Racism is a very large problem in our day and age. People are attacked walking home from school just because of their skin color or ethnicity or religion. People are stopped on the roads for driving just a few miles an hour over the speed limit or because they look suspicious. There are many subcategories of racism, such as racial profiling, hate crimes, untouchables, which are a caste of India, and race and crime. Racism is a very large problem but we can probably stop it.
Racism is one of the chief concerns in the book I read over the summer, called Black and White. The book was very engaging and made you think about our justice system today and what role racism plays in it. At the climax of the book, when Eddie gets off and Marcus goes to jail, it is a prime example of racial profiling, even though Eddie shot the gun and held the gun. (
Racism is the belief that physical characteristics determine how a person will act, their personality or how smart they are. An example of racism is believing that blacks and Hispanics are more likely to engage in criminal activity then whites are. Blacks and Hispanics are stopped more often than whites, which is an example of racial profiling. “When I got a job teaching inside, (Riker’s island jail) and saw that 99% of the inmates were black and Hispanic, I could not believe how unfair the justice system was to minorities.” (Qtd. Paul Volponi) Racism is a very large problem but we can prevent it or hinder it by raising awareness about and attempting to stop it in schools, for a start.
Racism and racial profiling are two very similar terms. Racism is the belief that someone’s physical characteristics somehow influence their behavior. Racial profiling is very similar to this because racial profiling is the belief that one person of different skin color or ethnicity is more likely to be involved in criminal activity or misconduct. An example of racial profiling is when police officers stop blacks and Hispanics when they would not stop a white person in the same situation. Another example is when Arabs or middle easterners come to America through airports and they are checked more thoroughly than other nationalities are. Some statistics that show how bad racial profiling is are that black professors hold less than 5% of teaching positions and 45% of black children are below the poverty line. There are more black men in prison then in college and the average white family will earn more than 650,000 dollars more than an average black family. (Facts on File Services)
Hate crimes are yet another example of racism in our day and age. Hate crimes are violent crimes against people or a certain person’s property because of race, ethnicity, or skin color. A hate crime on an unbelievable scale would have Hitler’s holocaust of the Jews, because he killed them because of their religion. Some things that can contribute to hate crime frequency and racial and ethnic tensions are financial hardship. It is possible to stop hate crimes and racial profiling by having more police patrols in neighborhoods where hate crimes are prominent so we can catch the people doing these crimes. We can stop racial profiling by asking police to be fairer to people driving over the speed limit.
The untouchables of India used to be the lowest caste in India. They were considered unclean and were not allowed to speak to others outside of their caste or to worship in temples because they might dirty the god they were praying to. They may not enter barbershops, restaurants, shops, or movie theaters. They may not walk too close to a higher caste’s house unless they have permission. Untouchability has been outlawed, but the practice has been ingrained so deeply in India’s society that the people fo India are still prejudiced towards the former untouchables and make it very hard for them to get a job. They have to walk everywhere, they are not allowed to ride in a car, ride a horse, or a bicycle. They are also restricted from going into post offices or courts.
Race and crime are interwoven very tightly. If someone is not favorably disposed towards a particular race or ethnicity, they may give the person a longer sentence in jail. For many years, statistics have shown that blacks commit more crimes and are arrested for it than any other race or ethnicity. Although blacks make up only 13% of the population, they make up about 31 % of all arrests according to the FBI. Police intending to stop people and search their vehicle for illegal drugs and alcohol stop blacks and Hispanics more often than they do whites, which is an example of racial profiling again. In 1996, the U.S. prison population was 49% black, 48% white, and 2 % Native American. If we stop racial profiling, then many other categories of racism will be severely weakened because racial profiling is interwoven with so many racist beliefs. (Facts on File Services)
Racism is a very, very large problem in our day and age but it is reparable. We can start fixing this problem by raising awareness about it. If everyone who believed in racism tried to look at people differently, as a friend or as a person instead of a Jew, or black, or a Native American, we would have a very good start. If we do not find a solution to this, then the hate crimes, violence, and racial profiling will continue to get worse and worse. However, if we make a conscious effort to look at people differently, then the world would be a much better place. There would not be so much violence and hate between the races. Racism is a very large problem but it is stoppable.
Works cited
1. Crime and Race." Issues & Controversies On File 4 Apr. 2003. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services. 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.2facts.com/>.
2. American psychological association. "Hate crimes."http://www.nettreker.com/. 2004. 9/28/08 John Carroll.
3. Strupp, Joe. "'NY Post' Reporter Who Filed Racial Profiling Lawsuit Fired For Conflict.(Leonardo Blair)." Editor & Publisher. (May 19, 2008): NA. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. John Carroll School. 21 Sep. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=SRC-1&docId=A179470174&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=bel71807&version=1.0
4. India Bans Discrimination Against Untouchables, 1948
\\." Discovering World History. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. John Carrol School. 1 Oct. 2008
5. Dizard, Jan. "integration, racial." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2008.
vGrolier Online. 19 Sep. 2008
<http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0148520-0>.
John Carroll.
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