Sunday, October 25, 2015
Racism: It Is Still an Issue
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-kenski/racism-is-not-isolated_b_8106230.html
Racism happens around us everyday. If you do not take part in it, you probably will not notice it. This is a major problem that presents itself today. So many people just think that racism does not occur that often, but it is still dominant in the country today. When people think of racist events, they usual recall the ones that they hear in the news. For example, the incident with the fraternity at the University of Oklahoma or the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers are events that stand out. What most of us do not realize is that racism occurs at schools and public places everyday. The author of this article discusses instances when her daughter, who was only five-years-old at the time, was discriminated against because of her skin color by other kids at her school. Things like this happen all the time and need to come to an end.
In order to put an end to this problem, we first need to focus on the roots. When a racist event occurs we tend to think about the event itself and not the bigger picture of how we can stop it in the future. We also have to stop just pushing the issues involving race aside and try to eliminate them the best we can. I fear that racism is going to stay a problem in this country. I think people of all races should have equal opportunities and should not be discriminated against or treated with disrespect.
Do you feel that racism is still strong in parts of the country? What do you think about how we deal with racism in the United States today? Do you think that it is possible to fully eliminate racism in the country?
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I think that the issues of race and racism are two very prevalent topics in todays society, maybe even more so in some degrees than in the past. As we all know, American society is not a fair playing field, and some have more advantages than others. The two main players recently have been whites and blacks within the United States. The news has been flooded recently with stories about white on black crime, black on white crime, and overall incidents fueled by race in general. This has caused almost a silent war to erupt between whites and blacks, and I have seen the outcomes of this occur with my own eyes. The unevenness of society has caused so much unrest and unhappiness that it is finally spilling over. We as a country, for the most part, don't try to address the issue unless it affects us. Once that happens however, then the issue is at the top of everyone's list to fix. This can be seen throughout American history, and illustrates the issue of unevenness even more so. I think that to even attempt to eliminate racism in our country, which is not a overnight task in itself, we need to take steps each day. We need to come together and address each issue properly, and try our upmost best to fix the things we see as wrong and racist in our country. This is not something to be accomplished in a day, month, or even a year; but it is something that warrants the time needed to complete it, and the time has already started ticking.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could say that I see a final end to racism but I really just don't and I think that's the worst part. We all know that there's a problem with racism but not much is being done about it. I've heard of plenty of stories with regards to both race and racism and there are different levels to it. People create different stereotypes for different religions and for different skin colors like "black people steal" or "Spanish people are immigrants" or "all Asians are smart". I think the most popular sort of racism that everyone typically hears about is with regards to whites and blacks and it's still alive in the South. There are still parts of the South that proudly hang the confederate flag outside their windows which is just flat out absurd. You'd think that fifty or so years would finally bring halt to such type of behavior but apparently not. It's impossible to fully eliminate racism in the country. Just because some people are born in a household that believes strongly in one sort of thing and it's almost impossible to change their minds. There are going to be generations of families that will never be able to change their feelings for specific type of group they don't like.
ReplyDeleteI think that many people just blow off the fact that racism still exists today. Either that or they're not even aware of the fact that is indeed still a global epidemic that has no near end. Many think that just because by law everyone has the same rights regardless of their skin color that racism is gone. This couldn't be farther from reality. The reality is, racism still exists everywhere. There will always be efforts to try to end racism but in my opinion, I think the sad reality is, it will never truly come to an end. There will always be that one person with their beliefs that will stick out in a group no matter what the efforts are that are trying to change that. The only thing that society can do to decrease the racism is to teach kids at a young age and set the best example possible so that the future generations have a solid foundation as to what society should look like.
ReplyDeleteRacism is still a current issue that needs to be finished. The fact that racism is still an issue is something that is mind boggling. After years of slavery and then years of segregation you would think the people of this country would be able to no longer discriminate on race or anything for that matter. Though, as the time goes on racism keeps extending to other people of color and no longer the black people. Racism extends its hand to Latinos, Asians, and people of middle eastern decent. The reason slavery will never end is simply because white priveledge will never end.
ReplyDeleteRacism has been enriched in America right from the beginning. Over the past 250 years, we have made great strides in improving racism. However, this is still a major issue in America. I am not sure if it is possible for racism to be eliminated, but I am optimistic that it will. I believe that one way that you can be that is to call racially violent acts terrorism. Let's face it, this is terrorism. Hopefully, if we start using that name toward these acts, then they will start to stop. Maybe instead of saying that these acts are tragedies and call it terrorism, maybe then people will realize that this is an important issue. Racism could possibly be a downfall in our country, which is ironic because racism was how our country was built.
ReplyDeleteIn our Social Justice class we discussed the idea of the moving walkway. It refers to the 'unseen' racism in the United States and people who participate in it, observe it, or fight against it. Those who are actively racist are moving with this walkway toward the racist ideals of supremacy. Those who observe it and do nothing are still moving with the walkway just not actively. Finally the people who fight against the racism move against the walkway trying to fix the trend. In America it is obvious that racism exist. It most likely will exist for the rest of human existence. The question is will you be moving with the walkway or against it?
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