Tim Payne, age 13, of Pocatello, Idaho, for his question:
HAVE WE HAD RACISM LONG?
Racism is the belief that members of one or more races are infU ~0 to members of other races. Unfortunately, racism has been in existence since the beginning of history.
Ancient Greeks and Romans made slaves of people whom they regarded as inferior. The Jews considered themselves the chosen people of God and have themselves been persecuted on religious and cultural grounds. For hundreds of years after Marco Polo traveled to China in the 1200s, the Chinese regarded Westerners as hairy white barbarians.
Hopefully, racism someday will be a thing of the past. It is important for people to realize that groups, as well as individuals, differ. But there is no scientific evidence to support claims of superiority or inferiority for these groups.
History tells of racism in the past.
Between the 1700s and the early 1900s, Europeans gained control of large parts of Asia and Africa. They justified their domination on the grounds that the black skinned, brown skinned and yellow skinned inhabitants had to be "civilized" by "superior" whites.
By the mid 1900s, most colonialism had ended. But its effects on the world are still felt today.
From the 1600s to the mid 1800s, many whites in the United States held blacks in slavery. Slavery was a major cause of the Civil War. The slaves were freed during the 1860s but segregation and discrimination against blacks continued. Laws have now been passed to give equal opportunities to all.
Racism at its most extreme came when Adolf Hitler ruled Nazi Germany. Jews and other non Nordic people were considered to be inferior. Nazi policies brought the murder of about 6 million Jews during the 1930s and 1940s.
Since the 1940s, the government of South Africa has followed a system of racial separation.
Social scientists emphasize that no two groups have exactly the same environment. As a result, many group differences are largely the result of different environments. But scientists have long disagreed over the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining these differences.
Racism is widespread and has caused major problems, even though no scientific proof supports racist claims. Claims of racial superiority and inferiority have been used to justify discrimination, segregation, colonialism, slavery and even genocide or mass murder.
Racism is definitely a form of prejudice. Many people tend to consider their own appearance and behavior as normal and therefore desirable. They may distrust or fear people who look or act differently.
When differences are obvious such as skin color, shape of the eyes or religious worship the distrust becomes greater.