Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 1

Race Relations and Prejudice

TSL 544 Teaching in a Pluralistic Society

Hubert Clarke, Instructor

Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona

By

Danny Dixon

May 18, 2008

 Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 2

Development of Race and Ethnic Relations

Introduction

A substantial pattern of prejudice and discrimination may be identified in

the United States primarily affecting negatively Blacks, initially brought to the

continent involuntarily, and Hispanics, from whom a significant portion of land

was absorbed by war as White European colonists, primarily, expanded

westward fully motivated by a sense of Manifest Destiny. It is also appropriate

in a study of the development of race and ethnic relations to include significant

discussion concerning a presently ethno-cultural group, Muslims, who are

destined to be the recipients of prejudice and discrimination by the three

aforementioned bodies because of the change of the world since September 11,

2008.

Early History

Bennett provides an excellent outline of recent events that have marked

what she calls “the prevalence of prejudice and racism” in the United States

(Bennett, 77). Bennett does not avoid acknowledgment of the horrors of African

slaves brought to the United States in which

over 100 million Black Africans were either killed or transported to the
Americas between 1502 when the slave trade began and its actual end in
the 1860’s. [Therein] over 400,000 Africans had been forced into slavery
in North America and another 10 to 50 million were forcibly transported
to South America and the Caribbean. By 1860 the African American
population in the United States had grown . . . to more than 4 million, with
the majority being born into slavery. (Bennett, 135).
 Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 3

This first of three phases of African American history in the United States

continues with a fair treatment to 1992 of their status of being their masters’

personal property, emancipated freemen with the right to vote after the

American Reconstruction Act of 1867; surviving as victims of a failure by

legislators following the14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution to

develop fair land distribution reform resulting in their status, mainly, as tenant

sharecroppers, treatment as second class and often disenfranchised citizens,

“coloreds” kept “separate from Whites in schools, public transportation,

restaurants, theaters, baseball fields, public bathrooms, swimming pools, doctors

offices, and so on” ( Bennett, 139); and even after migration north to live in

cities across the United States, experiencing a Harlem Renaissance in literature,

art, music, and film during the 1920s; benefiting from the effects of social

commentary by authors such as W. E. B. Bubois’ Souls of Black Folk and

Richard Wright in his 12 Million Black Voices, social advances through civil

rights consciousness initiated through civil disobedient acts led by men such as

Martin Luther King, the Black Panther organization, and Black Muslims (The

Nation of Islam) represented most significantly by the fiery Malcolm Little (who

adopted the name “Malcolm X”) primarily in the 1950s and carried out after

legislation in the1960s (Bennett, 135-143).

Bennett does not purport to write a history of African Americans from

first to last, although she does, trace the above details. She does, however pick

up on sifnificant events beginning in 1992 to the near-present, which are

 Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 4

significant sociologically as regards Blacks in the United States including the

following:

• The 1992 Rodney King beating by four white Los Angeles policemen.
The officers were acquitted resulting in outrage and riots in south-central
Los Angeles resulting in 50 deaths and $800 million of financial and
property losses.
• A 1995 Harvard study reporting of the dismantling of desegregation, one
of the pivotal decisions of the 1950s and meticulously carried out in the
1960s.
• The O. J. Simpson murder trial and divisive discussion within families,
communities, classrooms, workplaces after the not guilty decision in the
criminal case.
• Increases during the summer of 1994, for example, of ethno-violence.
• An increase of “hate sites” on the Internet increasing dramatically as late
as 1997.
• The James Byrd truck dragging, in which an African American was
dragged to his death by two white males in 1998.
• Benjamin Smith of the World Church killing African Americans and
Asian Americans on a three-day spree of racially motivated violence.
• Racial violence breaking out after Cincinnati, Ohio police shot and killed
an unarmed African American boy in 2001.
• In 2004 over 1500 harassment and anti-Muslim violence cases, an
increase of 50% over the previous year (Bennett, 78-79).
Bennet mentions a number of world events in which ethnic tensions can be seen

as cases of indigenous Brazilian Indians experiencing epidemic suicides after

displacement from homelands; ethnic cleansing in various places in the world;

Arab-Israli conflicts in the Middle East, genocide between tribes in Africa;

English vs. Pakistani tensions. And Bennett mentions, briefly, that

on September 11, 2001, an international network of terrorists attacked the

World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.,
killing thousands of innocent civilians from the United States and many
other nations from around the world. (Bennett, 79).
 Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 5

While any number of groups call for a continuing investigation of the events of

September 11 (Avery, 2007), it should not be forgotten that this Pearl Harbor

type event, in and of itself, has cast the United States into war in two theaters,

Afghanistan and Iraq with one more looming on the horizon (Iran).

Ongoing Challenges

Certainly there is much yet to be done with respect to racial

discrimination toward American Blacks. However, the ramifications for Islamic

people since September 11, 2001 are becoming increasingly evident. Jim Lobe

writes to this effect:

The yearly number of complaints of civil-rights-related incidents -- that is,

discrimination, harassment, and violence that did not rise to the level of
hate crimes -- tripled between the April 1995 Oklahoma bombing and
mid-1997 from 80 to 240. It then climbed gradually up to 366 over the
following four years before the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New
York and the Pentagon.
Since, then, however, the number of reported incidents have risen
sharply -- from 602 in 2002, to 1,019 in 2003, to 1,522 in 2004, to just
under 2,000 last year, according to the report which suggested that
increased awareness of civil rights issues within the U.S. Muslim
community, as well as a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment as reflected in the
polls, may have combined to push the totals ever higher.
But the author of the report, CAIR Legal Director Arsalan Iftikhar,
insisted that media, including the Internet, is the single most important
cause of the latter.
"We believe the biggest factor contributing to anti-Muslim feeling
and the resulting acts of bias is the growth in Islamophobic rhetoric that
has flooded the Internet and talk radio in the post 9/11 era," he said. "You
can't turn on the radio without hearing negative, bigoted comments about
Islam." (Lobe, 2006).
 Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 6

Even Senator John McCain, front runner in the final months bid for the

candidacy as the Republican candidate for President has “hailed as a spiritual

adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor [Rod Parsley] who has called upon

Christians to wage a ‘war’ against the ‘false religion’ of Islam with the aim of

destroying it.” Parsley reportedly wrote the following in his 2005 book Silent

No More:

I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of
Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: I do
not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we
understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement
sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that
America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false
religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational
call to arms that we can no longer ignore. (Corn, 2008).

Such language does all but promote cool headedness in a social climate that is

already fertile soil for prejudice. Nor do such attitudes promote reciprocal

feelings from Arabs. Tawfik Hamid, a former member of Jemaah Islamiya, an

Islamist terrorist group, a medical doctor and Muslim reformer living in the

West writes:

Islamic organizations regularly accuse non-Muslims of "Islamophobia," a

fear and disdain for everything Islamic. On May 17, this accusation
bubbled up again as foreign ministers from the Organization of the
Islamic Conference called Islamophobia "the worst form of terrorism."
These ministers also warned, according to the Arab News, that this form
of discrimination would cause millions of Muslims in Western countries,
"many of whom were already underprivileged," to be "further alienated."
(Hamid, 2007).
 Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 7

Vision

Interestingly a growing number of Muslims are willing to be proactive in

the resolution of the problem of fear of their people. The following suggestions

have been made that would alleviate Islamophobia:

To bring an end to Islamophobia, we must employ a holistic approach that

treats the core of the disease. It will not suffice to merely suppress the
symptoms. It is imperative to adopt new Islamic teachings that do not
allow killing apostates (Redda Law). Islamic authorities must provide
mainstream Islamic books that forbid polygamy and beating women.
Accepted Islamic doctrine should take a strong stand against slavery and
the raping of female war prisoners, as happens in Darfur under the explicit
canons of Shariah ("Ma Malakat Aimanikum"). Muslims should teach,
everywhere and universally, that a woman's testimony in court counts as
much as a man's, that women should not be punished if they marry whom
they please or dress as they wish.

We Muslims should publicly show our strong disapproval for the growing
number of attacks by Muslims against other faiths and against other
Muslims. (Hamid, 2007).

Progressive Muslims seem able to see that the core issues causing prejudice

toward their people are not those surrounding September 11. Rather basic

human rights and demonstrable respect for human rights and women’s rights go

a long way in helping Americans dispel prejudice against Islamists.

Conclusion

Without question race relations regarding minorities in the United States,

particularly with respect to Black Americans, remains a problem. As has been

true of even the last 16 years at the least, African Americans in the news has

hooked the attention of other Americans as well as the world. Other study will
 Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 8

reveal a similar reality with respect to Hispanic Americans. All should be

concerned and resolution to this problem should be at the forefront of everyone.

Even so, as research shows, still fresh on the minds of many Americans—

even Americans who show prejudicial attitudes about Muslims—the sticking

point is September 11 and assumptions about how Islam treats women. It is not

only non-Arab Americans who see the problem. Arab Islamists themselves see

that a relaxed attitude regarding womens’ rights would be a major advance in

ending, or at the very least, systematically decreasing prejudice.

 Development of Race and Ethnic Relations 9

Works Cited

Avery, Dylan, Bermas, Jason & Rowe, Corey (2007) Loose change: final cut. A
louder than
words production. Retrieved May 18, 2008 from: lc911finalcut.com.

Bennett, Christine I. (2007). Comprehensive multicultural education: Theory

and practice.
Sixth edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Corn, David (March 12, 2008). “McCain’s spiritual guide: Destroy Islam.”
Washington
Dispatch, The Foundation for National Progress. Retrieved May 19, 2008
from: http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-
mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html

Hamid, Tawfik (May 25, 2007). “How to end ‘Islamaphobia’: The latest survey
of American
Muslims won't reassure their fellow citizens.” The Wall Street Journal.
Retrieved May 19, 2008 from:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010123

Hopwood v. State of Texas (March 18, 1996). United States Court of Appeals
for the 5th
Circuit. Retrieved March 18, 2008 from: http://www.cir-
usa.org/legal_docs/hopwood_v_texas_fifth.pdf

Lobe, Jim (September 19, 2006). Big jump found in US anti-Muslim incidents.
Inter Press
Service, News Center.Accessed May 19, 2008 from
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0919-02.htm