Racism About Racism

This issue of racism is popular by name but tends to be sugar coated by the way people see it. In order to truly understand racism you need to take a bite into the topic in order to get a taste of what it is really like. Racism comes in many different forms and can be seen many different ways. But why even care about racism at all? Why does it even matter? One would think that with such a harsh background regarding racism in America it would no longer exist in society today. But sadly that is not the case here, racism continues to show up all over the country sometimes being worse than others but still racism is racism. People should all be considered equal regardless of what they look like, talk like, or even do that makes them who they are.

In today’s society, including within schools racism is very much still prevalent and can have huge effects on a student’s school life and wellbeing. In fact, around 85% of participants from the Challenging Racism Project that took place in 2010 at the University of Western Sydney believe that racism is still a current issue today. (Human Rights Commission, 2015). As racism is inextricably linked to socio-economic factors and depending on the area where Indigenous communities live can affect the racial discrimination they receive. For example, if a student is at a school in a middle socio-economic area and the school has a supportive program for Indigenous students, they may receive less discrimination as the other students at the school have been well educated about Aboriginal culture and their history. Vice versa the opposite experience could happen as Aboriginal students could be subject to extreme racial discrimination if they are at a school where their peers have not been properly educated about their

Systematic racism continues to perpetuate the marginalization of people of color in the 21st century despite belief of living in a post racial society. This unfortunate reality is seen in many different forms of current culture. One of the ways systematic racism takes current form, is in the negative portrayal created by a single narrative, or the lack thereof, minority groups. This lack of representation or diversity of people of color in different forms of art and platforms, not only affects those subject to misrepresentation, but perpetuates negative attitudes and discriminatory behavior towards those subject to misrepresentation. It is necessary to look into the ways this single narrative in different art forms affects marginalized group, and the current move to dismantle the component power plays in who gets to tell these stories.

Overall, it is saddening that we are still living through this today. As Rosa Parks once said, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall

“History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme”(Mark Twain). Today, racism is nothing like the blatant, ignorant racism of the early 20th Century. This is not your grandparents or great-grandparent’s racism, but it is not entirely gone, either. In fact in some ways it may be more common today than back then, only it’s more subtler, craftier, more underhanded than in previous generations, like the way a mugger may take a unsuspecting person off-guard, from behind, when they think no one else is watching (Comparison of Racism Today to Racism of the Early 1900s).

Racism is looked down upon in today’s society but it is still everywhere. Whether it is used as the punchline of a joke or someone just out right calls someone out for being a certain race. I have personally been victim to racist comments all throughout my life and it is quite upsetting knowing that someone can be cruel to me just because of the colour of my skin. Now I have also been lucky enough to be born in a place where racism is not a huge problem while others are not so lucky. Let us take the recent shooting of Michael Brown for instance. This teenage boy was shot six times even after surrendering (“Shooting of Michael Brown”). Or even the Trayvon Martin shooting, where this 17 year old boy was also shot and killed for no good reason (“Shooting of Trayvon Martin”). The

From the time students end their ninth period class and from the beginning of the day there is always chatter filling the halls, good or bad. Words good or bad are thrown like candy on Halloween, everywhere. Though today a young boy had been racially hurt only because of the words. He has been one of the racially hurt victims in the world. To him it is not something to joke about not with your friends or anybody. Now negative and hate speech about racism is entering the minds of students and kids around the world. It is being brought into the schools of America and what is to come of the future generations?

Racism has come to be a very important topic in today’s society. Many are talking about the injustices when it comes mostly when it comes to African-Americans and Caucasians in authority. Many have deemed the incidents of Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, Akai Gurley, Tamir Rice, the Spring Valley High School video, and even the Charleston Shooting to name a few as reactions to racism. Out of the people talking about these events, only a few really know the meaning of racism and what this grand idea includes. There are many different type of racism such as racial discrimination, institutional, economic, symbolic/modern, cultural, color blindness and othering. The most common forms of racism in today’s society are mainly racial discrimination (social division), institutional (institutionalized racism, state racism, affirmative action, racial profiling, and racism by country), and othering (we are here, they are there; us vs. them).

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”, wisely said by Martin Luther King Jr. We live in the 21st century, a century where people thought we would be all unicorns and rainbows; people thought wrong. We live in a world where parents not only worry about the future of their kids, but also if their kids were coming back home that night. We live in a world where people are mocked for their differences instead of being embraced. We live in a world where your appearance matters more than your character. The ultimate example of this ludicrousness is that racism still exists and it jeopardizes the future of the upcoming generations.

How is racism defined? How does it affect relationships between people, and how does it affect American values? Racism is defined as “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” (Merriam Webster). This means that whites believe their traits and achievements are superior, and that blacks are inferior. It has existed since biblical times and is very evident throughout the world today. From the time blacks first came to America in slave ships, many whites considered them to be inferior. This attitude helped the growth of a slave society in the United States. Even after the establishment of the 13th Amendment in January of 1865

Racism is known to be among the factors having huge negative impacts on the society at large. Racism brings about thoughts of ignorance, hatred, and evil. From this fact, it is clear that racism is an aspect which should be taken into close consideration and dealt with. Ralph Ellison in his Battle Royal, provides information on racism and how it affects the society. He uses this life experience to make readers view and understand how devastating racism is. Ellison’s story on a young black boy’s life experience is used to show that racism is wrong and should be done eliminated for the purpose of making the society a better place to be. This paper seeks to provide a deeper insight of racism in Ralph’s

By 2016, the world should have evolved in its attitude about race, but sadly we have not. Almost every day we hear about or see some parts of hate being spread. Racism is one of the largest issues in the world. Jackson is a Caucasian boy and Carter is an African American boy who attend pre-school together, but aren’t allowed to sit beside each other at lunch; only because their parents say they can’t. Children aren’t born racist; they are taught to discriminate.

To understand whether or not racism is learnt, we first have to divulge into the nature of racism. It is usually assumed that racism has been a part of civilisation since civilisation started, that it is embedded into how people work and that no matter what, it will always exist. Another assumption is that racism derives from the capitalism of the slave trade by white elitist men seeking to dehumanize people for economic gain, and used racism as a way to mask their financial motives to justify enslavement as righteous. After anti-slavery movements began to happen, the capitalist motives behind slavery “took on a new form as the justification of the ideology of imperialism” [4].

Racism against Asians is increasing in American society. This trend is happening more often over the last decade. Yet, only a handful reports have documented the situation. Largely, this is due to the influence of the media. Years of perpetuating Asian Americans stable and academically-driven communities restrain them from speaking up and overshadow their experiences. The longer the perpetuation of these images, the more powerless and the more isolated from the mainstream society Asian Americans become. These images have transformed into the norms of American society. Therefore, the media has systematically marginalized Asian Americans.

As Rosa Parks once said "Racism is still with us, but it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and; hopefully we shall overcome." Racism still affects up to forty nine percent of our society today. I didn't legitimately take into consideration the hurtful things being said until they were directed towards my boyfriend and I. Racism has personally affected my life in the last year. I feel a sense a hatred toward people who are racist. Not just racist in the way of skin color, but racist against religion, women, or anything else.