Reflection About Racism

In one way or another everyone encounters racism at many times in their life. Whether they are making the comments or victims of it, racism is everywhere and continues to be denied throughout the world. Neil Bissoondath, a Trinidad native, writes "I'm Not Racist But…" which discusses the types of labels given to different ethnic groups and the encouragement of racism they give. Based on the effective way it was written, Bissoondath's essay is suggested for an English 101 text.

Racism is an ideology that is based on the principle that human beings can be subdivided and ranked into categories as being inferior or superior. It’s worth mentioning that in recent years the concept or notion of racism has changed. Racism in the post-racial twenty-first century is now marked by subtlety that discriminates against individuals through unnoticeable or seemingly passive methods. Although overt racism has decreased since the 1960s, it has been supplemented by what is called colorblind racism,” which refers to “contemporary racial inequality as the outcome of nonracial dynamics” (p. 455-456).

Racism is defined as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” We live in a nation mixed with many ethnicities, we are known as the “melting pot” of the world. Everyone that was born here has a family member that immigrated here from a different country unless they are of Native American decent. Often times people are stopped by police because of their race even if they are not doing anything wrong. Many times when they are stopped by police and they did do something wrong they swear up and down to the District Attorney or judge that the cop was racially profiling him or her.

Before I began this class I thought I was well versed in terms, of race, ethnicity, and nationality. However, I may have been partially wrong. I always considered my race to be Mexican and my ethnicity to be Hispanic while my nationality is American. However, according to the definitions I don’t have a race. On forms, I usually check the block for other and identify by ethnicity. I consider myself of Hispanic ethnicity from Mexican descent. However, to Mexicans from Mexico, I am not considered Mexican. I am a white Mexican, Mexican American or Chicana; both of my parents are born in Mexico of Mexican parents. I am most certainly proud of my roots as well as being an American. In the world we live in today it’s difficult to neglect the fact that I stand out for obvious reasons. That at times I am treated differently. That because of my roots I am told to go back to my country. That I shed a tear as I write this because I live with an inner struggle of who I am.

Explanations that justify the use of racism directly relates to differential treatment of minority groups and contributes to racism’s existence as an unstoppable social problem. The foundations of these explanations are based on the common misunderstanding of the definition of race. Thus, problems that tend to concentrate in one race are mistakenly judged as “race problems”. This judgement leads to the establishment of a system of inequality between a superior race and inferior races. However, the logic behind these explanations don’t account for the true reasoning behind minority individuals value status. In fact, these explanations contribute to minority individuals’ further struggle in life.

Racism is the belief that one certain race is superior to another considering that race to be less than them, and are therefore are discriminated, stereotyped, and antagonized against. Racism has been known and experienced all throughout history. It has been a constant battle, and unfortunately it is still very current in today’s times. Recently in the world today, there have been several stories regarding racism and shootings, and in the article “Feds fault San Francisco police for violence against minorities and recommend 272 reforms” it strongly focuses on this issue. It’s a tragic thing for cops to be considered racist when they are supposed to be the protectors of our nation. In the article, it states how federal officials made 272 separate recommendation for reform, which would help train and advice the officers on their duties. These recommendations are taken daily by the San Francisco Police Department in

Racism in a pre-Civil Right Era was violent, abhorrently blatant, and prevalent to a fault. Post Jim-Crow, racism has diminished so much so that it barely exists; or so society likes to believe. In actuality, racism has been transformed under a different lens where racism still stands as the structures and functions of American society but have been so normalized and legalized that white Americans feel as the country has progressed in terms of racism. This lens, one that Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has defined as colorblind in his book Racism without Racists, explain how racism still dictate how people of color live and suffer in contrast to their white American counterparts despite the racial “progress” that society so desperately want to believe. Colorblind racism can be defined as the belief or behavior that racism no longer exists at all or like it once did in the past by disregarding how race plays a role in minorities lives and thus continuing to prop up the same racist structures and foundations that was at play decades ago before the alleged “progress” of the post civil rights era. What makes colorblind ideology a problem at its basis is held within the fact that white Americans know that race exists yet they both subconsciously and willfully ignore how the sociopolitical and economic aspects of the nation work to keep white Americans ahead while minorities struggle to survive in a world that essentially ignores them. A prime example of colorblind racism in a modern

As defined by the dictionary, racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. Though as a society we have progressed, racism is still a prominent issue; especially where power is held. In America today, racism is prevalent in the criminal justice system and is employed through unfair sentencing, jury exclusions, and police brutality.

Racism is defined by merriam-webster.com as ‘1. 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. 2. Racial prejudice or discrimination.’ Racism exists among all races and ethnicities, but most prominently between whites and blacks. The most basic cause of racism begins with the idea that there is something different between different ethnicities. Though that thought is illogical, it is one that seems inevitable. The amount of hatred one can hold against another because of the difference in their skin pigmentation is uncanny. There are an uncountable amount of sources on racism to be found just by merely looking on the internet. In

Racism, by book definition, is 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. Especially with social media, we are exposed to all kinds of racism and how it has affected people of color. Everything from police brutality, to discrimination, immigration and others can be fully displayed to thousands of people online when researched therefore making us more sensitive to this topic. Racism is just as alive today as it was in the 1950s in America. Racism is still alive due to refusal to move from traditional mindsets, America’s constant persistence on the “superiority” of white Americans only and America wanting to forget those lives

     Racism, what does that word mean. To many people it means that ones ethnic stock is superior to others, but this is the dictionary definition. To me racism is; hate crimes, people bias towards certain ethnic groups, ignorance, intolerance.

There are many destructive forces in this world, one of them being racism, the most powerful prejudice in society, as seen by Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. This small town in the 1930’s, during the Great Depression presents numerous examples of racism and its negative repercussions. As illustrates in the novel, racism is displayed in a variety of ways throughout the novel, however it is most present in the case of Tom Robinson’s trial, the prejudice that is displayed by the citizens of Maycomb, and the state of Calpurnia’s Church.

Racism is the belief that a certain race exists that is superior to others. Prejudices of ethnicity, religion, age, gender can limit one’s opportunities, due to the current system we dwell in being so institutionalized and embedded into our cultures. Some group or certain individuals end up as a victim of criminal acts based on prejudice more commonly known as hate crimes. For most of us Americans, we thought the book would close on a long history of inequality with the election of President Barack Obama, but racially motivated hate crimes as well as violence towards minorities are still prevalent. I agree with the textbook that, “competition may be in the realm of economic interests, political or military advantage, or even threats to the safety or status of the group”(Feenstra, 2014, pg.

The renowned French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1897/1951) asserted in his groundbreaking tome Suicide: A Study in Sociology, education “is only the image and reflection of society. It imitates and reproduces the latter in abbreviated form; it does not create it” (p. 372). The statements, therefore, of Nieto and Bode (2008) relative to the failure of our schools to provide all students regardless of their background or situation with equal and unbiased educational opportunities is an indictment of the society in which these schools exist.

What was one of your earliest experiences concerning race? Describe the experience, how you felt, and how the experience was handled.