... When a stranger comes into our presence, then, first appearances are likely to enable us to anticipate his category and attributes, his "social identity" ... We lean on these anticipations that we have, transforming them into normative expec-tations, into righteously presented demands. ... It is [when an active question arises as to whether these demands will be filled] that we are likely to realize that all along we had been making certain assumptions as to what the individual before us ought to be. [These assumed demands and the character we impute to the individual will be called] virtual social identity. The category and attributes he could in fact be proved to possess will be called his actual social identity (Goffman, 1986, p. 2). During tense economic times or wartime, it is typical for the political powers to attempt a dehumanization of the enemy, making it easier to stereotype and box individuals as "evil, hunnish, commies, etc." rather than see them as individuals. The "enemy" loses its human characteristics and with it the morality that would usually make someone reasonable towards their fellow humans. Cognitive dissonance, then, it what makes it possible for humans to disassociate people from bias, and to learn to hate or kill based on race. We call them "towel heads" or "hajjis" similar to during Vietnam when the enemy was known as "gooks" or "Charlie," or in past conflicts "the evil Hun," "kraut," "Nazi Pig," "Commie," etc. (Dower; Talerico) Victoria, BC, for instance, was a town of immigrants. Many never differentiated the difference between Japanese and Chinese, which led to the "Chinese Question," whether Orientals should be shipped back to their home country...
Images of the enemy are created by national media propaganda (in complicity with governments) to prepare the minds of citizens to "hate those who fit the new category your enemy" (Racism Toward Immigrants, 2008).
Benjamins, M., Whitman, S. (2014). Relationships between discrimination in health care and health care outcomes among four race/ethnic groups. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 37: 402-413. The researchers are based out of Sinai Urban Health Institute in Chicago, IL. Their study focuses on the ways in which discrimination impacts health care by providing a comparison of the discrimination levels (both ethnic and racial0 in health care in four different ethnic groups. The study
For the aboriginal population of British Columbia, industrialization and capitalism threatened and later undermined traditional ways of life. Trading was soon replaced by wage labour systems. Shifting from barter to a labour market unraveled the essential social institutions of traditional aboriginal society. Potlatches once served as a "bulwark which enabled the aboriginal people to resist acculturation," (p. 252). Lutz, unlike Kealey or DeLottinville, examines the effects of colonialism on
Marrying Citizens! Raced Subjects? Re-thinking the Terrain of Equal Marriage Discourse," Suzanne Lenon attempts to parse the underlying racial assumptions present in the legal fight for marriage equality in Canada, and in doing so reveals that this topic is as much about racial identity as sexual identity. By examining Lemon's article alongside some other relevant research, one is able to see how notions of universal equality are complicated by
Immigration and the Muslim Population 9/11 changed the world -- especially in the U.S. in terms of Muslim-American relations and the way the word "terror" and "terrorist" is used to identify or refer to a group of people.[footnoteRef:1] The issue of Islamaphobia became more pronounced and anti-Muslim immigration policies began to be discussed as a matter of national security.[footnoteRef:2] As -- has shown, the media has been complicit in both demonizing
Anti-oppressive practice should not negate the risks posed to the child. Intervention based on anti-oppressive practice incorporates a risk and needs analysis of both mother and child (p. 237). The authors also state that anti-oppressive practice must move beyond descriptions of the nature of oppression toward more dynamic and creative ways of working. Numerous theorists and authors have addressed these issues and show ways I which the social worker can
Kennedy recognizes the need to establish a bond with all the South American leaders, thereby isolating Chavez-Chavez politically as ineffective leader in South America. Kennedy perceived the Third World in terms of the "national military establishment," and vulnerable to the manipulations of the Soviet Union (Schwab, Orrin, 1998, 1). Kennedy had already gone around with Cuba, and did not wish to repeat his mistakes in Venezuela, but he also
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