Examples Of Racism In America Today

Rough Draft Pre-AP English 10 Kevin Richer “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.” Maya Angelou. Racism plays a big part in the history of our country. It is what brought out good leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Fredrick Douglas. It has also caused people to be segregated and enslaved. Racism, the belief that one race is superior to another, has left a big stain on the carpet of American history. Racism in America today is influenced by the media, exaggerated by the people, and used for economic gain. The origins of racism go as far back as the 1600’s. During the Enlightenment, people began to think that the human race should be unified and not separated by

This is evident in different parts throughout society. Propaganda is one way that people over exaggerate different ideas. “A civil-rights warlord in the Miami-Dade County area who complained the testing regime for aspiring police officers was racist. (Friedman 21) It seemed that police officials decided to include a swimming test as a part of the recruitment exam. (21) They reasoned that since much of their territory was crisscrossed with canals and waterways, the ability to swim might be valuable to a law-enforcement officer charged with saving lives. (21) Our local race activist cited this requirement as racist because, as everybody knows, blacks just can 't swim all that well.” (21) This is another example of how people tend to magnify different ideas such as racism. In my opinion, this is a valid addition to their police requirements and is not racist. Their geological area, filled with water, therefore this requirement should be in place. The local race activist poses a bad counter argument. By saying that it is racist, they are actually being racist in the process, which ironically they are trying to stop. The media has a big role to play when it comes to over exaggerating conditions, and changing the views of the

That being said, there are ways that can get the ball rolling towards the eventual goal of a world without racism. “The presence of an egalitarian African American person or white person who was friendly and appealing was enough to shift participants ' unconscious racial associations to become less negative about blacks.” (Rigoglioso) Someone might ask, what that quote has to do with fixing racism. The way that I see how this quote pertains to the effort to stop racism is that this quote gives us a formula to follow. To change someone’s opinion, you need to convince them that their first impression of the topic is not an accurate portrayal of the topic. First impressions are long-lasting. If the media showed us the good things that African-Americans do, maybe people will learn to not think of them as bad people. This being said, there are other ways that people have tried and it has not worked. Some people think that it might never change, and that it is something that we will have to cope with. “Therefore, waiting for a mass opinion change may take decades (if it occurs at all). Similarly, waiting for old whites to die out won’t solve the problem, as these attitudes are equally prevalent among youth.” (McElwee) Children tend to pick up on their parents views and make them their own. All of this being said, I believe that we can fix