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 19th
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”
Do Something “Background
on Racial Discrimination”
Fulkerson, Zack
Racism and bullying take center stage in NFL
Glazer, Jay “Richie
Incognito: ‘I am not a racist’”
The History of
Racist Latino/Hispanic Stereotypes
In Loco Politico
Kidscape “Racist
Bullying”
Marquez, Erica “Why
7 times?”
Muntone,
Stephanie “Clashed between the Native Americans and the Europeans”
Racism Today
Rich Cimini, Tania Ganguli, James Walker Slurs in Incognito’s Message
Solis, Javier “13
year-old boy is shot seven times by police officers in California”
Valencia, Nick
My encounter with anti-Latino Racism
Wollan, Malia
Boy, 13, Carrying toy guns is shot dead by deputies
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