This document discusses race, racism, and ethics in the United States. It addresses the divergent views that exist around whether racism is still a problem. It also examines the invisibility of racism to some white Americans. The document outlines the history of the civil rights movement and its expansion beyond African Americans. Key questions are posed around the actual state of racism today, the ideal society, and how to move from the current situation to a minimally acceptable and ideal future regarding race in America. Different models for an ideal society, such as separatist, assimilationist, and pluralistic approaches, are also summarized.

1. Race, Racism, and
Ethics
Lawrence M. Hinman
Send E-mail to Larry Hinman
University of San Diego
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2. Introduction
The question of race continues to divide our
society
We have widely divergent views on whether a
problem even exists
– Most African-Americans see racism as a problem and
many feel it has gotten worse.
– The majority of white Americans see racism as
disappearing and as no longer a significant problem in
the United States.
The Invisibility Thesis: Racism is often invisible
to the majority for several reasons
– They suffer less from it
– They don’t attribute their misfortune to race
– They don’t always see the suffering that people of color
endure.
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3. The Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King,
Jr. dreamed of a
society beyond
racism
Initially, the civil
rights movement
centered around
injustices to
African Americans.
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4. The Movement Expands
Two additional
civil rights
movements
Cesar Chavez and emerged into the
the United Farm Workers public eye:
– Rights for
Mexican-
Americans
Russell Means
first national – Rights for native
director of AIM Americans
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5. Five Fundamental Questions
What is the actual condition today in regard to
race and racism?
What is the ideal that we want to strive to
achieve?
What is the minimally acceptable situation in
regard to race?
How do we get from the actual to the
minimally acceptable condition?
How do we get from the actual to the ideal?
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6. Developing a Moral Stance
Here’s a way of visualizing these issues:
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7. Some Initial Distinctions
Race
– usually biological
– Caucasoid, Negroid, Mongoloid and
sometimes Australoid
Ethnicity
– refers primarily to social and cultural
forms of identification and self-
identification
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8. Some things to note
Racial categories appear biological, but
their significance is often social.
Racial categories in the United States
often appear mutually exclusive, but may
in fact be overlapping.
The 2000 census was the first that allowed
individuals to claim multiple racial
affiliations—e.g., African-American and
Native American.
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9. Racism
Racism has long been a part of
American history
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10. What is racism?
Descriptive: refers to certain attitudes and
actions that
– single out certain people on the basis of their
racial–or, in some cases, ethnic–heritage and
– disadvantage them in some way on this basis.
Evaluative: a negative value judgement
that racism is morally wrong because of:
– intentions
– consequences
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11. Overt and Institutional Racism
Overt racism: intended to discriminate
against one or more groups on the basis
of race
– Example: covenants in deeds preventing
property from being sold to people of color.
Institutional racism: social and
institutional structures that, as a matter of
fact, disadvantage certain racial groups
– For example, do standardized aptitude and
achievement tests disadvantage some
groups?
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12. Official and Unofficial Racism
Distinguish between
– Racism sanctioned by the U.S.
government (e.g., in laws)
– Racism that occurs in the U.S. which is
not perpetrated by the government
We may all as citizens be
responsible as a nation for official
racism in a way in which we are not
responsible for it when it was not
official.
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13. Compensatory Programs
Compensatory programs are a way of
responding to past injustices.
They are justified up until the point at
which the earlier wrong has been
compensated for.
– Rests on a notion of compensatory justice
The country may owe compensation for
officially-sanctioned racism
– Actions against Native Americans
– Actions against Japanese-Americans in WWII
– Enslavement of Africans brought to America
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14. Compensatory Programs
Backward-looking
Do not presume that the present
state of recipients of compensation
is necessarily impoverished
Important symbolic value in
recognizing that a wrong occurred
and expressing sorrow or regret
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15. Future-oriented Models
Differ from compensatory models,
which look to past injustices
Depends on
– one’s notion of an ideal society
– the means acceptable to achieving that
society
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16. Affirmative Action
Four Senses of Affirmative Actions
– Weak senses of affirmative action:
• 1. Encouraging the largest possible number of minority
applications in the applicant pool, and then choosing the
best candidates regardless of gender, race, etc.
• 2. When the two best candidates are equally qualified
and one is a minority candidate, choosing the minority
candidate.
– Strong senses of affirmative action:
• 3. From a group of candidates, all of whom are
qualified, choosing the minority candidate over better
qualified non-minority ones.
• 4. Choosing an unqualified minority candidate over a
qualified non-minority one.
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17. Three Types of Models
of the Ideal Society
Separatist Models
– Involuntary
– Voluntary: rests on identity argument
Assimilationist Models
– Make race irrelevant
– Often presumes assimilation to the dominant
culture
Pluralistic Models
– Many, partially overlapping circles
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18. Separatist Models
Involuntary
– Racial groups have often been involuntarily
segregated from the rest of society
• African-Americans
• Native Americans
• Asians, especially in World War II
Voluntary
– Rests on identity argument
– Religious groups: Mennonites, ultra-orthodox
Jews
– Racial groups: Aryan Nation, Nation of Islam
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19. The Identity Argument
Premise #1: In order to have a happy life,
one must be able to affirm one’s identity.
Premise #2: A central part of one’s identity
is dependent on race.
– Is this true in different ways for minorities vs.
the dominant race?
Conclusion: Society must act in such a
way as to permit, perhaps even
encourage, the affirmation of racial
identity.
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20. Assimilationist Models
Make race irrelevant
– Make race like eye color
– “Melting Pot” metaphor
• Eventual blurring of any racial distinctions
Often presumes assimilation to the
dominant culture
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21. Pluralistic Models
Many, partially overlapping circles
We are members of numerous groups,
based on race, ethnicity, religion,
geography, place in life, hobbies, etc.
Pluralism sees identity as constituted by
all of these affiliations together and does
not see race-based identity as necessarily
primary.
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