Interesting Views on racism
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/12/racism.today.emails/index.html
According to these articles, racism seems like a much bigger issue to the black people becuase of experience, influence, or the slavery in US history.
“Lisa Matas of Gaithersburg, Maryland
Racism is the defining of a person, good or bad, by the color of their skin.”
I disagree with this person. I see racism as a discrimination of someone becuase of their skin, but not only their skin. Their skin color is the main thing to lead a person to asume another’s backround. However, when one thinks of a person in a racist way, black people for example, a lot of other things come to mind other then skin color. There are also general different physcial traits other then the skin tone.
“David Jones of Salt Lake City, Utah
Apparently, the way to tell if someone is racist is by looking at their skin color. If you are a Caucasian, you are a racist. If you are African or Latino, you have never had a racist thought in your life. In fact, you should probably be given preferential treatment to offset the racism you have experienced.”
This appeared to be a dramatic statement among the others. Following with the article’s standpoint, i would asume this person was white. It is extreme statement, but i see the truth in it. Asuming from my life, and this article, black people think alot more about racism more then white people in general. I don’t know about others, but black poeple have said quite a few racist things to me, quickly resorting to racism. I hate to say it…but sometimes i feel like they have become more racist then “we” are.
“Suzette Lay-Heard of Athens, Georgia
Racism is alive and well today. I do not understand why white people are blind to the fact that there is racism. On talk shows when white people are painted black and go out in the world, they clearly experience racism. They firmly admit that had they been white in certain circumstances, they would have been treated differently [better]. As a Black American, I have experienced racism on my job. There have been whites promoted over me with less experience and qualifications that I have. It hasn’t changed even though I have educated myself by earning a Master’s degree in Business Administration.”
I’m sure this is not an unusual circumstance among blacks. However, there are laws that ensure that a company is made up of a variety of backgrounds. There must be a certain number of people of specific races. This could also be a problem for a white person, more qualified for a job, but the other person has to be admitted instead.
Personally, I think where you are living, even by town, makes a difference. For example, in Yonkers, the town next to my other house, racism is much more privelant. The other town is a small liberal somewhat wealthy town, where racism is shunned upon. However, racism is still existent everywhere. One of the articles spoke about how a child is not born with any prejudices, this is true, and they are influeced by society. However, i do believe that wanting to be with your “own” kind is human nature.
December 13th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
You’re right when you say racism is much more than skin color. Racism goes much deeper than the color of someone’s skin, and always seems to go deeper into more personal issues like heritage or stereotypes.
December 13th, 2006 at 7:11 pm
I found these peoples’ views very interesting. I found it interesting how two of these people directly associated rasism with skin color, which I guess is often true. I agree with you that what David Jones wrote was extreme. However, I don’t think he is necessarily white.