Racial Discrimination and its Effect on Our Society
Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, there is always somebody different. Differences in our society are often discussed, questioned, and insulted. Racism is the process of racial discrimination. We have all heard about or been involved with racism. It is the ugly side of people we often see. Racism is an important and controversial subject. The government has banned racism, but its use continues in different forms. Racism is a huge social issue in our world. For anyone who isn't familiar with what discrimination really is, here’s a definition. Discrimination is defined as any situation in which a group or individual is treated differently based on something other than individual reason, usually their merabership in a socially distinct group or category. Racial discrimination has been, and still is a huge problem, with many attempts for solutions.
Imagine not knowing the time because nobody will tell you. Why won't they tell you the time, or spare you some change? Because your different skin. Actually, because your skin is a different color, or because your a different kind of religion. You can help stop this; all you have to do is try to accept different ethnic people as you do anyone else. If you can’t, you don’t have to express it, keep it to yourself. If you hear somebody saying something about somebody else, all you have to do is listen; they are just as equal as you are. If you do it, pretty soon they’ll quit.
Racism’s history goes way back. The Constitution of the United States recognized the legality of slavery, the ultimate form of discrimination. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the constitutional amendments that followed the American Civil War (1861-1865) changed the legal status of African Americans, but a series of decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States struck down federal statutes designed to enforce the amendments. The most important of these decisions declared unconstitutional a law that outlawed racial discrimination by private individuals and upheld state-enforced segregation. For decades after Reconstruction, the absence of adequate federal laws permitted discrimination against black Americans in employment and housing, public accommodations, the judicial system, and voting opportunities.
1968 Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, barring racial discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing in which federal moneys are involved by way of loans, mortgages, or grants. Racial discrimination in employment by a state government agency was banned in 1972, and U.S. attorneys were authorized to sue noncom plying state agencies; similarly, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, established in 1964, was authorized to file suit.
For the first time in the history of the United States racial and ethnic groups, once thought of as minorities, are beginning to outnuraber the percentage of white Americans. Our nation's diversity has already begun to alter everything in society from politics and education, to industry, values, and culture. This is an extremely hard concept for many whites to accept. Long before this issue became a concern, our presumption of the "typical" United States citizen was someone who could trace his or her line of ancestry to Europe one way or another. Racism refers to any inherited physical characteristics such as skin color, facial features, hair texture, behavior patterns, personality traits, or intellectual abilities. In recent years, the definition for racism was modified to include social attitudes and occurrences. Racism usually takes the form of a claim that some human races are superior to others whether it's based on language, religion, or manners. Causes of racism may be very complex and cannot be reduced to one reason.
History plays a big role in the way some people feel today. Racism has commonly accompanied slavery, colonization, and other forms of exploitation and inequality. Proving the equality of all races was a long and difficult process. I believe that not everyone today agrees with the statement suggesting that everyone deserves to be treated equal. Rapid social change also promotes racism. The sudden immigration of highly visible groups of foreigners, and quick changes in the racial composition of a neigrabroadorhood are good examples. It is human nature to be uncomfortable with change. Many people are not ready for other cultures to invade their communities. A truly multiracial country is undoubtedly much harder to govern. Even conflicts that seem race-free are complicated with ethnic tension. Social Security benefits for the elders will probably be compounded by the fact that a large majority of those recipients will be white, whereas a majority of workers paying for them will be non-white.
The Legislature strives for English to be the one official language, which poses a political problem. Many Hispanics maintain their ethnic and cultural identity though their Spanish language. Social workers and other organizations should not need to learn fluent Spanish to accommodate their neeRAB. Immigrants should at least learn our language to be a part of our country, to survive, and to interact as an American. Our country's affirmative action is a good example of how hard it is to govern a multicultural country. Some institutions under pressure to increase its low black enrollment, will offer free tuition to every qualified black freshman that enrolls. People who protest and complain feel that nothing is that simple for "real" Americans.
This is a perfect display of how our country does not treat each individual equally. What if a qualified white man does not have enough money? Because of something so wrong schools will turn him away to keep a diverse population. Rules should remain the same for everyone. If people want to live in America, let them follow the rules and compete fairly. When debates over the basic curriculum taught in schools each year becomes a problem, it becomes a problem for many people. Certain cultures have made requests to teach the children different views from each culture. Books treasured as classics by teachers and earlier generations are now seen as means of excluding other cultures. School is not to learn about each student's personal culture, but to learn about America's history. I think that a big majority of the world has a problem with other races and cultures.
Being racist does not mean that someone dislikes each meraber of a particular race. It could mean that the attitudes and actions of the majority of these people frustrate them. “When I was younger, I can remeraber defending blacks when someone would badmouth them. Everyone who was more mature than I told me that one day I would feel the same way. In many ways this is true. Working as a waitress in a restaurant, my job requires me to interact with a variety of guests. However, my experiences with each are not the same. I have developed a terrible sense about the black guests. Estimating that about ninety-five percent of my black guests are "problem guests" makes racist feelings very natural. This did not come from a stereotype; it was developed from my own personal experiences. I truly feel that they come into a restaurant with intentions of eating for little to no cost. Some barely leave enough cash to cover the bill, others will not leave a tip for even the best service, and some pull scams because "the customer is always right." Says, a middle aged woman from Southfield.
About one week ago I was eating lunch with a friend at T.G.I.Friday's when the host seated a black family of three to a table near us. I did not mind them at all, and the service she gave them was flawless. It's sad but I feel that the employees need to be extra nice to earn a halfway decent tip from most of them. The three of them ate sixty-five dollars worth of food and ordered a meal to go. By complaining to the manager, everything that night was free. I was amazed. The man's complaint was unreal. He felt that his family was not receiving equal service because of his color. The manager even thought that his excuse was poor, but he cannot argue about racial disputes. His only option is to accept it. If their service was so terrible, why did he leave them a ten-dollar tip? Racism may be wrong, but the truth is that many people in the world posses very negative feelings towarRAB other cultures. Maybe one day we won't hear about this hatred from groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Peace between all races is what a lot of Americans fight for everyday. They hope that one-day, neigrabroadorhooRAB mixed with different races may be problem free and happy.
Is there an excuse for racism? According to one respondent,” There are no excuses for racism". But other respondents gave poor excuses. One of the people said, "You're black, you don't belong here.” which most people find offensive and uncalled for. You wouldn't appreciate it if were you who was discriminated against.
As I said before, there is something you can do. You might not be able to stop riots, but you’ll probably make a person’s day better. Nobody criticizes country singers who sing about the same thing over and over, or the love songs that sing about the same thing. It shouldn’t matter what color they are or what they look like, it's the music they sing. If you just think before you talk you can make a difference, if you put yourself in all these situations I’ve just mentioned, you would want to make a difference.
Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, there is always somebody different. Differences in our society are often discussed, questioned, and insulted. Racism is the process of racial discrimination. We have all heard about or been involved with racism. It is the ugly side of people we often see. Racism is an important and controversial subject. The government has banned racism, but its use continues in different forms. Racism is a huge social issue in our world. For anyone who isn't familiar with what discrimination really is, here’s a definition. Discrimination is defined as any situation in which a group or individual is treated differently based on something other than individual reason, usually their merabership in a socially distinct group or category. Racial discrimination has been, and still is a huge problem, with many attempts for solutions.
Imagine not knowing the time because nobody will tell you. Why won't they tell you the time, or spare you some change? Because your different skin. Actually, because your skin is a different color, or because your a different kind of religion. You can help stop this; all you have to do is try to accept different ethnic people as you do anyone else. If you can’t, you don’t have to express it, keep it to yourself. If you hear somebody saying something about somebody else, all you have to do is listen; they are just as equal as you are. If you do it, pretty soon they’ll quit.
Racism’s history goes way back. The Constitution of the United States recognized the legality of slavery, the ultimate form of discrimination. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the constitutional amendments that followed the American Civil War (1861-1865) changed the legal status of African Americans, but a series of decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States struck down federal statutes designed to enforce the amendments. The most important of these decisions declared unconstitutional a law that outlawed racial discrimination by private individuals and upheld state-enforced segregation. For decades after Reconstruction, the absence of adequate federal laws permitted discrimination against black Americans in employment and housing, public accommodations, the judicial system, and voting opportunities.
1968 Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, barring racial discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing in which federal moneys are involved by way of loans, mortgages, or grants. Racial discrimination in employment by a state government agency was banned in 1972, and U.S. attorneys were authorized to sue noncom plying state agencies; similarly, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, established in 1964, was authorized to file suit.
For the first time in the history of the United States racial and ethnic groups, once thought of as minorities, are beginning to outnuraber the percentage of white Americans. Our nation's diversity has already begun to alter everything in society from politics and education, to industry, values, and culture. This is an extremely hard concept for many whites to accept. Long before this issue became a concern, our presumption of the "typical" United States citizen was someone who could trace his or her line of ancestry to Europe one way or another. Racism refers to any inherited physical characteristics such as skin color, facial features, hair texture, behavior patterns, personality traits, or intellectual abilities. In recent years, the definition for racism was modified to include social attitudes and occurrences. Racism usually takes the form of a claim that some human races are superior to others whether it's based on language, religion, or manners. Causes of racism may be very complex and cannot be reduced to one reason.
History plays a big role in the way some people feel today. Racism has commonly accompanied slavery, colonization, and other forms of exploitation and inequality. Proving the equality of all races was a long and difficult process. I believe that not everyone today agrees with the statement suggesting that everyone deserves to be treated equal. Rapid social change also promotes racism. The sudden immigration of highly visible groups of foreigners, and quick changes in the racial composition of a neigrabroadorhood are good examples. It is human nature to be uncomfortable with change. Many people are not ready for other cultures to invade their communities. A truly multiracial country is undoubtedly much harder to govern. Even conflicts that seem race-free are complicated with ethnic tension. Social Security benefits for the elders will probably be compounded by the fact that a large majority of those recipients will be white, whereas a majority of workers paying for them will be non-white.
The Legislature strives for English to be the one official language, which poses a political problem. Many Hispanics maintain their ethnic and cultural identity though their Spanish language. Social workers and other organizations should not need to learn fluent Spanish to accommodate their neeRAB. Immigrants should at least learn our language to be a part of our country, to survive, and to interact as an American. Our country's affirmative action is a good example of how hard it is to govern a multicultural country. Some institutions under pressure to increase its low black enrollment, will offer free tuition to every qualified black freshman that enrolls. People who protest and complain feel that nothing is that simple for "real" Americans.
This is a perfect display of how our country does not treat each individual equally. What if a qualified white man does not have enough money? Because of something so wrong schools will turn him away to keep a diverse population. Rules should remain the same for everyone. If people want to live in America, let them follow the rules and compete fairly. When debates over the basic curriculum taught in schools each year becomes a problem, it becomes a problem for many people. Certain cultures have made requests to teach the children different views from each culture. Books treasured as classics by teachers and earlier generations are now seen as means of excluding other cultures. School is not to learn about each student's personal culture, but to learn about America's history. I think that a big majority of the world has a problem with other races and cultures.
Being racist does not mean that someone dislikes each meraber of a particular race. It could mean that the attitudes and actions of the majority of these people frustrate them. “When I was younger, I can remeraber defending blacks when someone would badmouth them. Everyone who was more mature than I told me that one day I would feel the same way. In many ways this is true. Working as a waitress in a restaurant, my job requires me to interact with a variety of guests. However, my experiences with each are not the same. I have developed a terrible sense about the black guests. Estimating that about ninety-five percent of my black guests are "problem guests" makes racist feelings very natural. This did not come from a stereotype; it was developed from my own personal experiences. I truly feel that they come into a restaurant with intentions of eating for little to no cost. Some barely leave enough cash to cover the bill, others will not leave a tip for even the best service, and some pull scams because "the customer is always right." Says, a middle aged woman from Southfield.
About one week ago I was eating lunch with a friend at T.G.I.Friday's when the host seated a black family of three to a table near us. I did not mind them at all, and the service she gave them was flawless. It's sad but I feel that the employees need to be extra nice to earn a halfway decent tip from most of them. The three of them ate sixty-five dollars worth of food and ordered a meal to go. By complaining to the manager, everything that night was free. I was amazed. The man's complaint was unreal. He felt that his family was not receiving equal service because of his color. The manager even thought that his excuse was poor, but he cannot argue about racial disputes. His only option is to accept it. If their service was so terrible, why did he leave them a ten-dollar tip? Racism may be wrong, but the truth is that many people in the world posses very negative feelings towarRAB other cultures. Maybe one day we won't hear about this hatred from groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Peace between all races is what a lot of Americans fight for everyday. They hope that one-day, neigrabroadorhooRAB mixed with different races may be problem free and happy.
Is there an excuse for racism? According to one respondent,” There are no excuses for racism". But other respondents gave poor excuses. One of the people said, "You're black, you don't belong here.” which most people find offensive and uncalled for. You wouldn't appreciate it if were you who was discriminated against.
As I said before, there is something you can do. You might not be able to stop riots, but you’ll probably make a person’s day better. Nobody criticizes country singers who sing about the same thing over and over, or the love songs that sing about the same thing. It shouldn’t matter what color they are or what they look like, it's the music they sing. If you just think before you talk you can make a difference, if you put yourself in all these situations I’ve just mentioned, you would want to make a difference.