Racism
Racism is a prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief. Some think that racism is not around anymore and we live in a country full of peace and harmony; these people are wrong and they are closed-minded. Racism is a major issue in America today and many people are being discriminated against for their race, color, religion, sex, and weight. Wikipedia explains the term "racial discrimination" as:
“The belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. It is any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.”
This is a great definition but is racism really just a belief or is it a way of living? My purpose through this paper is to argue that racism is a far greater problem then people make it to be and it is something that should not be around today. I will redefine racism as something that is not just a belief but rather an action and behavior that is ignored in the lives of children, the institution of work, in the behavior of students, and in the center of our homes.
When people think of racism the first thing that may come to their minds are the problems, back in the day, between blacks and whites. When the colored people were not allowed to do many things that the whites were allowed to do, such as drinking out of the same water fountain, sitting at the same table, eating at lunch counters, or even sitting in the front of the bus. This is the general view of racism and it is not all that racism consists of. The reason why people do not think racism is around is because they can drink out of the same fountain as a colored person without any problem, but racism is more. Especially with all that is going on today with the Middle East and showing how far racism has gone in America through all this turmoil. It’s not a joke; just search the word “Nigger” on Google and the search engine is filled with links to Nigger Jokes. People do not understand the seriousness of racism and the problems it has been causing.
Home life is an essential point in racism because children will do what their parents do. Children are constantly learning and exploring new things. I have a nine year-old sister, she literally copies everything that I do from the way I joke around or even the way I talk. Sometimes we do not realize our behavior around children. For example, in order to calm a yelling and crying child sometimes we yell at them back. This gives them the incentive to think that yelling is okay if my mom, dad, older brother or sister are doing it. What children see, children do. So in the home, if parents and family members are cracking jokes about Arabs then the kids will think that Arabs are dirty people and it is okay to make fun of them. They do not know better because the first school is in the home and whatever they learn in the home is what they take out into the world when they are at school, on the playground, when they grow up, and when they have their own family.
A Class Divided is a video about a teacher and her class. The teacher is Ms. Jane Elliot; she is trying to show her class what racism is all about so she divides her third grade class into two groups, the blue-eyed kids and the brown-eyed kids. The first day she tells the blue-eyed kids that they are better and smarter than the brown-eyed kids. She gives the brown-eyed kids a blue collar to wear so they can be distinguished from afar. The brown-eyed kids are not allowed to drink out of the drinking fountain; they have to use paper cups. The brown-eyed kids cannot play with the blue-eyed kids and the blue-eyed kids have five minutes extra of recess. A student exclaims that Ms. Jane should use her yard stick just in case the brown-eyed people get out of hand. Ms. Jane explains, “I saw innocent Children turn into nasty, vicious, discriminating third graders in the space of fifteen minutes.” The second day she tells the brown-eyed kids that they are better then the blue-eyed kids. So she switches the situation around and has the brown-eyed kids place their collars on a blue-eyed kid. The brown-eyed kids have all the privileges now and they are better and smarter than the blue-eyed kids. Ms. Jane is working on the math phonics cards with the brown-eyed kids. She comes to realize that they got through the cards today in two and a half minutes while yesterday when they were the dumb folks it took them 5 and a half minutes. She goes along and does the cards with the blue-eyed people, these kids take four minutes and eighteen seconds while yesterday when they were smarter and superior it only took them three minutes. She asks these blue-eyed kids, “What are you thinking about?” And they tell her they are thinking about the collar and how they are insuperior to the brown-eyed people. She then brings the class back together and tells them about what they just experienced. You can see the kids loosen up after she tells them no one is better than anyone else in this room. She tells them that we should not treat people in a nasty and vicious way just because they are different than us.
This video brings up great points especially in racism. It shows how children are affected once again the children see, children do aspect is true. They will do whatever their authorities tell them. Just as these kids treated each other differently when they were told that they were better than the other group. Why were the blue-eyed people treating the brown-eyed people differently when yesterday bring brown-eyed was okay? We can take this and look at it through the Middle Eastern’s, why are we so afraid of Middle Eastern’s today when before 9/11 there was nothing wrong with sitting next to one an a plane? This is why racism is still around today because people cannot look past the issues and differences and they think that since they aren’t like me then I must be better.
THIS IS NOT COMPLETE!
Anisa Peer Review
1. This project is based on a complete definition of “racial discrimination”, taken out of Wikipedia. It is very clear that this paper is based around this definition, and it is also redefined as racism is “not just a belief but rather an action and behavior that is ignored”
2. Racism is such a touchy subject, but this paper has some strong criteria that support valid points. Such as racism against black and whites and Middle Eastern.
3. Argument is racism. Why is racism such a big issue in America?
4. The strongest element of this project is the example of the teacher and the experiment she has conducted on her kids. It gives us that sense that no matter what people will discriminate simply because you are different.
5. Although this paper is well done and I don’t consider this part “weak” but rather it needs some expanding the paragraph of “Home Life”. Try to nicely connect racism here in this paragraph.
6. Even though it is not done, I think this paper is well written, and it has a nice flow from paragraph to paragraph and I’m sure it will have a great ending.
7. This paper definitely makes it clear that racism is such an important factor in our lives today, because America is filled with different people from different countries with different beliefs and values. Racial discrimination does still exist today and I believe that this sentence is true “This is why racism is still around today because people cannot look past the issues and differences and they think that since they aren’t like me then I must be better” It is sad that people do not /cannot look past those differences and just treat everybody equally.
8. This paper is not fully done, but it has such a strong argument and great ideas to expand even more.