Anti-racism 372484 225885333 2008-07-15T21:23:39Z 218.12.54.136 To claim something is the best known speech of all time withour providing cited evidence is against wikipedia's policy. {{POV|date=December 2007}} {{Unreferenced|date=May 2007}} '''Anti-racism''' includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose [[racism]]. In general, anti-racism is intended to promote an [[egalitarian]] society in which people do not face [[discrimination]] on the basis of their [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], however defined. By its nature, anti-racism tends to promote the view that racism in a particular society is both pernicious and socially pervasive, and that particular changes in political, economic, and/or social life are required to eliminate it. ==American origins of modern anti-racism== Many of founders of the [[United States of America]] did not exhibit anti-racist tendencies, and many were owners of [[black (people)|black]] slaves. In fact, protections of the legal practice of [[slavery]] based on racism were written into the text of the original [[Constitution of the United States]]. This was despite implicitly anti-racist founding statements such as "[[all men are created equal]]" from the [[American Declaration of Independence]] of [[1776]]. Although such inconsistencies were pointed this out by [[black (people)|black]] [[western world|westerners]], like [[Olaudah Equiano]], and [[white (people)|whites]], like [[Thomas Jefferson]], the author of the Declaration, serious [[politics|political]] change on the issue would have to wait until the [[American Civil War]]. The first great successes of anti-racism were won by the [[abolition]]ist movement, both in England and the United States. Though many abolitionists did not regard blacks or [[mulatto]]s as equal to whites, they did in general believe in [[freedom (political)|freedom]] and often even [[equal protection|equal of treatment for all people]]. A few, like [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]], went further. Brown was willing to die on behalf of, as he said, "millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments...." Many black abolitionists, like [[Frederick Douglass]], explicitly argued for the humanity of blacks and mulattos, and for the equality of all people. During the [[American Civil War]], anti-racism in the North became much stronger and more generally disseminated. The success of [[black troops]] in the [[Union Army]] had a dramatic impact on Northern sentiment. The [[Emancipation Proclamation]] was a notable example of this shift in political attitudes, although it notably did not completely extinguish legal slavery in several states. After the war, the [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] government was often explicitly anti-racist, most notably in passing the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendments]] to the Constitution to guarantee the rights of blacks and mulattos, but also in its general support for black and mulatto rights and in its commitment to equal treatment. As a result, many ex-slaves had access to [[education]] for the first time. Blacks and mulattos were also allowed to vote, which meant that African-Americans were elected to [[Congress of the United States of America|Congress]] in numbers not seen before -- or since.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} Due to prolonged racist resistance in the [[American South|South]], however, and a general collapse of idealism in the North, Reconstruction ended, and gave way to the [[nadir of American race relations]]. The period from about 1890 to 1920 saw the re-establishment of racist [[Jim Crow]] laws and a general abandonment of anti-racist ideology. [[Woodrow Wilson]], a [[Historical revisionism (negationism)|revisionist historian]] who regarded Reconstruction as a disaster, resegregated the federal government. The [[Ku Klux Klan]] grew to its greatest peak of popularity and strength. D.W. Griffith's "[[The Birth of a Nation]]" was a movie sensation. During this period, John Brown's anti-racist stance was so incomprehensible that he became regarded as [[insane]].{{Fact|date=October 2007}} ==Racial equality proposal of Japan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919== :''(For more detailed information, see [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919]]).'' [[Japan]] first proposed articles dedicated to the elimination of racial discrimination to be added to the rules of the [[League of Nations]]. This was the first proposal concerning the international elimination of racial discrimination in the world.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} Although the proposal received a majority (11 out of 16) of votes, the chairman, U.S. President [[Woodrow Wilson]], overturned it saying that important issues should be unanimously approved. It is said that behind the scenes, [[Billy Hughes|Billy "Sea Otter" Hughes]] and [[Joseph Cook]] vigorously opposed it as it undermined the [[White Australia Policy]].{{Fact|date=October 2007}} ==The revival of anti-racism in the United States== Anti-racism showed signs of revival in the 1920s and 1930s. At that time, anthropologists such as [[Franz Boas]], [[Ruth Benedict]], [[Margaret Mead]], and [[Ashley Montagu]] argued for the equality of humans across races and cultures. [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] was a very visible advocate for minority rights during this period. Socialist organizations like the [[wobblies]], which gained some popularity during the [[Great Depression]] were often explicitly anti-racist. Beginning with the [[Harlem Renaissance]] and continuing into the 1960s, many African-American writers, including [[James Weldon Johnson]], [[Langston Hughes]], [[Richard Wright (author)|Richard Wright]], and [[James Baldwin (writer)|James Baldwin]] argued forcefully against racism. Anti-racism won its most notable and lasting victories in the United States during the [[Civil Rights Movement]]. [[Jim Crow laws]] were repealed in the South and blacks finally re-won the right to vote in Southern states. Civil-rights leader [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] was an influential force in the Civil Rights Movement, and his "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech is an exemplary condensation of his anti-racist ideology. ==Anti-racism's influence== Anti-racist ideology has been hugely influential. It has been a catalyst for [[feminism]], [[anti-war]], and [[anti-imperialism|anti-imperialist]] movements. [[Henry David Thoreau]]'s opposition to the [[Mexican-American War]], for example, was based in his fear that the U.S. was using the war as an excuse to expand [[History of slavery in the United States|American slavery]] into new territories. Thoreau's response was chronicled in his famous essay "[[Civil Disobedience]]", which in turn helped ignite [[Gandhi]]'s successful campaign against the British in [[India]].{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Gandhi's example in turn inspired the American [[Civil Rights]] movement. Indeed, as [[James Loewen]] notes in "Lies My Teacher Told Me": "Throughout the world, from [[Africa]] to [[Northern Ireland]], movements of oppressed people continue to use tactics and words borrowed from our abolitionist and civil rights movements." In [[East Germany]], in revolutionary [[Iran]], in [[Tiananmen Square]], in [[History of South Africa in the apartheid era|South Africa]], images, words, and tactics developed by anti-racism, or pro-human rights supporter, or supporters of self-determination and national freedom have been used regularly and repeatedly. Many of these uses have been controversial. For example, [[Ho Chi Minh]] was an admirer of John Brown. The [[pro-life]] movement often draws connections between its goals and the goals of abolitionism. In [[Zimbabwe]], [[Robert Mugabe]] has used anti-racist rhetoric to a land-distribution scheme which resulted in widespread starvation. However, it has been argued that Mr. Mugabe himself heads a racist government due to his blatant acts of hostility and oppression toward White Zimbabweans (see [[Land reform in Zimbabwe]]).<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/698175.stm UK anger over Zimbabwe violence]</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,,2048032,00.html Corrupt, greedy and violent]</ref><ref name=sentamu>[http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2970781.ece Sentamu urges Mugabe action], ''The Independent'', September 20, 2007</ref> Still, whether one supports or despises use or abuse of the anti-racist ideal or rhetoric in any particular context, anti-racism's success, at least in one sense, has been overwhelming. Not so long ago, racism was the explicit ideology of [[Western world|the West]]. Today, on the other hand, it is eschewed, at least in name, by almost every prominent figure of note. In recent years, no major public figures, including [[Strom Thurmond]] and [[David Duke]], have defined themselves as [[white supremacist]]s. ==Controversies== Despite anti-racism's successes, some people feel that racism is still a powerful force in Western societies. Some proponents of anti-racism point to ongoing differences in quality of life among different races as examples of the effects of underlying racist attitudes and point to phenomena such as the [[drug war]], the [[prison system]], ongoing [[racial segregation|segregation]] of housing, [[racial profiling]], [[police brutality]], U.S. [[imperialism]], and the [[immigration reductionism]] movement. {{Fact|date=October 2007}} Many political commentators have also noted that politicians play on racially biased fears when advocating policies associated with the [[War on Terrorism]], such as those policies relevant to the current [[Iraq War]]. {{Fact|date=October 2007}} Anti-racists have advocated various responses to this perceived underlying racism, from constitutional changes (for instance, changes in drug laws or in school funding) to greater individual sensitivity. A few of the more controversial programs advocated by some anti-racists include [[reparation (legal)|reparations]], [[affirmative action]], [[diversity training]], and the [[antifa]] movement. Critics of contemporary anti-racism say that [[ethnicity]] amid some degree of [[ethnocentrism]] is legitimate and beneficial and that there are non-discriminatory explanations to most racial differences in social and economic position. They also feel that an automatic presumption that racism is to blame for such differences is corrosive to society as a whole. Members of the majority group become frustrated and resentful as they find themselves accused of having racist attitudes regardless of their efforts to be "color-blind", and members of minorities lose any sense of personal responsibility for their well-being, replacing it with an inveterate hatred for the larger society<ref>''Cultural Whiplash: the Unforeseen Consequences of America's Crusade Against Racial Discrimmination'' / Patrick Garry (2006) ISBN 1581825692</ref> Many consider anti-racism to be fueled by a leftist coalition between [[white guilt]] and [[identity politics]], and have stated that anti-racism, as practiced in the contemporary Western world, is essentially racism against white people. {{Fact|date=October 2007}} However, anti-anti-racist groups do not consider themselves racist. {{Fact|date=October 2007}} Others, however, claim the existence of preconceptions towards race, gender and age which affect the way we see and relate with/to others and which accumulate over time leading to considerable differences which in turn mold the person into a preconceived role with "proper" limits and aspirations.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} In recent years the belief that race has no effect on intelligence or potential -- a basic tenet of anti-racist philosophy -- has been challenged by scholars such as [[Charles Murray (author)|Charles Murray]], [[Michael Levin]], and [[J. Philippe Rushton]] and defended by other scholars such as [[Stephen Jay Gould]], [[Richard Levin]] and [[Richard Lewontin]]. They claim that, in light of the slight but definite effect that racial origins have on physical traits like medical risk factors or athletic abilities, there is no reason to suppose that such effects do not extend to mental traits.<ref> [http://www.euvolution.com/articles/racematters.html ''Does Race Matter? - Recent Developments'']</ref><ref>[http://www.geocities.com/race_articles/rushton_view_race.html ''Race is More Than Just Skin Deep: A Psychologist's View'']</ref> In October 2007, Nobel laureate and discoverer of the DNA structure [[James_watson#Statement_claiming_links_between_race_and_intelligence|James Watson]] caused an uproar by stating that there probably is a link between race and intelligence and that tangible evidence can be expected within about ten years. *[http://www.legalferret.net Weaver v NATFHE/Bournville College Racial Harassment Issue]Information about a racial discrimination case in the United Kingdom where an ‘anti-racist’ trade union had a racially discriminatory policy of refusing to assist complainants of racist harassment. ==See also== *[[Affirmative Action]] *[[Allophilia]] *[[Anti-racist mathematics]] *[[Feminism]] *[[Racism]] *[[Color blindness (race)]] *[[Political Correctness]] *[[Race and intelligence]] *[[Racial realism]] *[[Racism in the United States]] *[[Social criticism]] *[[Teaching for social justice]] ==Anti-racist organizations== *By Any Means Necessary ([[BAMN]]) (United States) *[[Aktion Kinder des Holocaust]] (Switzerland) *[[Anti-Racist Action]] (North America) *[[Anti-Fascist Action]] (United Kingdom) *[[Campaign Against Racism and Fascism]] (United Kingdom) *[[Catalyst Project: a center for political education and movement building]] (United States) *[[Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism]] (Belgium) *[[Copwatch]] (United States) *[[FightDemBack!]] (Australia and New Zealand) *[[Institute of Race Relations]] (United Kingdom) *[[National Assembly Against Racism]] (United Kingdom) *[[Newham Monitoring Project]] (United Kingdom) *[[One People's Project]] (United States) *[[Red and Anarchist Skinheads]] *[[Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice]] *[[Roots of Resistance]] (Canada) *[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (United States) *[[The Night Watch]] (United Kingdom) *[[UNITED for Intercultural Action]] (European-wide Anti-racist Network) *[[World Conference against Racism]] (United Nations) ==References== {{reflist}} ResidentsAgainstRacism (Ireland) * Wright W. D. (1998) ''"Racism Matters"'', Westport, CT: Praeger. ==External links== *[http://www.africaunite.net Africa Unite] *[http://www.newdemographic.com New Demographic, an Anti-Racism Training Company] *[http://www.collaborativeproject.org Speaking Out Against Racism] *[http://www.iww.org/culture/biography/HubertHarrison1.shtml Hubert Harrison] *[http://www.iww.org/culture/biography/BenFletcher1.shtml Ben Fletcher] *[http://dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Race-Ethnic-Religious_Relations/Anti-Racism/ Open Directory] category *[http://gar.sydlexia.com/ Gamers Against Racism (GAR)] *[http://www.wacan.org/ White Anti-racist Community Action Network (WACAN)] {{Racism topics|state=collapsed}} [[Category:Anti-racism]] [[Category:Racism]] [[de:Antirassismus]] [[es:Antirracismo]] [[fr:Antiracisme]] [[ru:Антирасизм]] [[sv:Antirasism]]