Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Race ane Ethnicity - Does Race Matter?
I believe race plays its roll in our world in it's own special, unique way. Instead of people in our society letting go of our history's mistakes as well as around the world, I wish to see people move forward and not let race be an issue in today's conflicts. It's true that in our country our citizens have come a long way regarding civil rights, but I still see in the news and social media that race is still being brought up in a negative manner. There's horrible stories on the news of people being murdered and yet they still bring up the reason for them doing so was because they're black, or they're white, or they were Mexican. But has anyone stopped to ask "Or did they do it in self defense?" Does anyone really know all the facts to those stories, or are they just stories being made up to cause more racial hatred? I definitely think that our country has grown in being more accepting of different races, but I think there is still some lingering biases in areas. I haven't seen or heard of any "hate crimes" in Arizona or in my community, most likely because I don't watch the news, and of any that I can recollect I still don't think race was an issue. If there were any crimes that had different races inner twinned I don't recall anyone using "the race card" and using it as an excuse or to place blame. I do remember being in high school and there were different social groups and it did mostly circulate around races. There would be a part of the school that had different "clicks" like the "Mexican hall" or "Jock Hall" and "Hick Hall", but I believe we just created that type of environment by ourselves and not out of hatred. Though in my town there wasn't really that much of a diversity to begin with.
I was taught that I shouldn't judge or dislike a person until I've gotten to know them or they've given me a reason not to like them, and race not having a role in that decision. Any person can have different characteristics and still be of different races. There has been times though I have to admit where my family has said things that have gone against what they've taught me. I just have to think to myself 'what do I believe in?' and not 'what has my family told me what I should believe in?' I work in an environment where I meet different people everyday, and I've even voiced my beliefs with my co-workers and they have accepted it without any prejudice as the they have done the same and we still get along great and respect each other.
Race doesn't matter to me because like what Martin Luther King Jr. quoted"...they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." I firmly stand behind that for every word of it is true. One day I hope there comes a time where I can voice my opinion about a person, whether it be negative or positive and not have someone call me racists because of what that persons race just happens to be. I hope that I can pass on that belief to my future children for them to take on and form their own beliefs and get to know people one by one as they come and not by the color of their skin.
Washington, Jesse. "TheGrio." TheGrio. Msnbc, 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
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The whole concept of race appears to be motivated by the needs of dominate culture to the capitalize on resources.
ReplyDeleteEssentially, the need for survival influences an individual's basic sense of morality. "Racism; a History" reinforces this idea. It thoroughly establishes that the drive for resources was a precursor to the establishment of the concept of "race". I think that this is a very obtuse concept for Americans to understand because of the strong association of race with New World slavery.
Is this the invention of race? I don't know. I do know that the concept of race of exists; and it matters. The PBS website's "Sorting People" activity helped illustrated this for me. My thoughts: "Did I get the races right?" "Did I get them wrong?" , "Is this a game?", "Why is this so engaging, yet uncomfortable?" I can't imagine being a census worker that has to identify someone's race based one my own subjective perspective! I think that everyone I know should see this movie and check out this website.
Although my high school was not very diverse either I can look back and say that people of different cultures and races stuck together. I don’t recall racism or specific reasoning to why it looked that way but I assume we grow up and feel comfortable to what looks familiar. I think the diversity of where you live also plays a big part in it. When I was younger the city I lived in was much more diverse and I do not remember having that separation between races. It could be the demographics or the age I was. Maybe as we grow older we are more aware of our place in either the dominant or subordinate group. I understand what you are saying about your opinion being judged. I know I have questioned something I have said before and thought, oh no I hope that was the acceptable way to say that or I hope they don’t think I am judging who they are. I believe thinking that way ultimately widens the separation between people though. Proof that racism and oppression are so existent in our lives we automatically become uncomfortable or we get defensive.
ReplyDeleteI think it matters to those on the receiving end of ridicule and let downs. One's who haven't experienced it first hand, can say easily it may not matter. In Tempe, Arizona at ASU, there was a group of whites who for MLK's b-day, dressed in loose basketball jerseys, threw gang signs, and drank out of hollowed watermelons to mock the students and the day. Some of these kids had recently beat a black student on campus. Investigations are still under way. So yes, it matters. Until things are balance, it will matter.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/us/arizona-fraternity-party-stirs-concerns-of-racism.html?_r=0
Racism is a reality in America. Racism is more than just specific socially unaccepted behavior against a specific race or ethnic group,
ReplyDeleteas long as the prejudiced mind exist, this concept of racism will never cease to exist.
Racism is a reality in America. Racism is a cog in the wheel of how the American system works. That cog is the marginalization and
oppression of groups or individuals based on factors related to racial or ethnic heritage or identity. This is racism can that is part of
the American social, economic, and political landscape. To believe that this systemic racism in America longer exists, is a choice to
be ignorant. It appears that most individuals who make such claims are failing to recognize that the social status that they identify
with, actually has "status" because of the systematic oppression of generations of non-whites that have come before them. This is
the racism that we can eradicate.
Racism becomes a politically charged concept intentionally so that the concept itself can be used as political distraction. Rather than
using politics as a tool to address the root of racism, many politicians use racism as a tool for their own political motives or those of
their campaign funding sources. It appears that the political "norm" means perpetuating systemic racism by pretending to be
ignorant of it's very existence.
Despite the progress to reform the system racism within America, these successes have are piecemeal fixes to an American political
system that is obviously broken, and rigged to be oppressive. Acknowledging this is the fist step toward real social change and rebirth.
However, this acknowledgement must come with a guiltless honesty motivated to make active and affirmative changes.