Why Racism

[SoundFX]

I am writing my term paper on racism. My last paper was on the American Dream and I now want to top that paper in terms of my writing and my grade (198/200 my teacher also saved it to use as a model for students after me).

I currently have done a good portion of the research but being indecisive I am in dire need of an actual discussion on the subject so that I can express all my thoughts and further broaden my research. Hopefully this topic will bring some intelligent people to light.

Anyway, I will start out with some quotes I have found and then we can discuss and comment on each other from there.

...overcome centuries of discrimination through affirmative action programs in education and hiring

I personally do not think affirmative action was the best way of handling this. Did it work? I can honestly say, yes it did work, but I also feel it brought about a new set of problems. For example, I worked in a factory where there was one black man that worked in middle management. He may or may have not been the best qualified for the job. It could have been viewed with a sense of discrimination if one were to look at an all white management or even if he were to be fired and replaced with a white person. Affirmative action may have been keeping this man his job, and some people may take advantage of that.

Also, I feel the United Negro College Fund is, in essence, racist. What about the other hundreds of thousands of middle to low-class non-black students that cannot afford to go to school and why isn't there a United White College Fund? or a United Asian College Fund (there might be I didnt actually look ). Nonetheless I feel that this is a separate but equal practice which most of us Americans will know was declared unconstitutional in Brown vs. Board of Education.

Both consciously and unconsciously, racism is enforced and maintained by the legal, cultural, religious, educational, economic, political, and military institutions of societies

I agree with this statement and heres why: Looking at America's war and how the media displays terrorist, many members of society automatically look upon middle-easterners with an air of animosity. The media burns images of terrorists into the minds of the people and it just creates this racial tension. This can also be observed in historical events like the Japanese internment camps and, not race related but the same effect, the Red Scare.

The colonists who invaded North America came with preconceived notions of economic exploitation and white supremacy

The only support I have for this at the moment is the most famous line in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

We can conclude that through the course of the next century of American history that Mr. Jefferson meant white, property-owning, English-speaking, males.


There, I think that is enough to spark an intelligent conversation between civil human beings.

[Spas12]

Both consciously and unconsciously, racism is enforced and maintained by the legal, cultural, religious, educational, economic, political, and military institutions of societies

agreed.

The colonists who invaded North America came with preconceived notions of economic exploitation and white supremacy

really? did they? I always thought that happened after they landed on the New Land, hmm. Anyway, this occured in history many times, particulary with the British owning a lot of colonies during the 20th century(not to point fingers). Maybe write about that a bit, and how it spread and is still used today?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

We can conclude that through the course of the next century of American history that Mr. Jefferson meant white, property-owning, English-speaking, males.

oh boy, i fucking hope not.

[SoundFX]

Yea, I hope not to but hope wont change the past. As for the British empire, you've reminded me of a great book called Guns, Germs, and Steel. Highly recommend this to anyone with an interest of human history.

[dragonfliet]

While affirmative action becomes less and less helpful with the better and better African American's do in American society, it's still helpful.

While one may argue, hey, that's racist, it's a silly, limited view. Not only were black people ENSLAVED, they were denied education, property, jobs, opportunity itself. This took place in the form of customs, agreements and a series of laws (often referred to as Jim Crow laws) that are STILL BEING DISMANTLED TODAY, though the sixties saw the majority of them taken down.

The result of these laws and de facto suppression was that blacks simply didn't have the opportunity that whites had. While it would be difficult for a poor white boy to make a living for himself, it was harder for a poor black boy. While a poor white boy could work hard and save for one of the many, many, many colleges, a poor black boy couldn't. This happened, again, WIDELY until the 1954. That's only a little over 50 years ago. What chance did these people have of getting a better life for themselves?

On top of that- money and position dictate how well someone will do for themselves. No, it's not only by that, but breaking free of it is hard. Poorer students generally do worse in school. It's not that they're stupid or lazy, it's that they simply don't have the opportunites. Since the MAJORITY of the black population was being constantly suppressed in any capacity to rise, they were constantly at a loss, while the MAJORITY of the white population had a free right to the ladder of success if they were willing to take it. The result of this is poor people not being able to rise up and not being able to create a more successful environment for their children, thus they were not able to rise up, etc., etc., etc.

Again, this is being solved, little by little, but it's still a problem. Poor white kids DO get money by the way (and white kids from Appalachia- another typically depressed area ALSO receive minority scholarships), just not money specifically for the black kids. Is it fair? Not in a lassez-faire type of way, but in a compensatory way, yes it is. Separate is not equal, and thus we must spend MORE money on the lower to get it to the level of the higher, and then you can elimnate road blocks.

Yes, people take advantage of it, but people take advantage of everything, and unless you can show me rampant abuse above and beyond typical abuse of aid programs it's not really an argument.

As for the colonists, seeing as they consistently treated the Native American's as savages, robbed them of their land, broke EVERY SINGLE TREATY signed, slaughtered them whole-sale, etc., etc., I'd say it's a pretty safe assumption. Also, look at the way they colonized: If you look at Spanish colonization, you'll notice a HUGE amount of mixing going on. Interracial marriages were frowned on for the elites (who would only marry other elite people-so less a race thing and more of a power thing) but was completely acceptable and PRACTICED for most people. Most mexican people, for instance are not native, nore are they spanish, they are mixed. In contrast, interracial marriages in the american colonies was EXTREMELY frowned upon, with very few exceptions. Also, the spanish brought missionaries out their ass, the English colonies (and dutch/french/etc.) did not set up many missionaries and did not reach out to the locals very much at all. There's a HUGE segment of research dedicated to this if you're interested, generally under Latino studies.

Okay, that's enough of a rant for now. More than enough to stir up the bee's nest.

~Jason

[SoundFX]

I agree except for the, possibly unintentional, reasoning of income is related to how well students do in school.

Poorer students generally do worse in school.

I remember reading a study on the legitimacy of the justice system and it said that the black communities are disproportionately poor, which, if I remember correctly, does lead to less money being put into their schools as opposed to a rich town.

Now, Like I said I don't think you intended to say poor people are stupid. In all reality rich people can be/are stupid as well. One thing I would like to theorize is if America was founded by Black people then how would white fare today in a society based on black religion, black economics, black politics, and black culture. Might I propose that Black people, or any other non-white people, have a different lifestyle then our white founding fathers. Perhaps their government would have been different?

Our current system seems to me we do very little to "cross-culturize" America. Sure we are a 'melting-pot' but I don't think our pot is hot enough to melt anything, let alone unify a myriad of different cultures under our current social, economic, educational, and political dynamics. All in all, America is white, and I don't think the men running this country truly want a diverse America, no matter how much they preach.

[dragonfliet]

I don't think that many people are against a diverse America at all.

Don't get me wrong, the people in power want to stay in power, but this is more for the wanting of power than the hatred of another race. Racism still exists, it is a very real and very ugly thing, but not like before.

And no, I wasn't saying that poor people are dumb, they simply don't have the teacher training, they don't have the materials, they dont' have the small class sizes, they don't have the tutoring, they don't have the extra-curricular activities and they don't often have the "luxury" of "just" studying.

It's not about the government being White, or "white culture," it's about the history of oppression. Poor areas suffer very similarly to minority areas because of various kinds of oppression and lack of oppportunity. Again, these oppressions were supported with race arguments, but the problem isn't white culture v black culture, it's about white OPPORTUNITY v black OPPORTUNITY. Once the opportunity is equal, you'll see fairly equal positive and negative results. Culture will always play a part in what a person does with their life, but the ability to make that decision is important.

Choice is a perception based on education.

~Jason

[SoundFX]

I'm not sure if you know but this "Land of Opportunity" isn't all that opportune. Almost all people die in the same economic class they were born into. Like I said my last paper was on the American Dream. My opening line was "The American Dream is a myth." Part of my paper was on social mobility as a gauge of attaining the dream. We currently lack social mobility in America. I've come to accept the fact that I am middle class and probably will always be middle class. I'm not saying give up and don't try (hence why I am in school), what I am saying, which is backing up what you have said, is that the opportunity isn't there for blacks/minorities. But it isn't there any more for white people either, yet they might have a slight ease just because of the color of their skin; racism.

Keep it coming, everyone needs to participate.