A More Perfect Union: Racism In The United States
RACISM
Racism is a belief that one person is better than other because of their skin color, language or their birth place. Racism has existed throughout human history and it’s still going on today. I believe it because I am a Muslim and after 9/11 Muslim Americans faced negative stereotypes expressed by society and became objects of suspicion. My dad was one of them. My dad was told to shave his beard in order to work because beard is a symbol of a Muslim man. My father looked for other jobs but everywhere it was the same. So, he shaved it. This example might not be a very big deal, but it was in my family. So that’s why I strongly believe that America is still not making any progress about racism in twenty-first century but I am hopeful about …show more content…
America’s cultural values and I believe it will change towards better.
“A More Perfect Union” by President Barak Obama, delivered many messages about his beliefs concerning racism. He starts off explaining how the founders of our nation made the Constitution creating all men equal, but they did not actually practice that idea. He described that “the document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought convection to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years and to leave any final resolution to future generation” (44). This means even those people who made the constitution, allowed slavery and didn’t try to stop it. Obama is the son of a white woman and a black Kenyan man. That’s why he faced criticism that his supporters are supporting him purely because of his race. We cannot judge someone by their skin color. We have to help and give chances to a person who wants to make better changes. Racist people are putting themselves apart from …show more content…
others, and by others I don’t mean blacks only. It includes whites, Latinos, and Asians. President Obama said, “Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now” (48). Today there is huge wealth and income gap between black and white because “blacks were excluded from unions or the police force, or the fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations” (49). So Obama’s solution to end discrimination is to work together for better health care, better schools, and better jobs and to move past some of the terrible things that have happened. He also included that “working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union”(51).
Racism is kind of like bullying.
It stops innocent people to make progress. For example, in Obama’s speech he explains that there are so many black people who have lost their hope and dream because of discrimination. However those black who did reach their goal had to face racism. Even today my mom gets scared if she sees a black man walking beside her. She thinks every black are bad. I try to explain her that there is good and bad in every culture and country. It’s not like Africans are the only one who’s committing crime in the world. They are also human beings and they have the right to live as a normal person. Therefore, I agree with President Obama that we have to take full responsibility for our own lives by “demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny” (52). I am hopeful that our country and our future will be better if we work together. We need to come together as a nation and improve our health care, jobs, and
schools.
The issue of Obama’s race being a contributing factor to the amount of supporters that he has gained throughout the election is definitely a little biased, and I don’t think it’s a smart way for people to just follow a candidate based on their race or ethnicity. They should follow them because of who they are and what they believe in, and what they can actually accomplish for this country. Race will always come into the equation no matter what, but I don’t think that it should be the major influencing factor on which we choose our leader.
Racism is a belief that one person is better than other because of their skin color, language or their birth place. Racism has existed throughout human history and it’s still going on today. I believe it because I am a Muslim and after 9/11 Muslim Americans faced negative stereotypes expressed by society and became objects of suspicion. My dad was one of them. My dad was told to shave his beard in order to work because beard is a symbol of a Muslim man. My father looked for other jobs but everywhere it was the same. So, he shaved it. This example might not be a very big deal, but it was in my family. So that’s why I strongly believe that America is still not making any progress about racism in twenty-first century but I am hopeful about …show more content…
America’s cultural values and I believe it will change towards better.
“A More Perfect Union” by President Barak Obama, delivered many messages about his beliefs concerning racism. He starts off explaining how the founders of our nation made the Constitution creating all men equal, but they did not actually practice that idea. He described that “the document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought convection to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years and to leave any final resolution to future generation” (44). This means even those people who made the constitution, allowed slavery and didn’t try to stop it. Obama is the son of a white woman and a black Kenyan man. That’s why he faced criticism that his supporters are supporting him purely because of his race. We cannot judge someone by their skin color. We have to help and give chances to a person who wants to make better changes. Racist people are putting themselves apart from …show more content…
others, and by others I don’t mean blacks only. It includes whites, Latinos, and Asians. President Obama said, “Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now” (48). Today there is huge wealth and income gap between black and white because “blacks were excluded from unions or the police force, or the fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations” (49). So Obama’s solution to end discrimination is to work together for better health care, better schools, and better jobs and to move past some of the terrible things that have happened. He also included that “working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union”(51).
Racism is kind of like bullying.
It stops innocent people to make progress. For example, in Obama’s speech he explains that there are so many black people who have lost their hope and dream because of discrimination. However those black who did reach their goal had to face racism. Even today my mom gets scared if she sees a black man walking beside her. She thinks every black are bad. I try to explain her that there is good and bad in every culture and country. It’s not like Africans are the only one who’s committing crime in the world. They are also human beings and they have the right to live as a normal person. Therefore, I agree with President Obama that we have to take full responsibility for our own lives by “demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny” (52). I am hopeful that our country and our future will be better if we work together. We need to come together as a nation and improve our health care, jobs, and
schools.
The issue of Obama’s race being a contributing factor to the amount of supporters that he has gained throughout the election is definitely a little biased, and I don’t think it’s a smart way for people to just follow a candidate based on their race or ethnicity. They should follow them because of who they are and what they believe in, and what they can actually accomplish for this country. Race will always come into the equation no matter what, but I don’t think that it should be the major influencing factor on which we choose our leader.