Racism Hurts Everyone Essays - Racism, Discrimination, Behavior

Racism Hurts Everyone ...Everybody jumped on him, beat the hell out of him... Everybody was hitting him or kicking him. One guy was kicking at his spine. Another guy hitting on the side of the face... He was unconscious. He was bleeding. Everybody had blood on their forearms. We ran back up the hill laughing... He should have died... He lost so much blood he turned white. He got what he deserved (Ridgeway 167.) The skinheads who performed this random act of racial violence in 1990, had no reason to brutally beat their victim other than the fact that he was Mexican. Racism is objectively defined as any practice of ethnic discrimination or segregation. Prejudice is an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. There are three basic forms of racism, open racism, violent racism, and covert racism. These basic forms of racism, although different in form, all have the same purpose, to promote racism. Open racism expresses freedom of racial thought and speech. Open racists promote their views strictly through persuasionary tactics. This form of racism is allowed in our society due to the First Amendment. Open racism is currently almost nonexistent and steadily declining, because it is considered politically incorrect and socially unacceptable. Violent racism promotes racism through violence, fear, and persuasionary tactics. This form of racism is not protected by the First Amendment because it promotes violence to express its ideas. Unfortunately many violent racial groups claim they do not promote violence, and therefore these groups are protected by the First Amendment because not enough sufficient evidence exists to prove their violent intent Covert racism expresses ideas of racism in disguised forms; sometimes the covert racist is not even aware of the fact that he is racist. Racism, it is asserted, is no longer blatant: people are reluctant to express openly their dislike of and contempt for minorities. Racism, it is said, is subtle: it is disguised, kept out of sight. Avoiding minorities on the street and denial of a public benefit to a minority which would be awarded to a white are examples of covert racism. Since it is no longer politically correct to openly express one's racist views, people therefore favor disguised, indirect ways to express their bigotry . Covert racism is the most abundant form of racism in our society today. In the past, our society has seen many forms of major racial discrimination. One such topic that affected North America was the use of blacks as slaves. During the eighteenth and nineteenth century and into the early stages of the twentieth century, black people were thought of as inferior to the whites. Since no laws were passed at the time, plantation owners used many blacks as slaves. Before slavery was abolished, it hurt and killed an immense number of people. During World War II (1939-1945), Adolf Hitler persecuted Jewish people by taking them to concentration camps. At these camps they would be gassed to death after doing hard work for the Germans. Another major event in history was the killing of many Soviets during Stalin's Great Purge. During this period, any Soviet citizen who was heard questioning or opposing Stalin's ideas for the country was quickly annihilated with the use of Stalin's Secret Service. Again, millions were killed because of one person's beliefs. What causes racial prejudice? Our textbook gives these four reasons: 1. Influence of tradition 2. Psychological need of individuals to belong to a particular, identifiable group. 3. Building up ego by cultivating a feeling of superiority. 4. Usefulness of prejudice as an economic and political weapon. Practically since the dawn of man's existence man has undoubtedly noticed differences between races. Racism's presence throughout the formation of our culture is quite evident. Frequently throughout history the ethnic group with the most power has assumed that its race and culture are superior to others. The same incident occurred in America with the introduction of slavery. Throughout American history, racism has been strongly prevalent. Racism's roots lie deep within the foundation of our society. These roots undoubtedly are the source for a great many of the racist groups and covert racism ideas found throughout our society. Extremist social and political groups, particularly those advocating right-wing policies