Reflection About Racism

In our world today, White privilege is an existing matter. White privilege can be defined as advantages that assist white individuals in flourishing and gaining success. Privilege is in and of itself a struggle to equality. The advantages in privilege display the inequality that is in our society towards those who are not white. We as a society usually do not see the inequality in the opportunity and quality of life amongst those of different races, and this results from the fact of wealthy white counterparts being in control and in power since the birth of this nation.

The Merriam-Webster defines privilege as “a right to benefit that is given to some people and not to others” or “a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor”. Peggy McIntosh talks specifically of white privilege describing it as “an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count in cashing in each day” (1). White people are taught to think of themselves as “morally neutral, normative and average and also ideal,” it is never emphasized to us that what we experience on a daily basis and take for granite, is not any kind of social norm, but a privilege. Such simple and trivial ideas such as turning on “the television or open[ing] to the front page of the paper and see people of [white] race widely and positively represented” or the idea that swearing or “dress[ing] in secondhand clothes, or not answer[ing] letters, without having people attribute these choices or the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race” (3).

Studs Terkel (1980) relates C. P. Ellis' story about how his experiences organizing a union opened his eyes about how corporations treat minorities, and resulted in a new understanding of the people around him even though he was a former Klansman. I have never been in the Klan or organized a union, but a similar turning point for me came for me when I saw the movie "The Eye of the Storm," about Jane Elliot's experiment with white schoolchildren in Riceville, Iowa. This experiment demonstrated to me how children respond to cultural cues first from their parents and family members, but then through the institutions they are forced to participate in like school; the church; other families and supervisory agencies. If even white children can be taught to discriminate against other white children on something as arbitrary and insubstantial as eye color, then how easy it must be to train them to respond in denigrating ways to people with different skin color, body shapes or language for example, I realized. This changed my perspective on racism and ethnicity and while I have since done much research and believe education is the secret, the way I have decided to implement change in my own life, is to speak out when I hear someone making a denigrating comment.

Due to the United States’ rich history of racism and discrimination, that history still lives on today in the twenty-first century. The reason racism occurs in the United States is because the fact that it is very much diverse in every crevice of every state and in every corner throughout the country. Even though racism is still happening, it is not as critical compared to how the different colored skins were treated back in the mid-1900s, especially for the African Americans. As said by Rosa Parks, “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.” Our children look up to us as role models, and whatever the actions might be, it means something significant to them and they eventually will follow our leads

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.

Some People tend to laugh and feed on putting someone down based on their race and some may not even know they are being racist at all. The fact is that your behavior towards someone can be racist even when you may be “Joking” or “Messing around.” The matter of fact is the racial comments were still made and still have a hurtful message. In the essays we read we were given a real life example of how even unintentional racial comments can still be harmful to someone and shouldn’t be used as a cultural norm. One imperative stride to lessening the racist culture in America is to incorporate educational programs for our youth to show them that we are all created equal and racism has no place in our society. These measures can help raise equality and counter the impacts of any prejudice or dogmatism that happens in the children’s homes by helping them see and comprehend what generalizations and racism are and that they ought to be stayed away from. The adults and leaders in the lives of the youngsters are the illustrations that the kids look up to and will determine how they will act when they are older. By instructing the kids at a young age about the threats of generalization and racism, we can limit the transference of bigotry to the future

Another privilege I have started to notice recently is my age. Socially speaking I would be considered young and unexperienced in life. As I become older I often find myself believing these stereotypes. Overall I would say being young is a privilege to a certain

One example of white privilege, even though it is miniscule, are bandages. They usually come in a “flesh” color, but this only truly matches a white person’s skin. But, white privilege is not just limited to trivial things. In society, white people are looked upon as the most successful group, the ones who attend college, and the ones who have great careers. Compared to white people, minorities are rarely looked at being the intelligent ones who are capable of earning a degree. This is why there are so many white people on college campuses compared to minorities. Minorities are somewhat discouraged by our society to not attend college because of the lack of diversity. Another privilege white Americans enjoy is that they can go shopping alone without being followed or accused of stealing. I actually have had this happen to me various times. Whether I would be alone or with my friends at the mall or at a gas station, I would be yelled at saying I was stealing when I never had the intention of doing so. But if white people are able to acknowledge their privilege, they can help minorities significantly.

Privilege is an invisible package of unearned assets. Dominant groups don’t see privilege as a problem; they don’t even know that the privilege exists. For example, as McIntosh states about white privilege, my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race; as well as choosing blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more or less match my skin.

In American society, privilege is reserved for members of the white race. Ergo, persons who cannot claim a white identity experience the flipside of privilege, disadvantage (Wise, 2016). These others, these disadvantaged, are identified as persons of color.

Many people in my town have few experiences with people of a different race. Because of this, they often rely on preconceived stereotypes when interacting with people of another ethnicity. Unfortunately, most stereotypes are unflattering and offensive. Thus, when movements such as Black Lives Matter and #OscarsSoWhite gain steam, many are quick to dismiss them. Some disparage them by claiming that people of color are unfounded in their complaints, others resort to blatant racism. In either case, I am sure to defend those being oppressed; I am not afraid to debate with even the most prejudiced. I explain the reasoning behind such

There are citizens in the United States who believe they are living in a free society where all individuals enjoy the same livelihood and have throughout this nation’s history. There are also citizens living in that same country who do not see this place as one where everyone is valued but discriminated against on the basis of skin color. For almost four-hundred years, blacks have been seen as inferior to whites based on the color of skin. The United States has a history of slavery and people fighting for equal rights. Children need to be taught that we do not judge on the basis of skin color. A teacher by the name of Jane Elliott decided to teach her third grade students about the dangers of making judgements based on physical characteristics such as skin color and eye color. Her lesson was designed to bring the reality of discrimination to the for front of her students minds. She began her fight to educating people about reality of racism the day after Dr. Martin Luther

My last visit, I was invited for a meeting but I was unable to attend for the meet due to the fact that the meeting conflicted with my class. I attended the meeting for about 15 minutes. After I walked with Noah in the chicken while he made some coffee while other faculty was walking in out of the kitchen I noticed that on the corner of the kitchen, there is a huge printer and some staff were printing papers and while others were pouring water to drinking. He asked me if I talked any of the people I was supposed to follow up. I explained him to nobody retuned my except for one person. He asked he is that come along and I responded so far so good and everything is working pretty well the guy. I explained I talked with the guy over the phone in regards to alternative

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, that’s when I realized 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.