Racism

Not all people think of racism the same way. Some believe it is strictly against blacks but is that really true? No it is not, it is based off of whatever ideal you believe or what you have seen, for example: some races believe their group or race is the most superior race and if you are not of that race then you are discriminated upon. Some groups see racism as being strictly color or even language can be a discrimination factor. Racism is different in everyone’s eyes.

                In the first article it tells us about how China for example saw itself as the center of society and many years ago they discriminated against people of different color and race because they believed that they were superior to everyone else. This is just one of the forms of discrimination talked about, but this was proven in historical records from China. It also tells us about what racism really is. Racism is based on biological features; this is why most people believe racism is based solely on color, when in reality it is much more than that to some people.

                Another issue in the first article includes slavery. Most people only think of black people to be slaves when the one thing most people do not know is that ever since the beginning it has been much more than black people being used as slaves. It states that many, many years ago in ancient civilizations any person or group that would get conquered or taken over would become slaves; “The Greeks and Romans employed slaves as domestic servants.” an example of this would be when a group like the Romans would conquer a Greek group they would make the group conquered into their slaves, no matter what color their skin was. One last thing this article talked about was where racism originated. Ultimately it originated where ever there was first hatred for another race or group of people. That is when it first happened was when people first began have hatred against certain races or a group of people that they did no mix well with. Even though this is what I believe is where it originated many say it can be traced back to western civilization first.

                Now onto the second article where it tells us about the different types of culture groups and how they transformed into these groups. One thing this article talks about that I believe needs to be shared is about how people interpret “racism versus individualism”. It tells of how whether or not you are racist is based off of how you judge a person based solely on the matter at hand. “The color of a person’s skin, his genetic origins, the community of his parents: none of that is essential in judging another.” Another thing that ties into this is how our melting pot of a country helps break apart all of the divisions of race that still exist in the country. Because people in this country must work together and if people of other races can help us do that, we will help them and let them help us to get the job done. In our country people working together helps the U.S. run and function and we need to have this to make sure we can stay as strong and dominant as ever before. Lastly the most important part of this article I believe is in the closing. It states, “, we have much more in common as individual human beings than as members of any particular group. To make the most of what society has to offer, we have to learn to see people for what they are, not what they seem to be or what we assume them to be.” This just continually supports the fact that you can’t judge a book by its cover and this is one of the reasons racism exists today, is because not everyone can see through what’s on the outside to what is good on the inside.

                For the third article we will talk about how the media can influence how prejudice we can really be. What this mainly told me when I read this article was that we are influenced by the things we hear more than the things we may actually think. “What’s in your head is not you, it’s the culture around you,” this informs us about how we may believe that we aren’t racist or prejudice, but when the media and literature around us continues to uproot the issues that people have tried to help us forget about, it tends to make us act or think slightly prejudice. “What is more important is you behavior, rather than your gut reaction.” This sums up how we need to act with how we interpret things from the media. If you stick with your gut reaction than that can influence how exploit what is on your mind from these conflicts and stereotypes are being brought up in front of you. It’s how you react to the stereotypes you hear and see in the media is how you will be defined as whether you are or are not prejudice. Hopefully it all works out that you can control yourself and your reaction so you are not prejudice.

                When it’s all said and done how can we decide where racism originated or if it is common in the entire world or just in the Western Civilizations? I believe that racism may have started off in Western civilizations but it branched out everywhere when people began moving around from country to country and as they did that prejudice views came with them. Did racism come from the media and western civilizations? I believe that it originated in the west but media continues uprooting it and bringing it out and that affects people around the world continuously when they have to relive the past and deal with old issues that have already been settled once before. It can be found anywhere there is hatred or prejudice against people or a group of people.

                My goal today was to tell you about racism and what racism is all about. I began tell you about how slavery hasn’t always been just African Americans, I’ve also told you about what racism is, where it originated, and how it is interpreted by people through the media. All of these things are facts about racism and they are to help you learn about what ways you can help yourself be less prejudice and find a path away from racism.