Breaking The Cycle of Toxic Racism

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Nelson Mandela once said, “no one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”(Mandela). Racism is an ongoing issue that has occupied many years of American history. Even with great leaders, such as President Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who established a push to end slavery and inspired an entire revolution to eliminate racial discrimination, it seems that a successful eradication of racism is not an option. Today, we still see hate crimes such as the Rodney King case of Los Angeles. Thus, while the Abolishment of Slavery of the late 1800’s and the Civil Rights Movement of the fifties and sixties may have diminished the impact that racism could play out in the open, these efforts have ultimately failed, to a great extent, in actually driving racism and discrimination to extinction because today, this toxic behavior is as prominent as it ever was.

The Abolishment of Slavery underwent progress in an atmosphere of wartime. In 1863, President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, issuing “that all persons held as slaves” throughout America “are, and henceforward shall be free” (Lincoln). This instance is the first major push to end discrimination by race. In 1865, however, President Lincoln was assassinated. This was due to the remaining and overwhelming battle of slavery versus freedom. The post-Civil War era brought about the Thirteenth Amendment, which stated: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,” except if used as punishment for a committed crime, “shall exist within the United States”...

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King, Martin Luther. "I Have a Dream." Speech. March on Washington. Lincoln

Memorial, Washington, D.C. 28 Aug. 1963. History Channel. A&E Television,

date uknown. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. .

Lincoln, Abraham. "Featured Document: The Emancipation

Proclamation." National Archives and Records Administration. US National Archives and Records Administration, date uknown. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. .

Miles, Barry. Hippie. New York: Sterling, 2005. Print.

Twain, Mark, and E. W. Kemble. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Pleasantville,

NY: Reader's Digest Association, 1986. Print.

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