SOC 101 Final Paper Social Sciences Essay Research

Dr. Beverly Tatum's Narrations on Racism Student’s Name:
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Final Paper Questions
Question One
Question One: Part 1
Dr. Beverly Tatum has done extensive exploration of issues surrounding race and learning. Her work's epicenters revolve around racial identity development in teenagers, race factor in education, and assimilation of black youth. Thus, she has a lot of experience and knowledge of child development in the context of race and racism.
One example of Dr. Tatum’s narrations on racism includes ‘Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together?’ Dr. Beverly Tatum answers this question by saying that black children may aggregate in most of the situations because they are ‘minority’, which causes a bit of discomfort in an area where the larger position of the population id predominantly white. She gives an example by saying that if one joins is a minority and joins a racially different group, he or she will get worried and would even like someone for the company (Matos, Jennifer,pp.267-269).
Furthermore, Dr. Beverly Tatum observes that children tend to interact across racial lines more during elementary schooling that when they join junior school or high school. The difference in the level of racial interaction between n the levels of schools is due to child’s transition into adolescence. During adolescence, the kids tend to try to establish their identities and the issues of race and ethnicity can easily pop up, which causes less racial lines interaction, but more interactions between adolescence of the same race.
Dr. Beverly Tatum narrates an example to illustrates how an aspect of racism emerges across individual’s lifespan. She talks about a 7-year old boy whom everyone thinks he is cute and he is being referred to as ‘cute boy’. This boy would internalize such type of perception, but when the same boy hits 15 years, he is no longer cute but is now perceived as a dangerous or a potential criminal. People may be suspicious of him, and many would try to avoid him. This boy is likely to ask himself many questions, such as why are people avoiding me? Why are people feeling suspicious and tend to avoid him? And why does a security guard in the mall give a closer eye on him and follows him around? Such a boy will try to figure out what is happening in a bid to make sense of it, and would also try to establish connections with other people who are undergoing similar experiences. Thus, even if such a young boy was brought up in racially diverse backgrounds, he would likely move away or dissociate with his non-black friends. This occurrence is due to the idea that his white counterparts, or non-black friends, are not having similar encounters with racism. 
Many white youths more often may not understand how racism operates in the communities, and this would make them be not helpful to their black friends. This story of a young boy is replicable among young black girls, or any other children from perceived less dominant race, or group. I picked this example because it provides a clear demonstration of how racism evolves, and this example is applicable in the majority of contexts of various minorities. Thus, this example can be used as a learning model to facilitate ease of understanding of what constitutes the roots of racism.
Question One: Part 2
I became aware of racism at age 16 years when a friend of mine of African ancestry was arrested suspected by neighbors of being a criminal suspect. There were no suggestive behaviors of being a criminal, and he was with other white friends, whom none suspected them of nay misdeeds. At that time, I did not really understand what was going on though I felt that my friend was being victimized for no offense. I now understand what racism means. I know that it assumes different forms and can occur in various places and contexts. 
Racism is treating individually unjustly based on skin color, place of origin, or skin color. This unfair treatment could be harassment, intimidation, violence, name-calling, sarcastic jokes, abuse, humiliation, and exclusion of some individuals form specific activities, programs, or groups based on ethnicity or skin color. Racism occurs both online or offline, such as media, institutions, and public space, and it is more often manifested through individual behaviors. I think that racism should be condemned, and people should be made aware of racism, that people are the same irrespective of their skin color.
Question 2
Many social constructs that promote prejudice are founded on false perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs. These social constructs are associated with unfounded advantage and privilege that benefits the dominant group. For example, white, the wealthy and mentally healthy people, people are often treated better than their respective counterparts.
Sexism is an example of biased social constructs that are driven on unfounded narratives. Sexism embodies actions, behaviors, or attitudes that discriminate against people based on their gender. Sexism is associated with power: the ones with power are often treated with favor, and those without power are ordinarily discriminated against and stereotyped. It must be noted that sexism stereotyping or discriminative actions, which are based on false beliefs and generalizations of gender dynamics, even when its relevance has not been established. Sexism has a neg...