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WhiteSupremacyAndIndividualPsychology 4 - 19 Apr 2012 - Main.MinKyungLee
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| | In today's lecture, we discussed the distinction between white supremacy and racism.
In doing so, we made the distinction between institutionalized perception of white supremacy and individual psychology of racism.
The professor also noted that these two are not completely separate but they are intricately connected. | | | 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 | |
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> | Dear Kensing,
Your points are very well taken. I just wanted to respond to some of your arguments.
To begin, I agree with you about the idea of social control and social change. I think your characterization of law in combination with other modes of social control does a good job in reconciling the idea between Parsons and the law as the weakest form of social control.
On the second paragraph, though, I think your characterization of Parsons is too simplistic. I think Parsons speaks to the connection between internal psychology and external norms. But it is not a simple one-way interaction. Social institutions/structure foster the culture of certain norms, those norms, in effect, affect individual beliefs, and in turn, those individual beliefs strengthen social norms and thus, the power of social institutions that adhere to those norms. (Do you see how it is almost a two way cycle?) So it's not just that Zimmerman is affected by the institutionalized white supremacy and acting independent of his beliefs. His racist beliefs, whether conscious or sub-conscious, are influenced by the institution of white supremacy, and in turn, his racist beliefs also strengthen the institutional structure of white supremacy.I think this is why Parsons or other structural functionalists suggest that social change has to come from institutions rather than individuals. |
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