Racism

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Racism

Racism, the belief that race accounts for differences in human

character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.

All across the world racial discrimination has been a serious problem.

In Africa 80% of the population is black and the 20% that are white

have all the power, is it not true that all men are created equal?

Three stories: Afrika Road, The Prisoner who Wore Glasses, and Why

don't you Carve Other Animals, tell about Africa and how racial

discrimination is a big problem. A more dramatic story is the movie

"The Power of One" about an English boy growing up in Africa and his

struggles. In these short stories and in the movie racial conflicts

are evident in the form of white against white, white against black,

and black against black.

Not all white people believed that they were superior to the blacks,

this concept made the racist whites turn against other whites. In the

movie, PK, the main character, suffers ordeals which no one should

ever have to go through simply because he is English. At his boarding

school the other kids do not like his presence and they make sure he

knows it. Another white kid spits in PK's face and even takes it as

far as peeing on him in the bathroom. Sadly enough those weren't even

the more serious of the acts of hate shown in the movie. PK gets hung

up by his feet and stoned with a slingshot, all this because he is

English. In The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses, the only real instance of

white against white was when the guard took the prisoners side. Even

though he was forced too, the guard took the prisoners side and

treated them as equals, going completely against what the other guards

believed was right. Other than that there weren't many instances of

white against white discrimination in the stories, they were mainly

about the conflicts between blacks and whites.

Racial conflict between blacks and whites is definitely expressed more

in the short stories than in the movie. In Afrika Road, it is said how

even though 80% of the population is black, the white people still

have the power. This idea is also expressed metaphorically in Why

Don't You Carve Other Animals? When it says " The elephant has ruled

the forest for a long time, he is older than the forest, but the

giraffe extends his neck and struts above the trees, as though the

forest belonged to him. He eats the topmost leaves, while the elephant

spends the day rolling the mud. Do you not find it interesting?

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