Racism is one of the biggest problems these days around the world, which has always existed. In the past, racism was much worse than it is today, but it was not considered as problematic as today, it was normal and the people did not give attention to it. After many incidents of violence and injustice all over the world, people started to manifestate indignation against it through protests and social media, which made it more visible and massive considering that people’s access to the internet and social media have been increasing in recent years. Because of all of these movements like “Black Lives Matter”, racism is now considered a crime. However, even with a big amount of the population being more aware of this topic, there are still people who are racist and their mindset did not change. Besides, racism is a result of the colonialist mind and supremacy and it is good that is being less normalized and has punishment.

Discrimination by origin can be traced back to antiquity when Greek and Latin peoples classified foreigners as barbarians (SETH). The origin of the designation of race prejudice, in particular, is younger, having been leveraged in the 16th and 17th centuries by maritime expansion and colonization of the American continent (Macleod). The domination of the “new world” (so-called by the Europeans), the genocide of native peoples, and the systemic enslavement of African peoples generated a movement in an attempt to justify such power relations by a supposed hierarchy of races (Mentan).

In their Eurocentric view, Europeans considered that people of native European origin would be more intelligent and able to dominate and prosper. In contrast, blacks and indigenous people were often considered animals. Furthermore, in the nineteenth century, with the impulse positivist on the sciences, racist scientific theories emerged to rank the races and prove the superiority of the pure white race. Also, in the nineteenth century, a study based on anthropology, physiology, and psychology called craniometry or craniology emerged. This study consisted of taking measurements from the skulls of individuals and comparing the sizes with data such as propensity to violence and intelligence coefficients (GOODRUM). Today, however, severe studies on both a sociological and psychological and a genetic basis no longer give credence to the racist theories of the supremacy of the white race.

If you need more information please visit  library genesis