Covert Racism in America

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Covert Racism in America

Racism is still a very current issue in America today. By no means is racism as overt as it was fifty years ago with enforced segregation, but today racism is more covert and often hides behind closed doors to only strike out when least expected. Racism has been deceasing and will continue to be decreased only through education. Hopefully, one day racism will cease to exist. But, that day if possible is many years away.

Racism still exists in America today. This is a very verifiable fact for it is estimated that currently in the United States there exists 751 active hate groups that espouse racism and hate based on a persons race, ethnicity, or religion (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2003). This data is very disturbing and is even more disturbing if one looks at the number and proximity of hate groups that exist in the state of West Virginia, which is eight (Southern Poverty Law Center). Of these eight one the White Shield Knights of the Klu Klux Klan is based out of this exact area in Mineral Wells. Thus, it becomes obvious that groups that promote racism are still a part of America and that they are even right here where we live.

The existence of hate groups is disturbing enough but if one looks at the statistics on crimes motivated by racism, the picture becomes even more disturbing. In the last available year that data was available from the Federal Bureau of Investigations it is reported that in 2001 there were 8,063 hate crimes committed (Seper, 2001). Of these 8,063 hate crimes nineteen led to the victim's death (Seper). In one sense it is a miracle that only nineteen individuals died because of racism-based crime out of 8,063 victims, but any death that is a result of a crime motivated b...

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... developing attitudes that will last them a lifetime and be hard to change or alter later in life. By teaching each generation not to practice racism there may possibly be a world where racism does not exist one day. For it is not a person's race, ethnicity, or religion that makes an individual a bad person but something inside the core of that person and decisions that a person makes. There is good and bad in all races and ethnicity and hopefully one day all human beings will realize that and cease in hating others because of what race or ethnicity they happened to be born into.

References

Seper, Jerry. (2001). Racial Bias Spurs Many Hate Crimes. Retrieved July 28, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http: //www.recomnetwork.org

Southern Poverty Law Center. (2003). Intelligence Report. Retrieved July 28, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www.splcenter.org/

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