Racism And The United States

In Chapter 1, Alexander provides a brief history of race and racism in America. For those readers less familiar with the narrative of American history, this tour through slavery, Bacon’s Rebellion, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Populism, the end of Jim Crow through Board, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s is very instructive. Even if this narrative sounds familiar though, what comes next is probably less so. The backlash to the Civil Rights Movement manifested itself in the Southern Strategy and the first construction of stereotypes such as lazy “welfare cheats” and black criminals. “Law and order” rhetoric became a popular way to stoke hostility towards blacks; it was carried out by conservatives to win votes among poor whites.

There is still some racism from whites to blacks, but things are beginning to make a turn and some blacks are now beginning to be very racist toward whites. Some African Americans call whites “crackers,” “white privilege,” and other things due to their white race. But, no outrage or protests occur after they say these things and few people even know about the statements because the media will not cover them (Backer, 2015). This proves a double standard in today’s society. Backer states, “When a white man/woman uses racist language towards another race, they get ridiculed for it and very rightfully so. On the other hand, when a minority uses racist language towards any other racial groups, no one seems to care,” (2015). Blacks can say whatever they want about whites with little fear of criticism or backlash, but whites are not allowed to make fun of or criticize black people (Peterson 2015). According to Jesse Peterson, if a white person dares to speak the truth about blacks, he or she will be labeled “racist” and immediately shut down

A culture’s rules of conduct are considered the norm and in the United States the accepted norm is white. “Through norms, in-group members know how to react toward the acts of outgroup members that surprise, shock, or annoy them or in any way go against the shared expectations. Anything contrary to this “normal” state is seen as negative or deviant. When minorities “act uppity” or “don’t know their place”, the majority view this as a violation and can have strong reactions because they appear to threaten the social fabric of a community” (Parillo, 2014, p. 27).

What is Black Culture? How would you define it? I would define it as Oppression, Strength, Courage. When I say black culture, I meanly think about what its likes for a person of color in America, what its likes to know you may not get the justice you deserve, and to always be in fear that your voice or life won’t matter to someone who has the power to change that. Our race has been suppressed for centuries and it’s about time we stood mighty for who we are and what we have achieved in a system that only wants us to fail.

Racism goes a long way down the American history. It came as a result of slavery which began in 1619 when African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, which was an American colony in the North, to help in producing crops such as tobacco. Slavery was then a common practice in all American colonies through the 17th and 18th centuries, where African slaves helped in building the economic foundations of the now American nation. Slavery was then spread to the South in 1793, with the new invention of the cotton gin. About halfway through the 19th century, there was immense westward expansion in America, together with the spreading abolition movement in the North,

Racism is the trend of thought, or way of thinking, which attaches great importance to the notion of the existence of separate human races and superiority of races that are usually associated with inherited physical characteristics or cultural events. Racism is not a scientific theory, but a set of preconceived opinions they value the biological differences between humans, attributing superiority to some according to racial roots. Even in such ethnically diverse country as the United States, racism continues evident against people of different ethnic traits and skin color. According to Steinberg (Steinberg, 1995), racial discrimination has been the most important cause of inequality between whites and blacks in the U.S. Because of that, minorities in American society have been fighting over years for equal rights and respect, starting with the civil rights movement in 1960s. Also, public policies implemented since 1964 in the United States have been instrumental in reducing economic inequality between blacks and whites, such as the affirmative action, a federal program that tries to include minority groups by providing jobs and educational opportunities (Taylor, 1994). From this perspective, does racism still play a dominant role in American values and American society? If so, what are the consequences of this racism that still remain in American society? What is the impact of the Barack Obama presidency on the unending fight against racism in this country?

Is racism still a problem in America more than fifty years after the Civil Rights Movement, and 48 years after the 1964 Civil Rights Act signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson? How far has America come from the days when African Americans were lynched by fanatical racist mobs and from the days when Jim Crowe laws trumped the laws set forth by the U.S. Constitution? This paper delves into those and other issues involving racism in America. Thesis: American has come a long way from the days of lynchings and prohibitions against African Americans voting or sitting at the lunch counter. There are laws that protect minorities from discrimination in housing and hiring, and great strides have been made. However, racism remains a reality, including institutional racism in America.

Racism has been a terrible problem in American society for hundreds of years. Racism issues are not limited to one specific race, but include all races. It is the responsibility of the people of this nation to address racism and learn to accept and embrace each other for our differences, and allow this great nation to become even more united for our sake and the sake of future generations. To eliminate racism it is imperative to know first, where racism started and how it has developed, why it continues to be present in our nation today, and what we must do as a people to overcome this major problem.

Although Western society as a whole has progressed from those days, it was only within the last few decades that the Civil Rights movement somewhat successfully promoted integration within America. Even as the melting pot of a plethora of cultures and ethnicities, America is quite divided in its cultural acceptance and identity. Racism may no longer be explicitly condoned, but it does exist in many forms within the world. Unfortunately, though society’s legal actions have since lawfully prevented discrimination as such, the same cultural disparity that existed in segregated times is present today. Whether through social media or public interactions, there is a distinct difference in the nation’s view of Black culture versus the white majority of America. Spurred by centuries old beliefs, stereotypes dominate the social world in mediums such as television and music. Despite the abundance of influences within Western society, America subconsciously continues to promote a negative cultural image of the Black

Ideas of racism and equality have been a great conflict in the U.S. during these past few years. There have been major protests saying that “Black Lives Matter,” “ White Lives Matter,” and “All Lives Matter.” The problem with these protests are that people are saying negative things about each other and it has been bringing high tension throughout the United States. I just think these protests are making us look inhumane to foreign countries and I think we as Americans all have equal rights and it’s not like one race rules the rest. It’s just really sad how America is changing this drastically. For the past two weeks, tension has been rising since Donald Trump became our newly elected president. Most people after the elections were frightened

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.

The population of the United States of America has been one of mixed race since its very beginning. Boatload upon boatload of enslaved Africans provided a labor force which would fuel the American South’s economy for many years, until national abolition and the subsequent civil rights movement created a primarily biracial population of blacks and whites. The US has come a long way since those days, and today every child born into the US is taught from an early age the evils of racism and the shameful actions committed by slave-owning US citizens in the past. From textbooks to televisions, the modern USA seemingly works tirelessly to teach its population that discrimination by race is wrong and that all races are equal. This has led to a great national complacence among whites, and a widespread belief that the US has mostly eradicated racial prejudices. But it is not so, and despite a population almost entirely composed of people who would not consider themselves racists, racism still pervades in the US. In many cases modern racism occurs at the hands of whites who almost absolutely are completely unaware of their discriminatory actions. In the films “Frozen River” and “The Visitor” racism was touched on repeatedly and played an evident part in the messages they were trying to portray.

American society likes to believe that race relations in our country no longer exist. We do not want to hear about the need for favorable action or about the growing numbers of white supremacist groups. In order to settle our collective conscious, we put aside the disturbing fact that racism is alive. It hides everywhere in the media, the workplace, and it heavily impacts the education of minority students nationwide.

When I first arrived in the US racism was not a concern at all, after all I was just a child. Racism didn’t hit me until I started school. The kids were friendly teachers were sweet and even the parents, at least to me. I remember over hearing a parent talking to my mother about some Mexican little girl who's nothing but trouble and firmly suggested that I should not be hanging around with that Mexican girl. My mother snapped at her saying that " that Mexican girl has a name, she's been in our children's class since PreK, and may I remind you I also have a Mexican girl who happens to be my daughter." The lady took a step back trying to fix her words as she said, "oh well Hilda is okay because she has you and Alan." "so you mean because we are

Benign black in America, how that sounds? People talk bad on your culture even when you are around. They say we are all equal, but how? The struggle of benign African American in America, goes a long way. From the Civil Rights Movement, where we just wanted equal opportunity to the Little Rock Nine, just a group of nine African American students enrolled in the Little Rock Central High School, they just wanted an education. They might of mention Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. several of times, but did they mention how Emmett Till was an 14 year old African American boy who whistled at an 21 year old white women, but she was unclear that he did it and her husband and his half-brother beat and shoot Emmett Till and put his body in the river and the