Personal Experience As a child, I never experienced racism it wasn’t until my teenage years when I started to take notice to the prejudice that occurs in America. It probably never affected me before this time because I am white, however, I’ve seen it happen to kids I went to school with and friends of mine. The one occurrence of racism that deeply affected me took place in 2009 during the swine flu epidemic. I rode the bus with this kid who I have previously encountered in the past name Augusto. His family moved from Mexico the prior year and I would ask him questions about his experience with coming to America. Well because of the swine flu epidemic people were blaming Mexicans saying that it was their fault the virus came to America.
That
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His stop was before mine so when the bus arrived to his stop Gus said thank you and appreciated me being there for him. He got off to his stop his family was waiting outside to greet him. Augusto told them what happened as the bus was leaving to move on to the next stop his mom and dad waved at me to say thank you as well. I couldn’t imagine anyone calling me or my family dirty or saying that I should go back to where we came from. It was hard to imagine that anyone would say that to him, however, even today people still discriminate and oppress …show more content…
Especially with Trump running for president we have seen an uproar in attacking minorities. Trump has attacked Mexicans and many other racial groups, however, people in America support his racism. Trump has stated that “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.” These aren’t just words they affect other people, they affect Augusto and his family as well as other Mexican families.
There are systems put in place to oppress minorities which causes the violence that is created. “Minority relationships become recognized by the majority as a social problem when the members of the majority disagree as to whether the subjugation of the minority is socially desirable or in the ultimate interest of the majority” (Zastrow, Kirst-Ashman, 242). The groups of people who have been singled out for unequal treatment has changed over the years, but not all of them. African American and Native Americans have been oppressed so many times within our history and in 2016 they still fight to gain more
After having viewed a few films in Chicano History class like A Class Apart, A Struggle for Educational Equality, and Latin and African Americans: Friends or foes, one cannot help but wonder how it is possible that you might be learning about the intense racism towards Latinos the United States for the very first time after having devoted your life to the American country. I, myself was born and raised in Arizona, a state south of the United States, in the city of Tucson that lies about only an hour away, or around 68 miles away from the Nogales, Sonora, Mexican border. One would assume to know a sufficient amount of history of the neighbor land or at least be aware of some fundamental facts about America and Mexico 's relationship throughout
Discovery can encompass the experience of facing confronting and meaningful situations that have the potential to alter an individual’s perspective of the world around them. The texts Go Back To Where You Came From (2011), The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, adapted as a film by Brian Percival (2013), To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) and I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. (1963) explore the universal experience of discovery through the outcome of emotional and intellectual discoveries conveyed through the audience, purpose and context of the texts. The documentary series, Go Back to Where You Came From explores the notion of discovery though its audience, purpose and context as the authentic refugee experience encourages the audience
To explain this, people have to reflect back to the way the Mexican Americans were being singled-out in the 1940s. For instance, Mexican Americans were said to be criminals rather than adolescents that used a style of clothing as a way to express themselves. The newspapers and police officers were discriminating against the Mexican Americans by implying they were criminals. To illustrate this, the discrimination in the 1940s by the Los Angeles paper wrote an article explaining how to “de-zoot” a “zoot suiter” the Los Angeles paper wrote in great detail how to remove the piece of clothing known as zoot suits and how to assault Mexican Americans (People & Events: The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943). Comparatively Mexican Americans are going through a similar case of discrimination by the elected Republican candidate, that is running for the 2016 presidency. In his presidential annocement speech, Donald trump said, “When Mexico sends their people they are not sending their best they are not sending, you. You, they are sending their people who have lots of problems. They are bringing those problems here, they are bringing drugs, they are bringing crime, they are rapist and some I assume they are good people” (Donald Trump Doubles down on Calling Mexicans 'rapists' - CNN Video.). Statements like this, such as the one the Republican candidate Donald Trump made towards Mexican will only continue racism and
Over many years and even thousands of years minorities experience an increase in discrimination and too much of it goes unjustified. Injustice means the lack of fairness or justice. Dr. King wrote the “Letter From Birmingham Jail” and talks about discrimination and several more important topics, after being arrested for peacefully demonstrating against segregation and racial terror. Discrimination always have and always will be a part of today's society it might not be moreso open as it used to be but it's still there and one day the protesting and all of the movements that have came to be will go unnoticed and there will be a stop put to it.
Racism: a Short History George Fredrickson makes an argument ultimately against the dichotomy between civilization and savagery, specifically the resurgence of ethnoreligious bigotry that, according to him, replaces 20th century race theory in order to justify continued inequities and sociopolitical oppression worldwide in Racism: A Brief History. His book delineates the rise of modern race theory, beginning in Medieval Europe and synthesizing an explanation for the existence and success of the overtly racist regimes, the United States, South Africa, and Nazi Germany. Fredrickson cautions, however, that racism can easily become interchangeable with religious bigotry when facing corporatism that aims to alienate, marginalize, and devalue human beings as mere consumers with little agency or any collective sense of identity. Racism's ultimate goal, according to Fredrickson, is to establish a permanent hierarchal order that "has two components: difference and power." Fredrickson's analysis is probably one of the most direct and functional definitions of racism that I have run across in a while.
People in America are not all seen as equal, and this is especially true when it comes to people of color. According to “Theories and Constructs of Race” by Linda Holtzman and Leon Sharpe: “The continuous racial targeting of people of color and the privileging of whites, along with the misinformation about race passed along from one generation to the next and reinforced through the media, has imbued people of all races with a distorted sense of personal and group identity” (Holtzman and Sharpe 604). This quote means that people of color are often targeted in a negative way, which shows that racism and discrimination is something that can be passed down or learned from the media. Today, there are people who still think minorities are inferior based on the color of their skin. “Theories and Constructs of Race” also mentions how from an early age, minorities become the target for racism, blame, and overall hatred. According to “Theories and Constructs of Race” by Linda Holtzman and Leon Sharpe: “The myth of racial inferiority and superiority has been upheld not only by physical violence and discriminatory policies but also by the psychological violence conveyed through stereotyping and racist messaging” (Holtzman and Sharpe 604). This quote means that minorities are constantly targeted both physically and psychologically, which shows that inequality is a “monster” due to the damage it causes to individuals on multiple levels. Racism can also lead to internalized racism, which causes individuals to adapt a self-deprecating attitude and engage in self-destructive behavior. Furthermore, hate, racism, and discrimination often result from people not understanding that not everyone is offered the same opportunities due to the lack of
Segregation has and still affects perceptions of Blackness inside and outside the Black community by making Black people see themselves as White people see them. Many of Black people have accepted the fallacy that they were inferior to White people at a young age, and Whites learned that Blacks were lower then Whites at a young age as well.
Racism and prejudice has been present in almost every civilization and society throughout history. Even though the world has progressed greatly in the last couple of decades, both socially and technologically, racism, hatred and prejudice still exists today, deeply embedded in old-fashioned, narrow-minded traditions and values.
Being of a different race, different culture has always created challenges while living in America. I remember hearing about the incidents of racism my parents and grandparents experienced in this country throughout the majority of my childhood as well as witnessing and undergoing such events firsthand. An incident that has deeply scarred me dates back to when I was only ten years old. I remember walking along the sandy shore of Silver Beach with my dad, when a drunk white man approached us out of the blue screaming racial slurs and other discriminatory insults. I stood still as phrases like “You don’t belong here”, “This is America”, “F*** you, Bin Laden”, “Go back to your country, motherf*****!” stabbed me in the chest. My heart sank
For the purpose of this paper I will be describing a personal life experience and I will be applying concepts from the texts to best describe the event. I was born here in the United States (US) but, I was raised in the Dominican Republic (DR). I lived in the DR basically my entire life, I would only come to the US for vacation during summer. It was not until I turned 12 that I decided to move back to the US to continue my studies and learn the language. So I did, I moved with my uncle and his wife on the summer of 2009. At the time, they resided in the Mayfair area of Philadelphia, PA. My uncle and his wife arranged everything for school and as of August of that year I was officially enrolled in Abraham Lincoln High School. Everything was
My perception of our world is that racism exists everywhere, even in the land of liberty, America. I am aware of the fact that there is racism against not only blacks, but also whites, Asians, along with people from all other ethnicities. I believe racism is deplorable in any form. Therefore I do my best not to be racist in any way.
Throughout my final ten weeks at my placement, I have grown and overcome so many obstacles. I have accomplished a wide range of skills since the beginning and have been improving on them as I gained experience. At my placement as a student nurse, I have gained a lot of confidence, skills, knowledge and experiences that have helped me act and work in a professional way. All the experiences I have had during the ten weeks of my student years have helped me in shaping me into a professional.
I could honestly say I was not extremely surprised to hear any of my responses. I know that at the beginning of this course, I was very intimidated to talk about this topic but the professor and my classmates have really made talking about this topic a little less stressful. Due to my anxiety about the topic, the initial recordings do show my hesitation in answering some questions. I think that would be the only thing that surprises me now looking back at my recording, my intimidation about the topic. If I were to complete the first part of the self-reflection project now, I think my answers would be different in that they would be more concise and my attitude would be much more assertive about the topic.
According to a 2001 Gallup poll, “more than 40% of Americans fear public speaking than death”, I was shocked to learn this statistics that I was not the only one. As I was pondering about what to write on my essay for my favorite school, I thought about my own childhood experience.
I do not think that everyone fits in one hundred percent of the time. I think there are times that we all feel out of the loop, and there are times when we feel like we do not belong. Whether we like it or not, those moments can change us and shape us. I have had times like this in my life too. One of these instances that is still affecting me to this very day has become even more prevalent in the past few months. This experience I am having has changed the way I think, act, and feel about the world surrounding me.