Manifestations of racism in the 21st century

Abstract

For people of color (African-, Asian-, Latino-, and Native-American descent) in Western countries, the important attributes of the social system are ideals, which they internalize. According to James Baldwin, the root of American difficulty is directly related to skin color ideals. All matters considered necessitate the construction of the Bleaching Syndrome to acknowledge and comprehensively organize what is otherwise obvious, i.e., issues involving skin color. Much of what the Bleaching Syndrome involves is pathological to people of color and could not be imposed because it is contrary to their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. In the aftermath, people of color and the social scientists among them, including Whites, must aspire to more conducive, somatic norms to escape the pathological influences of the Bleaching Syndrome or risk manifestation of racism in the 21st century and beyond. © 2008 Springer-Verlag New York.