Paige's Expository Composition Blog : November 2013

Paige A. Logan

Dr. Preston

Expository Composition

11/10/13

Term Paper: Racism

Racism exists in all parts of the world, but America seems to have a very long established history with racial issues. Dating back to the start, when Europeans first explored this land, to issues with slavery, to racism with Latin Americans and many more races; racism still continues to occur to this day in many different aspects. Some problems never go mentioned or never make it on the media, but that does not mean they aren’t relevant or worthy of media praises. Professionals even deal with issues in racism. Racial discrimination is becoming more and more frequent. If something isn’t done to control the racism and not let it escalate, there are going to be some serious problems in the future that could have been avoided.

There have been racial issues in this country from the get-go. Being that the Native Americans had settled on this land for thousands of years before the Europeans arrival, the Natives naturally believed this land belonged to them. As Stephanie Muntone wrote in her article Native Americans and the Europeans, “Clashes between the American Indians and Europeans were inevitable.” Both of the group’s thoughts on life were so diverse. The Natives had adapted to the best of their ability. They respected the land and all that it could provide.

The various groups of Europeans shared a common religious, linguistic, and cultural heritage. They had developed sophisticated weapons. They had a conquering mentality that differed greatly from the mentality of the American- Indian tribes, who had found that there was room enough for all to settle, with fights over territory being very rare. (Muntone 2)

Obviously, Europeans had the drive, which enabled them to conquer the land from the Native Americans. They wanted to be free from the king, but were so used to his monarchic attributes. They lacked the ability to reason or agree. Once all of the territories were created into the United States, Native Americans were then forced into “…reservations constituting just 4% of U.S.”(BRD 1) With-in those reservations, Native Americans were forced to attend school “…which sought to reeducate them in white settler American values, culture and economy.”(BRD 2) It’s hard to just stop racism and it can’t be expected to just happen over night. Especially when this issue has been on going since day one. “To this day, Native Americans are the most harshly affected by institutionalized racism.”(BRD 3) Native Americans were mistreated and discriminated for this land; this land that continues to house discrimination, not only towards Native Americans, either.

African Americans are still discriminated against in the United States today, even after their well-known discriminatory historical backgrounds. Slavery began in the Untied States once the English colonists settled in Virginia. Americans brought Africans to this country to specifically use them and treat them inhumanely. Once African American received their rights to vote and poll taxes in the 19^th Century, acts of terror by groups like the KKK and discriminatory laws kept African American’s disenfranchised in the South. “Racism in the United States was worse during this time than at any period before or since. Segregation, racial discrimination, and expressions of white supremacy all increased. So did anti-black violence, including lynchings and race riots.”(BRD 4) As you can see, racism definitely has come along way in a Century, but there are a lot of areas that still need improvement. On a blog titled “Racism today”, there was a post made on March 25, 2013, about a New York Police Officer named Pedro Serrano who was secretly recorded and caught on tape telling a NYPD whistleblower to “…specifically target “male blacks 14 to 21” for stop-and-frisk because they commit crimes.”(Racism Today 1) If a young African American man cannot even walk through the streets of New York with out being randomly and unreasonably question is pretty sad and the fact a role model for all of society is stating this makes it even worse. It sparks a numerous amount of questions about any superior government official. There shouldn’t be a lack of trust or questioning loyalty when it comes to those positions.

I personally volunteered in Uganda, Africa this past summer and had the most life changing experience. While I was in Africa, a villager and a high school student both asked me on separate occasions, “Are there people like us in America?” After hesitating a moment, I proceeded to tell them “Yes, there are.” One of my best friends is African American and I had a picture with her set as my background on my cell phone. I showed both of them pictures of my friend and I. They both were shocked and lost for words. They had no idea African Americans even existed. Everyone I met in Uganda was so welcoming and full of life. Every single person was happy as could be with everything the way it was. Americans are very appreciated in Uganda. In other parts of Africa, Americans aren’t kindly welcomed, which is understandable! Americans hold grudges against enemies that have attacked us in the past. Ugandans have the best attitudes about everything, just life in general! My volunteer mission sparked my interest in Politics and International affairs. I want to help those countries that are in need. Americans went to that continent and took people out of their homes and land. Now, majority of the countries on that continent are struggling by while the rest of the countries in the world are continuing to prosper.

Latin Americans are another race that is discriminated against in American. “The immigration debate has generated negative feelings of nativism and racist claims that Latin Americans are taking over white Anglo-American society…”(BRD 5) After the Mexican-American War, Mexicans residing in the south found themselves subject to discrimination. Nick Valencia, a national news desk editor and former head of the CNN Spanish Desk, reported about an incident when he was talking to a group of individuals in Spanish and a woman yelled to him “Go home! Why don’t you go back home to Mexico before you ruin this country like you ruined your own!”(Valencia 1) Valencia was standing in a crowd at the Music Midtown festival in Atlanta when this happened and stated he grew up in Los Angeles and “…had never encountered such overt racism.” The way he handled that situation with a very professional manner. He simply told her "I don't think you understand who you said that to.” And she really didn’t! She is a prime example of someone racial discriminating against someone who was simply talking in Spanish to some other individuals. That woman harassed a group of individuals she didn’t even know, in public. Things like that should go unsaid. That woman should have kept her thoughts to herself.

There are many racist attitudes and stereotypes towards Latinos in America. “Hispanics in general, and American Hispanics in particular, have been the victims of racist stereotyping in an unbroken string of images and portrayals that began with the battle over Mexican land in the Southwest as America expanded during the frontier era.”(Brown Face 1) Hispanic Americans are one of the minority groups in the United States that suffer from racial stereotyping. “Typical stereotypes include: the Greaser, the Lazy Mexican, the Latin Lover, the Mamacita, maids, slum dwellers, drug addicts, gang bangers, feisty Latinas, the Mexican Spitfire, and the Exotica.”(Brown Face 2) Anyone that thinks any of those things or passes a judgment about a person they don’t personally know is super low. There are racial stereotypes for all races.

If you're black then you are supposed to act, dress and talk the way society expects you to. If you're a black man or woman from the south then you're automatically lacking in intelligence; if you're a black woman you have an attitude or you're angry. You must listen to rap or hip hop music, too right? (Cain-Jackson)

Those are a few typical stereotypes stated about African Americans. There are stereotypes for every race, gender and religion. Stereotypes are created and used by very ignorant people. “Ignorance prevails and it instills in us all that we should not have our own sense of individuality, but instead that we are expected to be identical to others whose skin pigmentation is the same as ours.”(Cain-Jackson 2)

Whatever happened to “if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all”? Why can rappers rap about derogatory subjects, using profane language? For songs to be on the radio, they have to be clean and censored versions anyways. There really isn’t any point to rapping that way. As we learned in class, you really don’t have the right to your opinion and this is true, especially in racism. People take differences in opinions not as difference in ideology, but rather a personal attack on another being. Racial stereotypes and slurs are opinions and classifications. Ignorant people place other people under categories and place labels on other. Racism is bullying and bullying causes many emotional, mental and physical issues. Racial bullying is a huge problem in schools lately. “Any hostile or offensive action against people because of their skin color, cultural or religious background or ethnic origin can be classed as racist bullying.”(Kidscape) There is a lot that can be done to stop this. Kids learn things when they are younger from their parents and any other superior figure roles in their lives. Maybe educating on the subject to make obvious the huge issue of racial bullying will make people realize what they are doing and causing because of the racism. The easiest thing to do is start being more accepting and open to other cultures and races. Each is so diverse from one another, which keep the curiosity roaring.

Racism is being found more frequently and brought to attention because of advances in technology. This term paper wouldn’t have been so strongly defended with out the Internet and News. I found many websites and articles resourceful to what I wanted to know about. There was even a blog I came across that was exactly what I had been looking for. The blog Racism Today’s purpose “…is to show and point out incidents that prove just how racist the world still is and we're hoping through this blog that the world can change and get better for everyone.” There are many topics of racism discussed on this blog. The main topics being discrimination, incidents with police, racism in schools/sports and racism in politics. Another resourceful blog I used was created by two of my very own peers. In Loco Politico is to “…provide the next generation with a forum to discuss international as well as national problems.” I am still surprised that two individuals I go to school with created such an informative blog. Their goal is to “…encourage our generation to get involved, because within the next election cycle, we will be making giant decisions that will affect our world.” These are all great resources, especially for individuals like myself, writing a term paper on racism and also being interested in politics. I want to study Political Science after I graduate from high school and racism will always come up in America, it’s almost inevitable. Look into and reading blogs is a great way to stay up-to-date with current events and the author’s thoughts on those events.

Current racial events in the media today are practically horrifying. In Santa Rosa, CA “Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who was carrying a replica assault rifle they mistook for the real thing.”(Wollan 1) The 13-year-old boy’s name is Andy Lopez. Two officers noticed the boy carrying the gun and ordered him to put it down. The boy refused the officer’s orders, so deputies fired several rounds from their handguns, striking the subject. After being shot a total of seven times in 26 seconds. The boy fell to the ground and landed right on top of the toy gun he was holding. Deputies searched the subject once he had dropped to the ground and found a plastic handgun in the boy’s waistband. The police were originally dispatched to the area because of a reported suspicious person. Why did the deputies shoot at the boy 8 times with 7 of the shots actually hitting him?

Did the police do what was necessary or did they act out of line? Both cases can be made. The gun clearly looked like an actual weapon, especially from a far. Some will argue that they should have assured that it was a real gun before firing, but that could have easily put them and innocent civilians in danger had it been a real gun.(Solis)

Javier stated both sides of the debate exactly how I would have. I couldn’t agree with his theories more. The officers took their first instinct, being police officers, and assumed that the gun was real. Andy’s death could have easily been avoided. But as Erica exclaimed in a post on her blog, “Why 7 times? Why did Andy get fired at 7 times?” There must have been some alternative motive behind the shooting of the young boy. Maybe it being recent shootings committed by Hispanic teens, but that is putting a stereotype on teens now. There are no actual statements claiming this is an act of racism, but with hearing about the stop-and-frisk policies in the NYPD, who knows what the real reasoning is.

Another current event taking place as I am writing this term paper is on the NFL Miami Dolphins. Player Richie Incognito left racial and profane voicemails on his teammate, Jonathan Martin’s cell phone. ESPN drafted a written version of the voicemail,

"Hey, wassup, you half n----- piece of s---. I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. [I want to] s--- in your f---ing mouth. [I'm going to] slap your f---ing mouth. [I'm going to] slap your real mother across the face [laughter]. F--- you, you're still a rookie. I'll kill you."

Some sources familiar with the tapes say “…these are terms Incognito used over time and were not isolated incidents, including the use of the racial epithet multiple times.”(ESPN 2) Incognito was suspended from the Miami Dolphins for “…Conduct detrimental to the team.”(ESPN 3) A team source told newspaper reporters that Incognito is done and that from a club’s perspective, he will never play another game in the NFL. I totally understand where Martin would be offended by that voice mail and any other messages that were sent from Incognito. Of course, Incognito could have been kidding, but he didn’t make that obvious so who knows. Being the two were teammates, maybe Incognito felt comfortable speaking to Martin in that manner. Incognito has been in trouble twice before this incident. In 2009, he got into a “verbal altercation” with the St. Louis Rams coach, Steve Spagnuolo. In his 2004 college season at Nebraska, Incognito was suspended because of “off-the-field incidents.” The current story in media is, “Incognito was “bullying” Martin, possibly at the orders of the coaching staff, maybe to “toughen up” Martin, and this caused Martin to leave the team. Some of the things that were said were pretty ugly.”(Fulkerson) Some say Martin might not be innocent; they can’t imagine a 6-foot-5, 312-pound offensive tackle being bullied. I think that is false. Someone’s size doesn’t matter, just like appearance doesn’t matter. The NFL should definitely show a good example by refusing to tolerate racism in order to strive for better team-building skills.

Incognito’s peers in the NFL have very feelings and opinions towards the situation. The defensive lineman of the Houston Texans, Antonio Smith, swung a helmet at Incognito during a game in the preseason. "You are what you are I guess," Smith said. "That doesn't surprise me one bit."(ESPN 4) David Garrard, of the New York Jets, was a teammate of Incognito’s in Miami during preseason last year.

"I would just say he's a jokester kind of guy," Garrard said. "A good guy, but like all of us, you want to have your fair shake of pranks and stuff like that. ... It's unfortunate. You never want it to get to a point where guys want to leave the team. You would hope other guys in the locker room would help police it. It's one of those situations that's sad to see."

The third player that made comments about the situation was Bart Scott, a former New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens linebacker. "He needs to be gone," Scott said. "No one would miss him anyway. Trust me."(ESPN 5) Garrard was the only one of the three that actually played on a team with Incognito. He was around him and got to know him more than the other two may know him as. No matter what anyone says, Martin was offended by what was said by Incognito, “Martin's attorney, David Cornwell, released a statement Thursday that alleges that Martin endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker-room hazing.”(Glazer) Martin is also claiming he received “daily vulgar comments.” Incognito turned over his phone records for conversations between him and Martin. Martin sent these texts to Incognito three days after he left the team:

"Wassup man? The world's gone crazy lol I'm good tho congrats on the win"

"Yeah I'm good man. It's insane bro but just know I don't blame you guys at all it's just the culture around football and the locker room got to me a little."

Everyone is now questioning all of the racial allegations. Martin clearly stated his reasoning behind leaving the team. The media is making it out to be Incognito’s fault behind leaving. With cases like these, the media isn’t very trust worthy until situations and issues have been resolved. Even then, the media can still be questionable.

“Race is a significant social issue because people use racial differences as the basis for discrimination”(BRD 6) History repeats itself and will continue to do so. There will always be stereotypes, but will there always be people to use them? It’s going to be very hard to extirpate racism as a whole in society. The country we live in today, was established with good-means and intentions, but the ways things went about in order to establish this nation, weren’t very humane or orderly. There are many different ways that situations could have been handled and things might be better off today, but looking back at the past and seeing what could’ve been done is irrelevant now. Looking at the present and seeing what CAN be done in order to determine a better future; now you’re talking!

Works Cited

Cain-Jackson, Bryan “Slaving to Racial Stereotypes”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bryan-cainjackson/slaving-to-racial-stereot_b_4082228.html

Do Something “Background on Racial Discrimination”

http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/background-racial-discrimination

Fulkerson, Zack Racism and bullying take center stage in NFL

http://www.videtteonline.com/index.php/2013/11/11/racism-and-bullying-take-center-stage-in-nfl/

Glazer, Jay “Richie Incognito: ‘I am not a racist’”

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Richie-Incognito-Miami-Dolphins-Jonathan-Martin-Jay-Glazer-full-transcript-111013

The History of Racist Latino/Hispanic Stereotypes

http://brown-face.com

In Loco Politico