Prejudice And Racism In New York University

    The practice of ethnic separation and segregation is common on every college and university campus. Since this practice has happened through history, it is remarkable that this has only been recognized recently as a true problem (Jacobs, 2). Segregation has hampered America as long as it has existed. Ethnicity and segregation was nearly the cause of this country splitting apart during the Civil War. Since then reformation and hard work has attempted to bring unity to this country. Though today, college students have regressed, university pupils are "standing by" their own and are not branching out to those who are unlike them in ethnicity. People in general, but more specifically college students

Across the nation, millions of Americans of all races turn on the television or open a newspaper and are bombarded with images of well dressed, articulate, attractive black people advertising different products and representing respected companies. The population of black professionals in all arenas of work has risen to the point where seeing a black physician, attorney, or a college professor are becoming more a common sight. More and more black people are holding positions of respect and authority throughout America today, such as Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Condelezza Rice and many other prominent black executives. As a result of their apparent success, these black people are seen as role models for many Americans, despite their race.

My first recollection of race and racism was when I was in either the 1st or second grade. I was in the local grocery store with my father who is of caucasian descent, and after a while I began to notice that people were glaring at us. It eventually dawned upon me that the

College Universities such as the University of Memphis proud itself for its diversity and inclusiveness. Everyone from the teaching staff to the janitors is equally treated right. There is no racism or discrimination here at the University of Memphis. This belief that the U of M does not have racism/ discrimination and everyone is equal is an inaccurate statement believed by those who do not experience it. Actually racism and discrimination is very present at the university.

The prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races; discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race, is the definition of Racism, according to Webster’s Dictionary. Today the use of the term “racism” doesn’t just fall under one single definition. Racist practices often include the idea that humans can be subdivided into groups that are different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be ranked as inferior or superior.

Racism isn’t hating someone because of their race. Prejudice is not a misconception of who a person is. Racism is being prejudiced because a person believes their race is superior; and, prejudice is a preconceived opinion not based on any prior experience. In other words, racism is when a person has a preconceived opinion about another person because they feel their race is superior. Racism and prejudice are probably two of the most talked about and controversial words 60 years ago and still today. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and Martin L. King marched on Selma they didn’t think we would still be in such a place today; we are in a place where people are not allowed to be themselves without facing judgment. This is the same prejudice and racism members of society face in schools, by students and educators which limits their ability to progress in a world full of competition and rise above what demographics say they are destined to become. As the great Charles Albert Tindley once said, “We Shall Overcome!”

Over a century after the emancipation of millions of slaves, and twenty-five years following the declaration that “separate is not equal,” the case Regents of University of California v. Bakke ruled in favor of affirmative action. Justice Harry Blackmun affirmed in this decision that “[i]n order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way.” As one of the most liberal judges on the court at the time, Blackmun tended to rule favorably in regards to expanding the rights of women and minorities. In presenting this opinion, he explains that issues of race must be addressed and considered in order to fix racism, prejudice, and systemic oppression. In regards to affirmative action (among other positive

Colleges are vastly known to have people who bring in their ideas and cultures to campuses. However, there are sometimes when people from two different cultures conflict with each other and it causes problems for not only a college campus but for a society as well. Take the racial conflict between African American and Caucasian Americans, their feud has been going on in America for the past two decades. In 1992, Rodney King was beaten by L.A. police which started the “L.A. Riots” (Biography.com, 2015). During 2012, Trayvon Martin was killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman (Biography.com, 2016). In August 2014, unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson (Buchanan, 2014). These events have two significant things in common. The three victims were killed by white individuals and they were killed on the basis of discrimination and mainly direct racism.

It can be hard to remember when the first experience with race, racism, or oppression occurred in my life. I was fortunate to be raised with an abundance of different cultures when I was a child. Race was seen as something interesting that the person brought with them, something that made them special and unique. The nonchalant attitude of race created the ability to appreciate different cultures and ethnicities; it flourished my love of traveling around the world to learn unique environment as well as being exposed to different societies.

Racism in its most general sense can be defined as “social practices which attribute merits or allocate values to members of racially categorized groups solely because of their ‘race’”.There are three aspects of racism personal prejudice; ideological racism, and institutional racism. Ideological racism, is where culture and biology comes together to rationalize and justify the superior position of a dominant culture. Institutional racism is where the institution produce policies and differences between different racial groups. Institutional racism includes hidden action between police and minorities. One of the hidden Institutional racism practices in law enforcement

In this modern world, prejudice is still a universal problem we still have yet to overcome. Although it is true that our society is much less prejudiced than it was 40-50 years ago, we are still struggling to create racial harmony in a world that is so diverse in terms of racial group, sexual orientations, ethnicity, nationality, religions, and so on. I think the core of prejudice comes from stereotyping, which is the generalization of motives, characteristics, or behavior to an entire group of people. In the world where media propaganda is ubiquitous, often times most stereotypes are not formed on valid experiences, instead they are based on images publicized by the mass media, or even created within our heads after seeing and hearing examples from many different sources, like movies, or even hearsay. Stereotyping is more powerful than we think, because it allows those false pictures to control our thinking that leads us to assign uniform characteristics to any person in a group, without consideration of the actual difference between members of that particular group.

The article that I was assigned focused on racism that take place on college campuses. The article starts by speaking specifically of the University of Missouri. Concerned Student 1950, which is a student led activist group, worked to demand changes in the “systematic racism” that they witness on campus. As their protest gained more media attention, it led to the university’s president resigning; and they have started a nationwide movement.

After living in a place like Bend Oregon for 18 years I haven’t ever noticed a difference between blacks and whites. Bend has been said to be “one of the whitest places to live”, yet I never viewed a city by its race. Being racist to me meant that it was the whites who had a problem with the blacks and whites didn’t want anything to do with blacks. I hadn’t actually seen racism in action from anyone here. Now, after watching the film Crash and reading the essays “Blinded by the White: Crime, Race and Denial at Columbine High” written by Tim Wise and “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” written by McIntosh, my understanding of race, diversity, and communications have changed.

If I did a project and had to present it, my topic will be about racism, because now in days a lot of people don't care about hurting someone else feelings by calling them names or telling them why they should not live and they should die. I have a story about a friend that experience bullying because she was African American. It all started when I begin my 3rd-grade class and I was new to the school and I didn't have any friends, I had this girl talking to me and I didn't understand English at that time, her name was Skai and she was the nicest person. When weeks passed I was her best friend, we went everywhere together and always hang out on the playground at launch. Skai was a happy girl and she always had a smile on her face and when she

Professor Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, chair of Duke University’s sociology department says we are facing the diversity blues.