About the idea of institutionalized perceptions being internalized, I feel like this runs somewhat counter to the idea Eben brought up in class that it doesn't matter whether individuals are racist, but rather whether there is institutionalized white supremacy. The Parsons theory seems to hold that our culture's white supremacy helped make Zimmerman racist, and that said racism then helped push Zimmerman towards shooting Martin. But this ultimately relies upon Zimmerman actually being racist (albeit as a result of cultural influences). If he wasn't racist, then Martin wouldn't be dead.

The best way that I can wrap my head around the whole racism / white supremacy issue is that white supremacy makes it so that Zimmerman, regardless of his personal beliefs, is not deterred from killing Martin. Like in the Mississippi civil rights murders, the killer knows that the law will be reluctant to pursue them, and so they have no incentive not to kill. So it doesn't really matter if the killer is racist; they just kill regardless of their internal beliefs. The problem is the institutionalized white supremacy that protects the killer.

I think I may have misunderstood this concept, because there are two pretty glaring errors in my version of it. First, it assumes that deterrence actually works, and is a major factor stopping us from killing indiscriminately. Second, it would seem to me that this version of institutionalized white supremacy still relies heavily on racism among members of law enforcement and the judicial system. The law doesn't explicitly say that killing young black men with hoodies is an acceptable defense; rather, the accusation that many people are leveling is that Sanford's police department is reluctant to do a thorough investigation, or to arrest Zimmerman on the results of the investigation that they have done. This idea rests on the assumption that there are powerful people in the Sanford PD who believe (perhaps as a result of personal racist beliefs) that Zimmerman shouldn't be punished for killing Martin.

-- KensingNg - 11 Apr 2012

Today's discussion has reminded me of Talcott Parsons and his perceptions on Institutions and Social Evolution. I personally find this topic very interesting and I thought it would be beneficial to share my understanding of Parsons's view to facilitate this discussion on the distinction/connection between white supremacy and racism.

Parsons argues that the elements of our society (such as political institution) serve an important function of internalizing cultural norms. He specifically notes that, "internalization of a cultural pattern is not merely knowing it as an object of the external world; it is incorporating it into the actual structure of the personality as such" (p. 141). To speak in this context, for example, individual not only observes the institution of white supremacy but also internalizes that institutional perception of white supremacy to his/her perception on race. I believe this quote assists understanding the professor's point on how white supremacy and racism, although distinct, are not completely separate.

Not only is Parsons helpful in exploring this relationship between white supremacy and racism, his view raises interesting issues that are relevant to this course. We have been discussing law as the weakest form of social control. However, according to this view by Parsons, law is a powerful mechanism of social control because social institution like law shapes individual perception. To my understanding, under this view, law is effective form of social control not because it makes people do something that they do not want to, but because law shapes what people think they want.

What are your thoughts on this view?

-- MinKyungLee - 10 Apr 2012