Introduction
Today, people have a tendency to examine their interpersonal relationships and imposed obligations to ensure they live in a fair society. However, despite a number of the already taken steps, certain problems cannot be ignored, and racial discrimination is one of them leading to the inability to avoid prejudices. The civil rights movement initiated in the middle of the 20th century was a critical Black Americans’ effort to find a solution to the problem of discrimination in the United States. It was important to gain equal rights and protect African Americans against the existing social barriers imposed by Jim Crow laws (Bloom 9). Unfortunately, some values of the Jim Crow era can be traced even nowadays, and black populations have to strive for equality under various conditions. There are many ways to understand the importance of the civil rights movement, and the idea introduced by Craig Martin in his book A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion deserves attention. After reading the chapter “How Society Works: Habitus,” racial segregation may be evaluated through the prism of a meritocracy and habitus in human history and modern society.
Chapter Overview
The development of racism in the south can be better understand as a combination of human habits and recent achievements. In the chosen chapter, Martin’s idea is to show how religious traditions and beliefs affect the quality of social life and the principles according to which people cooperate. The author addresses the thoughts of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and evangelical scholar Julie Ingersoll to prove the connection between society and religion. The impact of habitus on people should not be only related to the power of habit because most habits result from socialization and class differences (Martin 71). As such, the concept of meritocracy plays a vital role as it reveals the worth of people’s skills and abilities. Martin is torn between the rights and privileges assigned by birth and merit (72). He uses Bourdieu’s definition of habitus as “systems of durable, transposable dispositions” to explain why habits and merits co-exist in the modern world and finds approval in Ingersoll’s discussion about evangelical characteristics (qtd. in Martin 73). Thus, a religious community shows what it means to have unique habitus, reinforce hierarchies, and impose their beliefs on nations.
Civil Rights Movement Ideas
On the one hand, it is wrong to believe that religion determines the attitudes toward black people and supports the idea of racial segregation in society. All people are equal to God, and human faith has been created to motivate and encourage individuals to the right actions. Still, the consequences of Jim Crow laws helped support white democratic movements and their privileges in society (Bloom 9). On the other hand, Martin admits that discrimination “functions under the mask of rightness” and, in most cases, happens “naturally and invisibly” (85, 88). In other words, people do not recognize discrimination as a threat but as a common process involving all of them in some way.
In the United States, American churches and academic facilities supported the civil rights movement to eliminate white supremacy and racism. The main point of that movement was to help society deal with racial segregation by formulating influential allies and sharing contention (Ancelovici 164). Black Americans could no longer accept the rules and traditions developed by the white population. However, according to Martin, the privilege resulted from “having a habitus different from the dominant one” (82). Even if rebels tried to break social boundaries and racial differences, they accepted the fact that there were elites and insiders, as well as discrimination. The habitus of racial segregation is an example of how “generative principles of distinct and distinctive practice” are spread in society (Bourdieu, qtd. Martin 82). For a long period, racism in the south has been not a meritocracy determined by merits and abilities but habitus, when rights and privileges are assigned by birth.
Human Habits and Merits
In analyzing the causes and outcomes of the civil rights movement in American history, it is important to understand the distinction between habitus and meritocracy. The offered chapter contains two specific definitions of the concepts. A meritocracy is a society where “people get what they earn, deserve, or merit” (Martin 72). It means that even if a person is born in a poor family, there is always a chance to earn more and achieve improvement by working hard and developing personal strengths. Martin offers to remember the American myth: although the country began as a “class-based society,” with races predetermining social status, today’s nation does not rely on the color of skin to reveal class differences (72). It proves the worth of merits in human life and allows the possibility of changing the segregation prejudice.
At the same time, habitus continues penetrating human lives in a variety of ways. Civil rights turn out to be an important characteristic of interpersonal relationships because they show how to respect and offer equal opportunities to every individual. In American history, the path to racial equality was not smooth. African Americans organized rebellions and boycotts to prove their rights, and habitus can be regarded as the root of such movements. According to Bourdieu, habitus is developed through human dispositions that have become an integral part of humans (qtd. in Martin 74). People develop their perceptions about something and use these definitions to develop socialization. Racial discrimination is rooted in habits that represent social boundaries and opportunities. Thus, it is not always easy to get rid of this habit today, explaining the presence of racial biases and prejudices in modern society.
Inevitability of Racism in the United States
When Americans chose a black president, most people across the globe believed that no racism and discrimination existed in the country. Still, the fact that the color of the president’s skin provoked discussions and was recognized as something meaningful serves as evidence of the inevitability of racism. It is a human habit to compare differences and rely on findings to prove something. Habitus is so deeply anchored in human nature that people stop noticing it. Martin predicts this invisibility and discusses the complexity of distinguishing between what is right, what is wrong, what is acceptable, and what should be avoided (75). He believes people’s attention to habitus depends on how socialization is organized and promoted in families (Martin 75). Until people focus on racism and discrimination in everyday activities, employment, and preferred lifestyle, this problem cannot disappear (Burawoy 56). Still, the level of its impact continues to change because of a meritocracy because it is impossible to ignore the progress achieved at this moment, including the right to vote, lead, and participate in all discussions freely.
Religion, Society, and Racism
The connection between religion, society, and racism is not always clearly visible. Many historians admit the religiousness of civil rights expect defining the connection between religion and racism (Cressler 274). Still, religion divides people into different communities almost the same way the color of their skin does (Muftee and Nilsson 133). Martin observes, “when one religious group is the dominant group… their unconscious extension of sympathy to those with a similar habitus and unconscious discrimination against those with a different” (91). Similar events occur when white people demonstrate prejudiced attitudes toward a black community. Instead of faith preferences, the decision to address racial predisposition is made. It seems that people need differences to be united, but such a cause for cooperation contradicts the essence of unity. Martin gives a specific explanation for this misunderstanding as well. He concludes that discrimination against alternative habitus happens “unconsciously and unwittingly,” and people prefer to follow this way as it is in their nature to consider something as right and good (dominant interests) (Martin 91). The civil rights movement was a dominant interest of black citizens, but white supremacy was also a good merit, proving the inevitability of racial conflict in the United States.
Conclusion
Martin’s habitus perspective creates a unique opportunity to connect religion and the civil rights movement. The outcomes of Jim Crow laws negatively affected American society and made it possible to root racism in every sphere of human life. However, in history, there were many significant moments when people tried to change their interests and beliefs and improve life quality. The civil rights movement was one of such events when African Americans replaced habitus with a meritocracy and proved the rightness of their intentions. People should never forget about racial discrimination and how it has divided communities. Martin’s chapter shows how to minimize its negative impact and take the most crucial lessons from the past to create a better future.
Works Cited
Ancelovici, Marcos. “Bourdieu in Movement: Toward a Field Theory of Contentious Politics.” Social Movement Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, 2021, pp. 155-173.
Bloom, Jack M. Class, Race, and the Civil Rights Movement. 2nd ed., Indiana University Press, 2019.
Burawoy, Michael. “Making Sense of Bourdieu: From Demolition to Recuperation and Critique.” Catalyst, vol. 2, no. 1, 2018, pp. 51-87.
Cressler, Matthew J. ““Real Good and Sincere Catholics”: White Catholicism and Massive Resistance to Desegregation in Chicago, 1965–1968.” Religion and American Culture, vol. 30, no. 2, 2020, pp. 273-306.
Martin, Craig. A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion. Acumen Publishing, 2012.
Muftee, Mehek, and Per-Erik Nilsson. “Introduction to the Special Issue on Racism and Religion.” Critical Research on Religion, vol. 10, no. 2, 2022, pp. 133-136.
