For generations human society has struggled with the battle of “us versus them”, the “us” typically representing white, European culture, and the “them” representing everyone else. Racism has been used as a tool to maintain this worldview and foster the dominance of white, European culture over all others. The practice of racism is given power as a result of society constructing criteria under which the discrimination of other people is rational and justified. This justification has its roots in religion, which then spread to biological reasoning, and presently focuses on cultural difference (Blaut, 1992, p.290). Racism is not a static concept society has left in the past; it is constantly changing and is therefore able to remain at the forefront
The world changed after events such as those of September 11, 2001, and so racism changed with it (Semati, 2010, p.259). Suddenly it was acceptable to discriminate against anyone who associated with, or was assumed to be associated with, the Muslim religion (Semati, 2010, p. 260). The category of “brown” was established to allow those of the European society and culture to clearly distinguish those in the category of “brown” and tell the world that all of the people in this category are inferior and a threat (Rodat, 2017, p.134)(Semati, 2010, p. 258). The superiority of European culture is ascertained through the action of instilling fear in its own citizens about people outside their culture. Currently people are told to fear those who are categorized as “brown” because they are thought to represent terrorism; this is not the first use of these fear and discrimination techniques (Blaut, 1992, p. 296). During times of heightened tension between America and the Soviet Union, communism was cast in a light that made it look as though it was an evil system that eradicates freedom, while the capitalism of America was propagated as being the pinnacle of freedom and modern society (Semati, 2010, p.260). People no longer fear communism as they once did so a new threat had to be
Today, racism still remains an important tool in the continuation of European supremacy as they use it to establish their own culture as the ideal to which all of the other inferior cultures should compare themselves and aspire to be. The justification of racism has taken many forms and today rests on the incompatibility of culture within the global community and the self-determination of the white, European society as the best (Blaut, 1992, p.290). Islamophobia is one example of this issue with cultural incompatibility. The use of Islamophobia is prevalent in today’s geopolitical sphere and deems the culture of the “Muslim Other” as being the enemy to peace and freedom (Semati, 2010, p.257)(Opratko, 2017, p.68). The racial category of “brown” has been manipulated to make easier the identification of the “Other” so as to set up clear barriers between the “us” and the “them” (Semati, 2010, p.267). White supremacy is still an active aspect of today’s society, and so long as racism is allowed to continuously adapt to the changing world around it, a world of equality and peace will remain out of