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Our world is constantly progressing with, technology, medical, and even transportation. We as people feel like we are evolving, to adapt to this advancement to our environment. But what about racism? Has racism truly evolved? Martin Luther King Jr. once said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King Jr’s. dream does not sound so farfetch. But, in today’s culture, it unattainable to become color blind. We as humans have the ability to see colors, and experience the world in more than just black and white. We take for granted what our eyes can actually do, and take into consideration that what we …show more content…
Williams essay, “Racial Privacy” she discusses how California 's anti-affirmative action proposition 209 is trying to “prevent California 's public agencies from classifying "any individual by race, ethnicity, color or national origin in the operation of public education, public contracting or public employment." Williams explains that this act will “prohibit police profiling”, ensure that medical records aren’t being misused, and credit cards or employment histories are not being used to discriminate. Why would color be used to profile, or discriminate anyone anyways? It shouldn’t. By enforcing this act, racism turns into a “don’t ask, don’t tell” problem. Society will continue to get pushed further and further in the dark by “big brother”. Racism will be higher than ever, but the date will not be collected and there will be little to no evidence to prove …show more content…
We need to realize that we are different. We come from different backgrounds, and experienced different things. But we need to also understand that we are also the same. We are human. We were put on this planet, whichever way you look at it, to coexist and do our purpose here. Patricia J Williams implies in another essay, “ Super-Black, Color Blind” That by ignoring our differences and racism the same way we always have, we will constantly be in a never ending cycle of intolerance. Such as racism, and class bias. It is essential that we stop ignoring what is right in front of us. It is essential that we wake up, and realize that color does matter, but it should not matter when judging someone. We forget to realize that every culture and every race has the good, the bad, and the ugly, but by accepting this, and working together we truly can accomplish more than just “living with those
As a nation, we have made great strides at improving race relations, but this does not mean that racism is extinct. As was pointed out in the class lecture on the Civil Rights Movement, many things have improved, but the fight for civil rights should be continuing as there is still oppression in operation in our own State as was made clear on the issue of suppressing voter rights. Racism is not born into mankind, racism is taught. This shows that if hate can be taught, then love and respect for others can be taught also.
It would be ignorant to say racism does not exist till today. There is almost a complete 100 year difference between the reconstruction period and the Civil Rights Movement for equal rights to the Black society. While slavery took time to vanish in the south in those hundreds of years, segregation was pushed harshly, laws we 're enacted to prevent Blacks from having certain privileges that whites had. Segregation almost seemed to kick the Blacks out of the society we live together in. The Jim Crow laws had made efficient work in separating the Blacks from the Whites in society, and it took the Civil Rights movement in 1964 to finally bring more equality to the African-American society. However, the Ku Klux Klan and still other organizations had existed and continue to exist despite efforts to bring equality. There is a strong social equality for the Black population in America today, but because of hate organizations and discrimination still existing today, black lives are being lost through murder, and even in forms of police brutality. Take for example the L.A riots in 1992 from the beating of Rodney King, or going back to 1967 the Detroit riots which tore apart these cities. Today Black Lives Matter movements exist to crush out racism in society so people no longer have to live in fear, and it is an existing movement that I think will actually fade as generations in the future work to build up society, and racism will become a thing of a past. There is however, always going to be something that causes prejudices and hate in society if not directed to one group of people. Even today if racism disappears between blacks and whites, prejudice occurs between cultural people here in America. These problems exist mainly in America, and it is socially slowing us down from advancing as a
Racism has existed through the world for centuries and has been the primary reason for numerous conflicts, wars and other human tragedies all over the planet. From 16th to 19th-century blacks were taken from their homes and families and taken for the slave trade. They were often overworked, beaten and killed. Being black was not the best thing you could be in 1950’s. Racism is not something that is inborn, it is what people created. In the article, “We’re all racist. But racism by white people matters more”, Mona Chalabi says “I don’t think white people are born with some sort of racism gene – the main thing that explains those different scores is the way that society has geared up our brains differently.” It is our society that is ignorant,
Racial profiling is the tactic of stopping someone because of the color of his or her skin and a fleeting suspicion that the person is engaging in criminal behavior (Meeks, p. 4-5). This practice can be conducted with routine traffic stops, or can be completely random based on the car that is driven, the number of people in the car and the race of the driver and passengers. The practice of racial profiling may seem more prevalent in today’s society, but in reality has been a part of American culture since the days of slavery. According to Tracey Maclin, a professor at the Boston University School of Law, racial profiling is an old concept. The historical roots “can be traced to a time in early American society when court officials permitted constables and ordinary citizens the right to ‘take up’ all black persons seen ‘gadding abroad’ without their master’s permission” (Meeks, p. 5). Although slavery is long since gone, the frequency in which racial profiling takes place remains the same. However, because of our advanced electronic media, this issue has been brought to the American public’s attention.
Due to their immensely different pasts, the two races have a hard time relating to one another, which keeps us apart as people. I have had to deal with a lot of racism in my lifetime, more so from my family than anywhere else. I have been disliked and not "accepted" by my grandparents and great aunts and uncles, some of whom I have never met, due to the color of my skin. My first-hand experience with racism and dealing with it effectively has made me a better, more complete person. The point of my writing this essay is to hopefully open one’s eyes to realize EVERYONE is equal.
In the article Road Rage, Williams does a good job trying to make society aware of the racial profiling problem and also trying to make each citizen more conscious about its consequences through communities all over the world. She starts by saying that although the Black Ministers Council has been trying to expose and prevent racial profiling, it still occurs. To identify the problem and to start her argument, she uses a lot of statistics to show that even though most of the individuals convicted of drug related offenses are white, the majority of people that are suspects and stopped in the streets are black. These statistics strengthen her argument once it proves with relevant facts that this unacceptable situation keeps on happening often.
One of the leading Jewish theologians and a philosopher in the 20th century, Abraham Joshua Heschel, once said, "Racism is a man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason." When the word -racism- is mentioned, ever wonder what a person thinks? Racism has been with us throughout eternity and has caused a majority of people in the America to be hurt and feel discriminated. The first people to ever experience this violence was the Native Americans, followed by black Africans and later on to other various degrees (Ponds). To heal racism, expanding ones capacity to experience the reality of others is a way of understanding how it feels to be discriminated because of the differences in race (Honour). Many people believed that the nation was entering into a color-blind society where racism could be healed if not then totally dismissed with the election of Barack Obama as president in 2012 (Ponds). With this prevalent going on in our society, questions arise: how do we teach our children not to be racists? How can we prevent this from going on? Teaching this involves taking one step at a time and going from there to the next level. By evaluating the two articles, "The Myth of the Latin Women," by Judith Ortiz and "Always Living in Spanish" by Marjorie Agosin, we can identify two sources that will help us understand how one can struggle and survive through living in a world full of racism.
Racial profiling is the most idiotic and arrogant thing you can ever do as a person. Usually the people who are affected by racial profiling are minorities, however, any person can be a victim of racial profiling. Some may think that racial profiling is non-existent, however, I would like to bring the situation into focus and show that it is still in existence and has been observed in the past and now in the current year. Although, more than fifty percent of the time racial profiling is conducted it is against a man or woman of color; an African-American in other words. There are instances where a white person can be a victim as well. Trying not to say that there isn't any person out there that is exempted from racial profiling, because there isn't a single person who is just exempted from this cruel method of decision making. In my essay I will talk about racial profiling and what it is, however, you can't forget about where it happens and of course why. Several resolutions will be discussed in this essay to alleviate this problem.
Racial profiling is generally defined as discrimination put into action based on a stereotype. No one is excluded from the potential to experience some form of racial profiling, regardless of one’s race, gender, or religion. Racial profiling has existed in various forms since slavery. During the reconstruction of the South, the first sense of racial profiling began with “Black Codes”. “Black Codes” were created to maintain a new form of slavery. These “codes” made it punishable by imprisonment and indentured servitude for any African American who loitered, remained unemployed, drunk, or in debt. The “Black Codes” were a transparent form of what we call racial profiling today. From a ruling class perspective, the minority groups are constantly undermined, intimidated, attacked, imprisoned, discredited, and sometimes shot and killed. These acts take place in order for the ruling class to maintain control and in most cases unjustly abuse their power.
In this world we are constantly being categorized by our race and ethnicity, and for many people it’s hard to look beyond that. Even though in the past many stood up for equality and to stop racism and discrimination, it still occurs. In this nation of freedom and equality, there are still many people who believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs are the ones that destroy our nation and affect the lives of many. The people affected are not limited by their age group, sex, social status, or by their education level.
In the black community, African-Americans are discriminating against each other, putting those with lighter skin complexion against ones whose skin is darker. In the African American community it’s like a battle of the skin tones. This type of racism is also known as colorism, the belief that those with lighter, fairer skin are treated with a higher respect than those with darker skin, this issue has been happening for a long time within the African American community. This form of racism is more offensive, severe, and different than the common traditional racism. The African American community is supposed to be united under the race Black, but that is where the problems come in. Under the ethnicity of African American, and have pride in their skin color and supposed to be joined together, there is a system of separation within the different shades of “Black.” In the black community, there are all kinds of shades of black, yellows, light, brown, dark brown, and other shades. According to Dr. Ronald Hall, a social work professor at Michigan State University, "As a result of having been colonized particularly by Spaniards, the British, etcetera, a lot of people...
Racial profiling does indeed exist in America. This practice is especially damaging to African Americans, who are frequently shamed by society as criminals, drug addicts, or welfare abusers. This societal flaw is evidenced by recent injustices to both Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin. Years of abuse of power have brought this issue blazing to the forefront of hot topics in America.
Discrimination has always been there between blacks and whites. Since the 1800s where racial issues and differences started flourishing till today, we can still find people of different colors treated unequally. “[R]acial differences are more in the mind than in the genes. Thus we conclude superiority and inferiority associated with racial differences are often socially constructed to satisfy the socio-political agenda of the dominant group”(Heewon Chang,Timothy Dodd;2001;1).
Within all of the texts mentioned, the theme of racism is present, just like in most of today’s societies. All of the researched sources deal with the effects of racism, the foolishness of it and the fact that it still exists in today’s modern and so-called advanced world. No matter how much social attitudes evolve, prejudice, hatred and racism will still exist within aspects of society, whether it be in the heart, in the mind or in the souls of those too ignorant to realize the damaging consequences. While technologically today’s world has advanced, if society cannot overcome issues such as racism and prejudice, it has not evolved at all.
The Association of Black Psychologist (ABP) (2013) defines colorism as skin-color stratification. Colorism is described as “internalized racism” that is perceived to be a way of life for the group that it is accepted by (ABP 2013). Moreover, colorism is classified as a persistent problem within Black American. Colorism in the process of discriminatory privileges given to lighter-skinned individuals of color over their darker- skinned counterparts (Margret Hunter 2007). From a historical standpoint, colorism was a white constructed policy in order to create dissention among their slaves as to maintain order or obedience. Over the centuries, it seems that the original purpose of colorism remains. Why has this issue persisted? Blacks have been able to dismantle the barriers faced within the larger society of the United States. Yet, Blacks have failed to properly address the sins of the past within the ethnic group. As a consequence of this failure, colorism prevails. Through my research, I developed many questions: Is it right that this view remain? How does valuing an individual over another cause distribution to the mental health of the victims of colorism? More importantly, what are the solutions for colorism? Colorism, unfortunately, has had a persisted effect on the lives of Black Americans. It has become so internalized that one cannot differentiate between the view of ourselves that Black Americans adopted from slavery or a more personalized view developed from within the ethnicity. The consequences of this internalized view heightens the already exorbitant mental health concerns within the Black community, but the most unfortunate aspect of colorism is that there is contention on how the issue should be solved.