Race and Racism

Racism is still a current issue that many individuals have experienced or are currently in the midst of dealing with. Race defines where you come from. Many individuals are still deeply routed in the ethnocentric beliefs that if other people do not come from where they come from or have the same color skin they are inferior to them because their race, sex, skin color, ethnicity is superior to everyone else’s and being like them is the only right and correct way to live. Racial discrimination is when you treat someone different just based on their race. The example that pops into my head when I think of racial discrimination is a Hispanic or Black person not getting a job because they are not white because the boss of the company is white. Even though it seems like we are all passed the times of discrimination and racism we are not completely away from that. It isn’t as strong as it was before the Civil Rights movement and other political instances that have brought us to where we are today, but racism is still very much alive in the world. Many of us often times demonstrate racism in very little ways but might now even be aware of it. For example when an African American hears a person talking Spanish and they automatically assume that person is Cuban, that is using a stereotype and this is a type of racism. Not every single person that speaks Spanish or is Hispanic is necessarily Cuban. Another form of racism is extreme pride in one’s race. Sometimes we might take pride in our race and not realize that we are being offensive or inconsiderate of other’s this is another sign of racism. Most people who actually demonstrate extreme racism towards others are completely unaware of it. They are in denial when told by others that they are racist. They feel that the way they talk about their own race and the race of other’s is completely normal and they are not wrong in any way, shape, or form. Throughout the course of this semester I have learned about many different situations in which racism has definitely played a huge part. For example, the Holocaust is a huge example of racism and how one person thought that their race was superior so every other race in opposition should be completely annihilated. What I have learned about racism is that it is very alive, and in order to be able to identify it, we must be aware of it.