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Racism in this nation today: will it ever stop? |
Have you ever noticed that if
you are in a room full of people who belong to a totally different race,
you tend to feel left out and alone. Have you ever received rude stares
and awkward glares just because you are of another nationality or
ethnicity? If you have, you are not alone; many of us, if not all, have
been faced and confronted with racial prejudice. Discrimination based on
the color or national origin is the view of ignorant and judgmental
people. It goes on everywhere, even in our own town and school.
In
this nation, there is the unfair treatment of Hispanics who try to come
over to this country to get work and who need to support their families.
Even the Hispanics who aren’t foreign are treated like trash and
discriminated for their color. The African Americans have been treated
poorly, primarily by the government, for the past centuries. The treatment
of blacks just on the bases of their color and the whole past with
slavery, especially from white people, is wrong and a sad and unfortunate
reality.
This
country has ignored research about minorities concerning health care and equal
career opportunities. Caucasians have been treated badly too, but not
anywhere near the degrees that Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and other
minorities have been disregarded. Sophomore Vicky Alonso said,
“Things in our country haven’t changed in the sense of equalities
between minorities, but it’s gotten partially better compared to forty
or fifty years ago. As being Hispanic in our culture, we’ve been
unfairly labeled as uneducated workers and under paid laborers, and that
is not the case, there are in fact plenty of intelligent and stronger
Hispanics who hold high offices in politics and are successful business
leaders.”
There are many stereotypes that go along with every minority. Sophomore
Will Orantes states, “Racial stereotypes are as petty and immature
as you can get, as well as ignorant. It’s wrong to base your opinions on
people just on their skin color or ethnical background. Yes, racism is
everywhere, and it is sad that it still goes on to this day, but what can
you do about ignorance and the people who practice it? It’s a very sad
and harsh truth.”
Many
people who learn and practice this hate are often influenced by friends,
music, politics, or inside their own households. It is sad what some of us
teach our children, to hate and to discriminate against others. Such hate
groups that teach this type of racial intolerance are what prevents us
from forwarding on making the races equal.
Some feel that racism is on a decline and that it isn’t so
apparent in our daily lives anymore. One individual that sees this view is
that of Sophomore AJ Burse, who said, “If you look at all aspects
of racism, how it was many years ago compared to that of today, it really
isn’t that big of an issue anymore, yet it does still happen in our
country, without a doubt. It has gotten better in terms of fairness on the
work force and such for minorities. It’s wrong when people talk bad
about other people’s race or national origin, but, in retrospect, it has
gotten a lot better for people of color and it looks hopeful for a more
stabilized and equal world.”
Senior
Dean Ajdukovic, who said, “Racism is stupid on the fact that is it
basically ignorance on the behalf of people who don’t want to listen to
reason and have their own stubborn and foolish judgments against other
people. It’s a huge waste of time and energy.”
Junior Phil Oh said, “I feel that if someone is racist and
refuses to accept people regardless of their good qualities and only focus
on the outside appearance of people, then they are blind and aren’t very
good people to be around, such negativity and disliking to another
person’s skin color or ethnicity is wrong.”
Another view like this is that of Senior Kathleen Tarr, who
said, “When people base all of their opinions on different types of
people just on the basis of skin color or ethnical backgrounds, it is
nothing more than disrespectful and racial profiling, which is racism and
is absolutely dumb and foolish ignorance, that’s the bottom line.”
Whether racism in this country is on the decline or not is easily
disputable that it isn’t that bad as it used to be, but the fact that it
is still alive in this country is for sure certain.