Arguments Against Racism

1156 Words5 Pages

“Racism today is the ultimate evil in the world,” claimed Pope Francis in December. In several countries, racism is an issue recognized through acceptance of racial stereotypes, despite that these stereotypes not applying to individual or every situation. However, racism still exists. Racism is no longer an issue of a certain group, but of the individual and the character of racism has evolved since the beginning, and even since the 1960s. Racism and discrimination are not problems of the past; it very much extends into the 21st century. Brittney Cooper titles her article "We treat racism like it 's going extinct. It 's not." and she includes examples of discrimination, including Trayvon Martin’s shooting, and incidents at a fraternity at …show more content…

Recently, racism and racial discrimination have become a problem of the individual. In Katie Pavlich 's article “America is not racist”, she states: “Is their racism sanctioned by the government and celebrated by fellow citizens? Absolutely not....the individuals who have not corrected their racist views are an innumerable minority roundly and strongly condemned by the rest of society.” She argues that racism is a problem of a few individuals that have stereotypical beliefs of races. Similarly, in “America Has a Big Race Problem”, Nesbit summarizes a study conducted at the University of Chicago: “many Americans still do, in fact, harbor beliefs about racial and ethnic minorities” (Nesbit). This study confirms that racism is now of the individual, as not all Americans harbor these beliefs. Moreover, in “Government and politics won’t solve our racial problem”, the author defines the difference between racial bigotry and institutionalized racism, and declares that racial bigotry, not institutionalized racism, plagues our nation. Parker defines racial bigotry as “personal behavior...personal affairs of the heart” (Parker). The inclusion of ‘“personal” in the definition implies that the behavior is of an individual. Cooper discusses the relation of Millennials to racism. She states: “...racism is ideological…” (Cooper). As previously mentioned, 61% of white Millennials feel that whites work harder, which is an ideology that was subtly taught in their