Racism. . . it’s LingeringMatchmaker. com: Sign up now for a free trial.
Date Smarter!Racism. . . it’sLingeringWhat would you do if the Constitution saidyou were just as good as everyone else but some people still acted as ifyou were something they had just scraped off their shoe? This sort of thinghappens to millions of people on a regular basis.
Americans of African,Asian, or Mexican descent are all subject to this kind of treatment. Caucasiansare as well, but it is not as publicly notarized as the aforementioned. Most of these feelings towards anotherof a different skin color are deeply rooted in our minds from previousgenerations. Many, many years ago, African-Americans were used as slaves. The slave owners treated them badly. The owner’s own children then grewup with the same ideals and passed them on to the new generation.
Throughthe years, people have spoke out about these ill-conceived ideas makingthe ominous threat of racism more discreet than ever before. While in asearch online, I discovered a numbered list of Klu Klux Klan, Aryan, Skinhead,and many other white supremacist groups. I was shocked when I saw how manythis one list had. It listed over 800 different groups. I know that numberis not nearly accurate because there are many smaller groups that havenot yet made themselves known publicly.
Even people that do not belong in theseracially biased groups perform some acts of racism. Racial profiling- thediscriminatory practice by police of treating blackness (or brown-ness)as an indication of possible criminality. “Driving While Black (or brown)”is a campaign started by the American Civil Liberties Union because a studyshowed that minorities only make up 16% of all drivers, yet they are 74%of all drivers stopped and searched. Generally, only 12 to 13 percent ofthe U. S.
citizens are African American, although Black inmates make up40. 29 percent of death row’s population. As of 1996, there have been 232citizens executed under the death penalty since 1977. Only one white personhas been put to death for the murder of a black person. One perfect example of true racial profilingand discrimination is this next story. Danny Glover, a famous African-Americanactor, was in New York City.
It was late at night and he was trying tohail a cab. None of the cabs would stop and pick him up because of thefact that he was an African-American male. Stereotypical views like thoseof the cabby’s are not rare. When a black person does not wear baggyjeans or say slang phrases such as, “Yo homie, sup”, people would oftendescribe that particular person as being too “white”. Similarly, if a whiteperson plays basketball or listens to rap music, we might think of himor her as being too “black”.
All because of the stereotypical views implantedby the media and our ancestors in our brains. Movies, music, and yes, even Looney Tunes?,all put these ideas in our heads. Movies with the constant violence committedby minorities against whites are ridiculous. As aforementioned, LooneyTunes? also bring these ideals into the heart of our youth.
You wake upearly on a Saturday morning to watch you favorite cartoon. When it comeson you gasp in horror as a Hillbilly tickles one of the “Natives” untilhe backs off a cliff, plummeting hundreds of feet to his death. Have youever noticed how all of the Chinese characters have slanted eyes, buckteeth,and were accompanied by a ringing gong in the background? I have. Thenthere’s little Sambo, he was one of the few African-American characterson Looney Tunes.
He was absolutely adorable but incredibly half-witted. I believe all of this is absolutely ridiculous. Nobody should be putting these ideas into anyone’s head. It only makesone wonder. . .
“Will Martin Luther King JR’s vision of a color-blind societywhere everyone is equal and treated equal, ever come into existence? Onecan only hope so. I believe and will always believe that all men, and women,were created equal and they deserve to be treated that way.Bibliographyhttp://record.williams.edu/012098/opinions/avi.htmhttp://www.aclu.org/profiling/http://www.us.net/indc/race.htmhttp://www.netspace.org/herald/issues/96/04/24/dsouza.f.html
