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Archive for February, 2007
When?
Is it ethical for a person to be judged solely upon the color of their skin? Such happens daily to those who have been uncontrollably born of color. Yet, it has been justified by our society and those who compass our nation. As a nation we have definitely come a long way in fighting racial discrimination and its downfalls. However, Americans have become satisfied with this fact and are limiting their efforts of advancement towards uniform treatment for everyone within our nation, regardless of class, race, or gender.Some groups support segregation and separation of races as natural and logical, or as a response to government imposed integration. Integration refers to forced mixing of different racial groups with the intention of bringing numeric equality to a specific area. Some believe integration is necessary, because the concept of race has been institutionalized in society over time to the point racism is unrecognizable to many. The Ku Klux Klan’s goal was to isolate white Christians from immigrants, blacks, Jews, Catholics, gays and a list of others. The Ku Klux Klan is an organization which justifies its violent acts with religious doctrine. Members of the Klan believe that they are doing God’s will and do not view their actions as wrong. They obviously do not see Blacks on the same level as themselves, and believe they are inferior to whites. In order for us to make a difference and prevent another genocide from occurring, everyone must lose their feelings of negativity towards others and prevent racism and discrimination within public places, especially the court house. In a country that has shied away from facing racism, it is crucial that we go against it at this time in history. We as a nation have given back to other races that have had histories of mistreatment. The prime example of this is the Native Americans. Due to their history of extreme abuse, the
United States has attempted to reimburse them by providing their descendents great benefits. These are usually in the form of preferential treatment in admission to colleges and in hiring practices as well as great financial prosperity. During World War II and the Holocaust, the world revolved around fear and catastrophe. The future was unpredictable and no one could be certain of their individual fates. After the horrendous treatment of the Jewish people during World War II, the United Nations reimbursed those and those whose relatives had been persecuted. The case should be no different for Blacks.Having read The Debt, I can see that blacks are frustrated with their positions in society and their minimal ability to control their lives and destinies. They are still victims of their situations with the inability to strive in
America. It is our duty as white Americans to provide minorities with all the necessary means to do well and live self-fulfilling lives. In this powerful and controversial book, author Randall Robinson makes a case for the enormous debt America owes to Africans and African Americans for the incalculable damage blacks have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of nearly two hundred and fifty years of slavery and segregation. Drawing from historical research as well as personal experience, Robinson shows that only by their lost past and proud heritage can blacks begin to lay the foundation for a viable future. He argues that this is impossible to accomplish unless two things first happen: America must accept responsibility for the grievous wrong that has been committed against Africans and African Americans, and take steps to redress that wrong; black Americans must also obtain a more comprehensive awareness of their ancient history and a fuller recognition of their ongoing contribution to our nation and the world. A graduate of Virginia
Union
University, Robinson is the founder and president of TransAfrica, the organization that has spearheaded the movement to influence
U.S. policies toward
Africa and the
Caribbean. Robinson strongly believes that blacks require aid in order to advance in society. He believes they are victims, no different than the Jews in the Holocaust. In ignoring the race problem in
America, Robinson believes that we are becoming more and more stubborn and backtracking from our consistent history of success and progress in accomplishing a nation of equality. He affirms that in solving these problems, the first thing is to see them, really see them. According to him, that is the hard part. Mustering the will to solve them is difficult but less so. Finally, least difficult is the business of designing the mechanics of solutions. Denial is not a reflex of logic and it is comfortable only temporarily. As reform for blacks in
America is delayed, blacks are becoming more and more angry and discouraged. In response to this, the white community must become deeply mournful that the majority of people of color in this country live in intolerable conditions of poverty, suffer from staggering unemployment, and are faced with limited social opportunities, due not to sloth or genetically inferior capacities, but because of structural racism that conditions the inevitability of their marginal cultural existence. We must raise awareness about this popular issue, and work towards a solution. Over a century after the end of slavery, black Americans are still poorer, less educated, and earning less than their white counterparts. Statistics reveal that they lag behind whites in just about every aspect of mainstream American life. We must begin laying the foundation for a viable, racism-free society today. It is vital for
America to continue its period of progression, getting closer and closer to acquiring a racism-free future.
NEW YORK CITY
Our English class went to the United Nations at New York City on Friday, February 2nd. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot about how the United Nations works. The building was huge and we only got to see a small part of it. Out tour guide walked very fast and had very long hair. She was Asian and had a unique accent. I noticed that there were tours being given in all different languages such as Japanese and German. This fact enforces the diversity that makes up our world. There were people there form all over the world. We viewed the room in which the security council hosts their meetings. Up top there were rooms in which translators sit up and listen to what is being said in the meetings and translate through the ear pieces that are next to each chair in the room. I thought that it was really neat how many languages they offer and it emphasized that English is just one of many languages across the globe. We are sort of confined here in our own little world of Stonington, Connecticut. Traveling to New York reminded me of the diversity that is just right around the corner and throughout the Earth.
Once we were done with our tour of the building, we went into a little classroom, where a speaker gave us his two cents about the issue of poverty. I learned that out of the 6 billion people that inhabit the Earth, more than 1 billion live on less than 1 dollar a day and 2.4 billion live on less than 2 dollars a day. It made me realize just how lucky I really am. I felt that the speaker was good because he didn’t act too professional and didn’t use a wide range of vocabulary and confusing statistics. He helped me understand that there was a problem and gave our class advice on how to go about solving it. I felt that I could relate to him more because he was younger and worldly.
Walking around New York was interesting. I’ve been there many times before, yet I am still astounded at the amount of pollution and devastation filtered through its streets. The buildings there are huge. I don’t think there is a square foot of open space or grass. I have often wondered where all of the people who live in New York sleep at night. I suppose many of them do not live there, but rather work there during the day and go home at night. Another thing that crossed through my mind is how expensive it must be to own a car in the city. You have to have a place to park it and gas prices are terrible and traffic is horrible. Cars are sort of a waste of space in New York. But I suppose there are always parking garages for your vehicles as well. Our country is growing vertically. We are making up for the lost ground by building upward. I wonder if we will soon lose the significance of a patch of grass. I suppose there are parks in New York, or at least one park, but how beneficial is it to the millions of people who live there. The inner city schools are packed with playgrounds on concrete. People who pass by you in the streets are unfriendly and often pretend to be listening to their I-Pods or talking on their cell phones so as to avoid making eye contact with you. What kind of civilization is this? John’s Pizzeria was a little place on 45th avenue which was also built upward to make up for the lack of space which it acquired on the ground. A horrible fire in New York would be absolutely devastating. The buildings are all so close together, it is likely that they could all burn down in one sitting. We ate up on the highest balcony. It was very delicious.
Realting to my research topic of racism, I found an article on SIRS describing how corrupt the police system. With racists as police officers how can we ever rise from the evergrowing issue? I could very easily see how a person could cover up being racist and perform acts of hate in the huge city. Most of the homeless people and those who were obviously not in good financial condition were Blacks. If they weren’t black they were either Italiano or Asian. I did not see any white street sellers and hardly any Africans or African Americans within the UN building, with the exception of students who were there like me, from out of the city. It is apparent that Africa is the poorest of the continents. It has little say at the UN in its undeniable fate of its people. Its financial struggles are due to racist beliefs and unwillingness from other countries to help them out, who cannot help themselves.
more info.
Racism is defined as a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others. To view more information about this controversial issue, check out what SIRS News Source has to say about the topic. Click Here.
Intro to Thesis
Racism is inevitable. In a nation where everyone is supposedly created equal, racism must not be tolerable. Our nation needs to live up to its duty to treat everyone with equality and rise to the occasion, should racism risk dividing us as it once has. Although racism will never be eliminated, it is morally wrong, and has the potential to destroy our country.
