Racism And Hatred Essay, Research Paper
Racism and Hatred
Racism has become one of the many burdens amongst multi-cultural worlds like the United States. Different beliefs, different cultures, different skin color, all of these act like building blocks to help construct what we know as Racism. Racism is a part of each and every one of us. No doubt, we are all racist, but the term racism has been used too loosely. Racism has been mutated to such an extent that it could be a reason for war or rioting, a symbol of terrorism, and even an excuse for neglecting. Is that all there is to it? No, actually it is just the beginning. Racism is just like warfare in which there is no shelter and nobody is neutral. Nobody is exempt from this demon. He has haunted us with a bitter curse. The problem with racism is that many people don’t think it is.
People are afraid of the unknown, and it is this difference amongst people that spread rumors and distrust amongst people. Corrupting our thoughts and reasons, we get accustomed to thinking differences are omens. Amongst smaller kids, there is no difficulty in getting them to all play together. Their thoughts are not totally corrupted as others. Probably the demon has no time to bother with smaller children. As children start to grow up, their knowledge of the world increases in astronomical figures. They start to mature and realize the barbarous aspects of life. When this knowledge reaches to a certain point, the demon like racism comes after them. The child begins to understand the term racism and is encouraged to use it in part of their everyday speech. Then when one walks around the school ground, you wouldn’t see children from different ethnic groups playing together. They have become insoluble to each other and will never then mix again. Interaction between each other thus terminates. Nobody benefits from this kind of behavior except for the demon that haunts us. Racism, like the demonic figure it has imposed on us is the reason for distrust, disloyal, and discrimination amongst each and every one of us.
I am from a very small town with a population less than 1000 people. Kellyville fits the general idea of all small towns in Oklahoma, a church on every corner and a small caf? where everyone eats on Sundays. One might think that it is a very peaceful and friendly place to live, but that would be wrong. While everyone claims to be friendly devought Christians, most are very judgmental and close-minded.
I won’t try to say that I am always open-minded, but I do consider different views and opinion on issues. Whereas the people of Kellyville are very quick to judge others. Most of the people who live in Kellyville had parents who went to Kellyville and have never been out of the state of Oklahoma. I think that this is the main reason why this town has such a problem with outsiders or people who are different than they are.
In my high school, we had one black student in the entire school, Antonio. I won’t say that he was treated horrible by the other students, but he wasn’t treated quite equal either. Antonio was very popular, participated in many sports and various clubs, but as far as I know he has never had a girlfriend or gone on a date.
I was in a different grade than Antonio, so I don’t know if his fellow classmates are prejudice themselves or if they are just afraid of what their family or friends would think of them if they were to engage in an interracial relationship. What I do know is that his classmates are influenced heavily by others in the community who constantly refer to Antonio as “the black boy on the team.” Constantly hearing this causes children, who are not yet prejudice, to see him as different also, purposely or not.
This is one of the many different types of racism that exist in our community. There has yet to be an open homosexual person living in the town of Kellyville, but when this happens I feel very sorry for the person who is going to be put through all of the anguish of being different. Many people do not support the idea of legal and social recognition of unions between people of the same gender. The most vocal of these opponents are conservative Christians, basically the entire population of Kellyville. Conservative Christians claim that their opposition to homosexuality and to homosexual marriages is rooted in the Bible. But do we not have freedom of religion in this country?
Even the attitudes of Conservative Christians cannot explain the strong opposition of homosexuality that exists in society. The only logical explanation is that most heterosexual Americans feel that their way of life is being threatened by the idea of state-sanctioned homosexual relationships.
I can see why Conservative Christians disagree with homosexual unions. But I cannot see why the government opposes same sex unions. If two consenting adults want to spend the rest of their lives together and devote themselves to each other, who are we to say that they can’t?
These are just some of the issues that create hatred in our society. The effects of the way society is treating these minorities are disastrous. Black children grow up thinking that they are inferior to whites because of their skin color, or black children can grow up blaming society for their sufferings. Homosexuals grow up ashamed of their sexuality and trying to become something that they aren’t. The idea of not living your life the way you want to because others don’t approve sickens me.
“According to the police, the three drove Byrd to a remote dirt road, where they beat and kicked him before they chained him to the pickup truck and dragged him along the dirt road, tearing his body to pieces. Byrd’s head, neck, right arm and torso were scattered along the route.”( Hoehler)
The racists who performed this random act of racial violence in 1998, had no reason to brutally beat their victim other than the fact that he was of a different race. Although these acts of violence rarely lead to murder, statistics show that they occur frequently. The FBI conducted a study in 1996 to show the frequency of hate crime statistics and their results were shocking. This totally counted 7,359 crimes against persons. The bulk of these – 4,130 – fell under the category of intimidation. But there were also 12 murders, 10 forcible rapes, 1,444 aggravated assaults, and 1,762 simple assaults.(The horror story in Texas)
There are three basic forms of racism: open racism, violent racism, and covert racism. Open racism expresses freedom of racial thought and speech. This form of racism is allowed in our society because of the First Amendment. Open racism is currently almost nonexistent and steadily declining because it is considered politically incorrect and socially unacceptable. Nevermind the fact that it leads to violence. Violent racism promotes racism through fear and persuasionary tactics. This form of racism is against the law because it promotes violence to express its ideas. The last form, Covert racism, expresses ideas of racism I disguised forms; sometimes the covert racist is not even aware of the fact that he/she is being racist. Covert racism is the most abundant form in society today.
A large source of the racism present in our society stems from one’s pride in his own race. Many people, especially those associated with racist groups, find it necessary to put down other ethnic groups in an attempt to strengthen there own. This mode of thought and reasoning usually results in extreme hatred of other races and an overall sense of bigotry.
What is one of the main problems of racism? It is that many people live in racist conditions, without even seeing it. It flies right over their heads. Schools, the workplace, our community, our friend’s house, even our homes. We hear a racial slur, oh well; it’s just a joke. Hardly. If you think racist jokes are harmless than you should take a reality check. Racist jokes are just the start of it. Many people think the jokes are funny. Maybe they are, but they still hurt the people the jokes are about.
Some of the worst racists are the ones who think that they are not racist and really are. They really have to come to grips with reality. Why are they some of the worst racists? They are, because they cannot comprehend what is happening. They don’t realize what they are saying and doing are racist. Until they come to grips with it there is no problem. No problem, in their minds. They say that they aren’t racist, even when they don’t ask a person of a different race out on a date when they are attracted to them. And even the time when they moved from their seat at a movie theatre because of the black person next to them. Well, gee, they could have been a criminal. A robber from “the hood.” After all, isn’t that what most of “them” are. No one deserves to be prejudiced like that. The prejudice of people in the world is disgusting and ugly. The worst part of it all is that they don’t even know that they are doing it. They think it is just normal behavior.
Then there are those who are completely unaware of racism in the world. They walk down the streets, through the stores and working at their job, completely oblivious. Why can’t they see what is happening around them? Have they really lived such sheltered lives? Or do they just not want to believe it is happening? If these people don’t open their eyes, they will never see what is happening. What is going to happen to the world if people don’t start realizing what is happening? Will we be plunged into a time where racial tension is everywhere? Will we soon start having racial wars? Will racial violence be a normal every day occurrence? I don’t know. No one could know. Unless we start taking action and helping people come to grips with they way they are we can’t combat racism.
People who don’t see that racism is a problem are almost as bad as the racists themselves. Now, don’t take that comment in the wrong way, but as long as they are unaware, racism won’t stop. I am aware of racism. I am also not a racist myself. I have lived in a racist community for most of my life, thank god I haven’t turned out like the rest of them. There is hope for everybody.
Personally I don’t yet believe humans are ready to meet the classification as “the most evolved species”. If we were the most evolved species, don’t you think we would have figured out how to solve such basic inadequacies like racism? In essence my point is as follows, don’t be someone who bases their life on color, don’t be the bird that pecks at a discolored spot on her young until it dies! Be the reasonable and rationalizing human that you are able to be. We have a gift, a gift that if we use it allows us to see past the color of someone’s skin, or their different beliefs; so use it.
“The horror story in Texas,” Boston Globe. June 13, 1998: A14.
Hohler, Bob. “Blacks in Jasper cry for justice,” Boston Globe. June
13, 1998: A1.