As we reviewed and discussed Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech in class this week, I wondered if it's true that we are just as ignorant about race as we were when we enslaved innocent people for the color of their skin. Since this past week we basically entered the study of the horrific slavery period in the United States right after hearing a lecture on Obama's speech about the prevalence of racism today, I couldn't help but connect the two in a way that shocked me. We may not be enslaving people or supporting the idea of "white superiority" in a lawful way anymore, but people today still judge people for the color of their skin, the religion they believe in, or where they were born. As many people pointed out in class, stereotypes about races and religions still exist in a strong and unjust way. Someone even gave the example of cops pulling people over in suspicion of their race.
This also brings to my mind the fact that any middle-Eastern-looking person in an airport has to arrive 3 hours ahead of time because we all know that they will be strip-searched and questioned thoroughly. This all relates back to 9/11, an earlier post blog I posted. We think we are so much better today than we were hundreds of years back. But the only difference is that we are separating ourselves from these "outsiders" on our own time, rather than with hateful laws. I think we need to progress much, much further as a society in order to be done with racism once and for all, and I don't think there is any argument that could be made and supported against that. What good does racism do, but separate people based on physical judgments?
Hayley, good ideas here. I agree that at least some Americans still profile others based on race or religion, however I'd argue that the election of Obama represents a significant change. Let's not forget that a black man was elected into office of the most prestigious country in the world. I have a very hard time believing that racism in America is as bad as it was during the civil rights movement or under the Jim Crow Laws because of this. I believe we should give credit where it is due.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate your thirst for more equality, because if we stop now, we will be held from further greatness. I encourage this want, but I don't see racism or likewise judgments ending anytime soon. For this to happen we'd have to all become homogeneous and this is a scarier thought for me.
So, I agree that we should stop the hate, but if we look at the progress we've made as a nation, I believe we can be further motivated to decrease racism in our great country.
Miles, I agree with you 100%. In my blog,"My Thoughts on the World," (www.sambem.blogspot.com), I wrote that unless we looked the same, there would be no way to totally eliminate the idea of race from the United States.
ReplyDeleteHayley, America has made huge bounds, in my opinion, from where they we were during the civil rights movement. Unfortunately, racism is still felt today, and even within laws today. Possession of crack, a cheaper form of cocaine, is punished much more severely than for possession of cocaine. Due to the economical differences, white people are more likely to buy coke, and blacks in turn, crack. That in turn causes blacks to be punished more severly for pretty much the exact same crime.