Reflection About Racism

Is it racism or economics which hinders many African American communities from progressing economically in the 21st Century? This research proposal will address this question by examining the social and psychological impact caused by racism and the economic impact it’s had on the African American community. This proposal will further investigate whether the emotional scars of slavery continue to hamper African American progress or if racism is actually the cause.

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.

Society today deals with a plethora of controversial problems. Controversial problems we face today include issues that deal with a few of the amendments: freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to bear arms, etc. Other issues that we deal with today could be medical, social, or the legalization of certain things. One controversial problem that I believe is very important and should be addressed is racism.

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

My paper is on racism. In my paper I will be talking about who experience racism and why they experience such a thing. Also I will be talking about the fact why people are racists. I will also be talking about the percentage of American who are racists. Racism in today’s society is primarily based upon the struggles and conflicts of our past. Our ancestors past. We automatically assume that when we hear stories about events that happened in the history of our people affect us and hurt us. We are meant to learn and grow from their experiences not hold onto the hurt. Just never forget their struggles that helped us to arrive at the place we are today. There are events and people in everyone’s culture that are clearly either for or against racism that affects us today. We have slavery and the holocaust; and people like: Hitler, President Lincoln, Ghandi, and dr. martin Luther king. The struggles that were either caused or fought for brought us to where we are today. Racism is still very evident but has not been able to quiet progress. We have our first Afro-American president because people refuse to stand by and let history repeat itself.

The 1964 Freedom Summer Civil Rights movement has reflections on today’s black rights movements as well. Generally it is known, though some do not want to admit this, that there is racism in the world today. Equality was a struggle for African American’s in the 1900s and continues to be today. It is overtly present in the way people are paid, in their peer groups, and even stigmas that societies places on them. However not all racism is overt. Much of the racism that can be noticed today is not intentional, rendering it covert. Covert racism is, in some ways, more difficult to change as most people are racist, but unaware of it. If confronted with possibility, people tend to come back with a response of a way that they have not acted racist in the past. The Implicit Association Test is one way to reveal to someone of these biases. Racism as well as the actions taken by the white Mississippians to end the movements tended to be more overtly racist, with brutal violence being the main force.

A black man is on the road, driving, and made sure everything was fine. He started driving a little over the speed limit, and starts to hear police sirens. He checks everything again, but before he looked at the speedometer, he gets pulled over and a cop comes out with a gun in his hand ready to shoot. The man gets away with just a ticket, but the cop acted very rude. As the driver got to the next red light, he saw a white man, pulled over by the same cop, but the cop was acting really friendly, and his gun was nowhere in sight. Outrageous!!

Racism is an important aspect in the world because it is presented almost every day in our communities. In the article “Chapter 7: What Is Racism,” DiAngelo states “Racism is a form of oppression in which one racial group dominates others” (87). Racism surrounds our society,economy, and political environment which create an inequitable issue of privileges, resources,and power between all race types (DiAngelo 88). My basic definition of racism is when an individual of a specific race, such as Caucasian, discriminates against another race, such as African American, because one feels superior to the other. I believe a racist is one who gets involved in ethnic discrimination; therefore it is cruel to live in a world with people who do not get along with others due to the color of their skin.In the book “Twilight Los Angeles, 1992” written by Anna Deavere Smith, there are a few examples that define a possible, clear, and not clear case of racism. In the Rudy Salas Sr.interview, Salas was beaten very badly by a police officer then after he threw a punch at the officer but was not too hard. Salas was a Mexican and the police officer was a white American.Salas was also beaten and kicked by four police officers and they fractured his eardrum which made him become deaf. This made Salas have an insane hatred for white policemen (Smith 1-7).It may seem as the police officers were racists because they attacked Salas, but we do not know the exact reason why the police officers attacked

Race and ethnicity have been a touchy subject that has never left or has been resolved. We just choose to ignore it and hope people can one day be accepted. Sadly it has never nor will be a problem that will be solved. Discrimination towards race and specific beliefs have caused violence and continues to feed into the destruction of mankind. Racism and discrimination are constantly being witnessed by adolescents which, will aid in the emotional damage some of them will face as well as helping them pass down the hatred they learn to the next generation. It is upsetting when you see racism being performed and you have no immediate reaction because it is now considered a norm in this country. I personally, on many occasions, have experienced racism as a child, both in and out of school.

My memory of almost drowning as a young child destroyed my perfect perspective of the world. I couldn’t fully understand why everyone came to save me when I almost drowned but when I saw an African American student who was constantly bullied in my predominantly white Texas school, no one came to save her. She was drowning too but in racism, not water. I couldn’t understand why some people were born drowning and why some weren’t. I thought that was how the world naturally worked. I couldn’t see any fault when I decided to keep quiet. I didn’t have “white privilege” and I wasn’t the one drowning others. When I moved to California, where I was exposed to a variety of different ethnicities and beliefs, I realized that even though I didn’t have “white privilege,” I was still more privileged than others and by admitting it, I was acknowledging that racism is real and wrong.

The Declaration of Independence, issued on July 4, 1776, stated "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal..." Yet the new nation declaring its independence permitted the continuation of the practice of slavery for people of African heritage - a practice that continued until the Civil War in the 1860s. At the conclusion of the Civil War, much remained to be done to ensure the rights and privileges of citizenship to all Americans. As America became a more diverse nation, welcoming immigrants from around the globe, problems of racial discrimination endured for many minority group members. Women and persons with disabilities also fought for and obtained laws that provided tantamount amount of fairness.

Racism, as bad as it is, has built this country. America’s history is predominantly littered with this terrible social concept of enslaving a race and treating them as second class citizens. Even though slavery and racist laws were abolished years ago, people today are still impacted by this issue. Humans are not naturally racist, rather a racist system was put into force that altered our history for good and for worse.

Throughout American history, racism has been at the forefront, driving the citizens to embrace a lifestyle of suppression and dishonor. Flawed beliefs of white supremacy has made being non white in America dangerous. This can been seen since colonial times, with the murder of Native Americans and purchase and sale of Africans. This country was meant to be a beacon of hope to others, as a wonderful place where people held the power, a place where the pursuit of happiness, liberty, and prosperity were guaranteed. However, the birthplace of freedom and liberty for all often denies its own citizens the right to the all too elusive American Dream, saving that luxury for those with white heritage. When looking back at the injustice done to thousands of people, one can see the huge role racism has played in the shaping and making of The New World.

My ethnicity has always been something that people found to be interesting about me. Being born of a Hawaiian mother and an Italian father, I have been told I have an “exotic” look that makes it hard for people to label me as by ethnicity. However, regardless of the complications it posed for other people, I never had a problem embracing my cultural identity. While my ancestors come from Polynesia and Sicily, being an American-born child makes my traditions a little less involved. Since I am comprised of two very distinct ethnicities, this results in the practice of mixed traditions. We eat foods typical of both cultures, including pasta, risotto, pizza, potatoes, fish, rice, sausage, and pork. However, some foods that are more typically found in Hawaii include Kahlua pig, and poi.

An understanding of racism and how it has changed from the early 1900s to the present day can allow for a better understanding of how a community can contain racism. Racism is a big topic in the world today and has gained a lot of attention due to the recent deaths of young black men that have been killed by white police men [one of which was an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, which occurred in Ferguson, MO] These deaths have sparked the U.S. to look at where it stands pertaining to racism in the past. The 1950s through 60s was a turning point in the rights of African American rights with the Civil Rights movement, lead by the great Martin Luther King Jr. Whenever the topic of race is brought about in our country people always talk about the past and not the future; though I think it is important to remember the terrible things our country has done I think it would be more beneficial to look at the present and what problems we are facing as a nation today.