Family vs. Society

Family vs. Society

As children, our parents instill in us beliefs that we carry with us throughout our lives. Many beliefs we are taught have been passed on through generations. One such belief is racism. Racism was widespread in the past, but is strongly discouraged in today's society. Perhaps it is our families, or perhaps it is society that teaches us racism. If we were to look at our families and the mixtures of cultures in our towns, maybe then we would get some sort of understanding as to why racism is so prevalent even today in the year two thousand.

Many times it is through our parents and grandparents that racism is passed down to us. Perhaps they don't intend to teach us, but it is through subtle ways that we are taught this. Throughout history, many of us have been taught to look down upon those whom are different than ourselves. I personally wasn't raised this way, but my grandparents were. Many comments they have made throughout the years have often made me feel uncomfortable. I hate to say it, but I am often embarrassed by my own grandparent's ignorance. I've often wondered why they were raised like that. Only after reading Randall Bass's "Fear and Difference," could I get some sort of understanding. He states, "People are considered 'others' when they are perceived to be in competition with or threatening the very core of a culture's sense of self-identity" (210). This sentence made me realize that people feel threatened when another culture with different beliefs mixes with their own. It was then that I become conscious of the fact that my great-grandparents might have felt threatened by the actions of another person or ethnic group, therefore denouncing and condemning them in front of their own children.

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...s diversity, yet in this day and age there is still widespread racism. "Why," is the question we need to ask ourselves? Why, if we are raised to believe that all of us are different and all of us are special, is there still the fight between races occurring? The answer to these questions might very well be answered if we look very close to home. The only way to solve this dilemma is to teach our children to look past color, creed, gender, age and religion with hope for a better and stronger society in the future.

Works Cited

Takaki, Ronald. "A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America." 1993. Border Texts: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1999. 589-596.

Bass, Randall. "Fear and Difference." Border Texts. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1999. 205-210.

Cose, Ellis. "What's White, Anyway?" Newsweek 11 September 2000. 13 pars. 15 September 2000. .