Racism

Racism has been around forever, and will continue to be a part of our everyday lives no matter what. People may think that they aren't racist, but everyone is. As bad as that sounds, we all are, because we all have been persuaded by the media, and our parents. It is true that some people may be less racist than others, but no one person can say that they aren't racist. I remember during the Soap Box Speeches that was weeks ago, one of my friends went up and talked about racism. She is African American and opened with, "Today I found out that I was racist." At first I laughed at that, but soon realized that it was true. She explained that because it was always told that white people were racist against black people, it never crossed her mind that things could go the reverse way as well. She had made a white person joke one day, and realized that that was racist. I know for myself, I try to be careful with what I say out loud, but I catch myself about to say or thinking something racist and realizing how bad that is. It is true that some things aren't as bad as others, but it is still racism. The class before Thanksgiving, we talked about racism and oppression. Over the years we, as a country have become more accepting of different races. Even when talking about racism I am guessing that most people think of African Americans, because of the Civil War and slavery. We forget that there are other races in which we can be racist of as well. But since the civil war was more recent, there is still outburst of racism against African Americans in the South states. Because the South was where most of the slavery was held, because the North made them get rid of slavery, they still hold grudges against the Blacks. Now I don't believe there is a lot of places that still segregate, but I am sure there are towns that blacks would be best to stay away from. In an article we were given in class from the New York Times, called Our Racist, Sexist Selves, it talked about this man finding out he was racist. There was a test that a person could take in which a person encounters a series of black or white men, holding guns or cellphones. The person's job is to shoot the gunmen and holster their gun for others. The outcome for this man was that he shot armed blacks in an average that was slightly faster than he shot the armed whites. THis example shows that even when we least expect it, everyone can be somewhat racists.