Racism is the belief that there is one superior race over the rest. This belief leads to discrimination and prejudice over a persons race and ethnicity. This belief has been affecting the United States of America for a long time. There are many forms of racism, such as slurs and acts of violence, but there are two categories of racism: individual and systematic.
Individual racism is an individual's personal belief, ideas, and assumptions. This way of thinking is usually stemmed from conscious and unconscious personal prejudice. Usually, these beliefs are connected, learned, and applied from socioeconomic past. These beliefs are also taught on purpose are inadvertently from family parents. Individual racism is also supported by systematic racism. There is extensive proof of individual racism everywhere, from the street to social media. Racial posts can be seen on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for example.
In the internet age, it is easy to find these types of posts. Anyone can google "racial twitter posts" or "racist Facebook posts" and find tons of posts. Many, if not, all original posts have been taken down, but they can be found on google.
Social media sites now have ways to report racist and discriminatory posts, which has helped keep racism out of their applications. Although the account might be deleted temporarily or permanently, the account user can create a new account and continue their racial prejudice. Better action should be taken to permanently ban that user from ever creating new social media accounts.
Systematic racism is a form of racism that is part of policies and practices in institutions like the government, companies, and schools. The policies and practices in these establishments are to keep out or unfairly treat different groups of people, minorities. There are many examples of systematic racism in the United States. A few examples are:
- Jim Crow Laws
- Exclusion of African American golfers from elite clubs
- Separation of minority army units from white army unit
- Segregation pre-Brown v. Board of Education
References:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/cared/examplesofsystemicracism
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime/?utm_term=.cb6a85c6b729
Personal Insight:
Racism is an important issue in my community because it has affected our way of life. As a Mexican American, I have seen and experienced racism more and more as I get older. When I was young, I wasn't exposed to racism because my parents tried to shield me as much as they could from it. As i got older, racism was more prevalent. I would get called names like "wetback" and "beaner" from classmates. I was able to protect myself, and tried to do the same with my brothers. Racism in my community grew exponentially once Donald Trump became president. His remarks on Mexicans and other minorities were like war cries to his fan base. Since he took presidency, Donald Trump made it seem right to be racist and have racist ideals.
Ever since this announcement, and the progression of his unfiltered, cold, and shameless comments, more and more hate has been experienced by my community. A lot of people try to protect their hate speech by shouting free speech, but is racism free speech? or is racism hate speech? My community would argue the later option, with many forms of proof. There are posts, videos, and pictures that show the affects of racism in my community. Here is a list of a few links:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCRixtMUAfY
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiAQih6dclI
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy4G6nQpVoQ
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1HpV9dvHuQ
- http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/03/minutemen-protesting-at-the-mexican-consulate-in-santa-ana-on-wednesday/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHZBnUJ9kdE
Mother, Daughter, Aunt, Godmother, Friend
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