Racial Biases In America

By 2040, racial minorities with comprise of 50% of the U.S population (Craig and Richeson 2014: 750). This means a change in demographics in American society. There are many implications of this near future of shifting demographics. Researchers have studied the changing demographics over time and found that one implication is rising racial biases exhibit in society. Now is a golden opportunity to rewrite the social scripts for minorities, now is the time to break down stereotypes and see each other not as divided groups, but as a collective country of Americans.

Many people were shocked by this current political campaign as Trump openly displays racial biases and racist ideology. Trumps racist views on immigrants and minorities are telling

In some ways it feel like we are going backward in our era of progression. With the changing demographics in America, Trump and many others have tapped into an age old fear of ‘others’ coming in and taking something that is ‘yours’. This ideology can be linked to nativism and xenophobia in American society.

The fear is present most often in the white ‘majority’ especially in working class individuals. I’ve encountered it when people in my community raised their voices against Brazilians moving into our neighborhoods. This blatant racial discrimination stems from misguided ideology of ‘othering’ that the people ready to move in are crucially different than ‘us’.

What people need to understand is this is an opportunity to make great strides in social change. The social change of weeding out age old racial biases from our communities. Because when it comes down to we are all what makes this country what it is. America is known for being a place for all people so why isn’t our mindset open to all

Immigrants are important to communities, economy and our daily lives. Immigrants have created this country, most of us are immigrants to this country if we look far enough back in our ancestry. What is the difference between discrimination against the Irish in the early 1900s to the discrimination we are seeing against Mexicans and other immigrant groups?

The fact is, getting rid of racial biases is beneficial for everyone. Researchers of urban poverty have found that accepting minorities, immigrants, and any other marginalized group into our job market and neighborhoods not only boosts the wellbeing of that community, but stimulates the economy (Huiping et al. 2013: 2660). Because, white America, you shouldn’t be afraid of being replaced, because mitigating racial biases promises a brighter future. Accepting people for who they are instead of a racialized stereotype is in your best interest socially, economically and politically.

I believe people are afraid of what they don’t know. If they only have this negative racialized picture of a unrealistic person, it's hard to connect to the actual identity and humanity of that person. There is a need for social change. And hey we don’t really have a choice because our society is changing and we need to change with it. We have a convoluted history with race already, and I’m not ready to add to