racism can be a part of societal institutions today and is not only intentional or overt, but it can also be unintentional and a part of the normal operations of society. Scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois has addressed the issue of racism towards African Americans in the past.

In modern society, we can apply W.E.B. Du Bois’s concepts of the color line, double consciousness, and the veil to demonstrate that individuals of color are not seen as “true Americans. In addition, people change their persona in order to be accepted and not criticized by the dominant group, more specifically, white people. Furthermore, racism still exists today because most individuals’ perceptions are blurred, and they cannot see that it is a problem in modern society. In social institutions, the groups that are affected are not only Blacks but also those who are not part of the dominant group, including Hispanics and Latinos.

W.E.B. Du Bois’s Fight Against Racism

Scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois opposed racism and fought for the civil rights of African Americans. Du Bois “emphasized that the unbalanced distribution of wealth in this country is the fundamental obstruction to the expansion of human rights.” Du Bois wanted equal rights for blacks. “In addition, Du Bois highlighted the structural and collectivist dimension of class and race; he also recognized that their institutional and symbolic features were perpetuated and disseminated in everyday interaction at the level of the individual”. Du Bois understood that “the problem of the twentieth century was the problem of the color-line.”

In other words, he believed as long as there was a color difference in society, individuals would continue to discriminate and alienate people of color. Furthermore, he said, ‘To be a poor man in a land of dollars is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.’ Meaning that in a land where there is opportunity and freedom to gain wealth, somehow, people of color will remain enslaved by contemporary measures. Moreover, it becomes harder for someone of color than someone in poverty to obtain equality. For Du Bois, racism was his main target, and he wanted to eliminate the divide between races.

Exploring Du Bois’s Key Concepts

In addition, Du Bois studied a concept called the color line to see how it took effect on society, including both the marginalized and the privileged. The color line refers to the divide between races and is seen as a boundary between bright and blurred lines, depending on whom you ask. This is where people are blinded by the issue and think their words and actions are not prejudiced. Racism begins to intensify this way and starts becoming a part of everyday interaction.

Another concept Du Bois studied was double consciousness. Double consciousness “is explained as the individual sensation of feeling as though your identity is divided into several parts, making it difficult or impossible to have one unified identity.” In other words, white people did not see Blacks as “true Americans.” They believed you could not be Black and American simultaneously. This is where a person of color did something beyond their character in order to not offend but please the dominant group.

Racism in Modern Institutions

Finally, Du Bois studied another important concept, the veil. The veil was a demonstration of the color line. “It suggested that]the literal darker skin of Blacks was a physical separation of difference from whiteness.” People of color were not seen as who they truly were or what they could do; they were only seen for their darker skin. Du Bois’s concepts painted a picture for society to see the problem of racism. Moreover, racism becomes integrated into social institutions.

‘Racial prejudice and discrimination in the world today arise from historical and social phenomena”. If someone is not part of the “dominant” group, the whites, then they will be treated more poorly in society. “Biological traits such as skin color, facial shape, and hair color and texture could define racial boundaries if people chose to use them for that purpose.”

In other words, society determines who is labeled as a part of the dominant group. The dominant group becomes privileged and starts to be blinded by the issue of racism. They are unable to acknowledge that it is still a problem today. Due to this “blindness,” people that have lighter skin are treated with more privilege than those who have darker skin. For example, in society, we see groups like Blacks and Mexicans getting treated unfairly compared to white people in social institutions. These social institutions have become racialized.

Furthermore, the social conditions that intensify racism are reflected in the inequalities concerning wealth, income, employment, education, political power, and the criminal justice system. These social conditions are all influenced by race and affect individuals who have darker complexions. Additionally, institutional racism is not only intentional and overt but can also be unintentional and part of the normal operations of society. For example, society may stereotype and discriminate against certain groups without even being aware of their actions.

In modern society, we see racism integrated into the criminal justice system. In the criminal justice system, individuals “assign a moral rubric to what is equivalent to Jim Crow arrangements…and racist narratives about black men become integrated into one’s criminal defense with impunity” Furthermore, the authors state, “to resist, defense attorneys use oppositional narratives that diminish the discussion of race and instead, emphasize attributes of their clients’ biography as ‘middle-class’ and ‘respectable’ in standing”. Attorneys ignore the defendant’s race and instead bring up who they are as a person. This is because society discriminates against people of color and often gives them harsher sentences for the same crime a white person has committed. Moreover, “this shows how the criminal justice system (administered by white prosecutors) efficiently categorizes and governs Blacks and Latinos”.

Van and Artorano state, “in an era of mass incarceration and color-blind racism, this study demonstrates how racial frames become hidden in the lines of justice, and how institutional processes hide the reproduction of race”. In this study, Van & Artorano found that if mass incarceration continued for people of color then “an African American male would have a 1 in 3 chance of going to prison during his lifetime, and a Latino would have a 1 in 6 chance, while a Caucasian male would receive a 1 in 17 chance of going to prison”. This shows that Blacks and Latinos would be more likely to go to jail even if they committed the same crime as a white person simply because they aren’t white.

The study also found that “although African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the U.S. population, 56% of them were incarcerated” Furthermore, “if African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates as whites, then prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%”.As a result, “the criminal courts become a product of and mechanism for reproducing the marginalization of minorities, reinforcing racial stigma and constructing racial hierarchies”.

In today’s society, we still see racism in incarcerations, especially after the election of President Donald Trump. Mexicans were accused of taking jobs from Americans and abusing the educational system, health care, and welfare state. The dominant group found that “it is easier to politically, legally, and morally rationalize and legitimize the harsh treatment of people who are essentially viewed as ‘outsiders,’ and perceived them as ‘illegal aliens.’”

During Trump’s presidency, we still see that he is incarcerating many Mexicans in the U.S. that are “illegal” and Mexicans that are attempting to cross the border. This results in parents and children being separated from each other and breaking up their families. President Trump has a repulsive feeling against Mexicans and Blacks. Because of his position as President, he uses his power to continue discriminating the minority groups. As a result, racism becomes integrated into everyday life for people of color.

According to scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois, as long as the color line existed, minority groups would still have to face discrimination. Racism is still a part of modern society, and it will continue as long as there is a difference in skin color between individuals. As a result, individuals change their character in order to fit in and please the dominant group. There are social conditions and social institutions that intensify racism, and the one that affects people of color the most is incarceration. There is mass incarceration for African Americans and Latinos compared to whites. Within these social institutions, it is important to remember there are multiple groups that face racism, and that includes all people of color or people who are not part of the dominant group in society.

References:

1. Appiah, K. A. (2015). The Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity. Profile Books.
2. Edles, L. D., & Appelrouth, S. (2015). Sociological theory in the contemporary era: Text and readings. SAGE Publications.
3. Green, N. L., & Smith, W. (1983). From stereotype to archetype in African-American literature. Black American Literature Forum, 17(4), 163-167.
4. Van, M. D., & Artorano, C. G. (2011). Race, Colorblindness, and Morality. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 27(4), 435-452.