PORTSMOUTH – On a cold, wet, winter day people departed their warm downtown offices and businesses. They wasted no time getting to their cars, trying their best to beat rush-hour traffic.…
In the first chapter of his book Racism without Racists: Color-blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva argues that color-blind racism, a new racial ideology which emerged in the late 1960s (16), has become “a formidable political tool” for “the maintenance of the racial order” and “white privilege” in the “post-Civil Rights era” (3). According to his argument about color-blind racism, in contemporary America, although few whites appear like racists, racial inequality does exist everywhere (2). Racism changed from “overt means” of discrimination to “subtle and institutional practices” (3). “Nonracial dynamics” become “white common sense” about explanations…
From chapter four, I learned that being a therapist, I have to think a lot before I speak and give advice to clients. Doing this will prevent me from making a client uncomfortable. Another thing the book stated which made me think a lot is the comment about race. It said that race is a social construct, not a scientific or biological fact. It was interesting learning about how race developed into a hierarchically issue. Race and ethnicity are different things and people do not realize the differences between the two.…
In the article “The Good, Racist People,” Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses an event which resulted in Forest Whitaker being accused of shoplifting. What could possibly be a reason to assume Whitaker, a famous actor, had committed shoplifting? From Coates’ point of view, many others want to believe that this encounter was a misunderstanding that had nothing to do with race. Whitaker was accused of shoplifting and then was frisked, based only on his appearance. Coates then goes on to claim that the owner’s apology argued that the incident was a “‘sincere mistake’ and how the worker was a ‘decent man’ who was ‘just doing his job’ ”. (par. 3) In this quote, we are seeing an excuse trying to justify this event, for which Coates wants to believe the apology.…
It comes as no surprise that an overwhelming majority of the founding fathers held racist sentiments which manifest itself in passing legislation that protected slavery. Racism and white supremacy, as stated by Walton and Smith, “involves the belief in the superiority, inherent or otherwise, of a particular group and that on this basis policies are made to subordinate and control it.” White Supremacy thrives as a result of a strictly enforced subordinate-superordinate relationship between the minority and majority. This ideology plays an integral role in the shaping of race relations, particular interactions between whites and blacks, in the United States. These ways of thinking seem to go against the passionate words of the constitution calling…
Who are the victims in a hate crime? Victimization does not end with the primary person that was attacked. The Laramie Project demonstrated how the entire community, and eventually the nation, of a little town in Wyoming was affected by the death of 22 year old Matthew Shepard in October, 1998. Secondary victims, who do not bear the physical pain, but endure the after effects and emotional pain, included Matthew’s parents, Deputy Sheriff Reggie Fluty (who was called to the crime scene and tended to Matthew), and Doctor Cantway (who treated both Matthew and one of his attackers, Aaron McKinney) (Karmen, 2013). The effects of this hate crime saturated a society and called more than morals into question. Incidents like these force humanity to look at itself and criticize its core beliefs. Laramie’s motto of “Live and Let Live” applied to most…
America today is many things: advanced, modern, influential - but is it racist? Since the birth of this great nation, racism existed and has continued to live through different mediums. Latent racism seeks to establish racial prejudice and discrimination through subtle forms, even at a subconscious level. Although latent racism is hard to prove, many people have made it their duty to showcase and expose forms of racism that one would not normally jump to. For example, in the article Occupy the Dream: The Mathematics of Racism, the author exposes the true nature of the American prison system, and how the “war on drugs” is just a benign term coined for contemporary racism. By using statistics to back up his claims, the author provides a logical…
In 1959 a documentary was produced entitled The Hate that Hate Produced which took a look at the Islamic nation and their feelings towards white people. The program was televised and broadcasted over New York television stations for the entire city to see. Malcolm X wanted to go ahead with the broadcasting of the program but Elijah Muhammad was a bit more reluctant. He felt that this would bring unwarranted attention toward the nation Islam and he felt it would be counterproductive to their cause. Malcolm however felt that this would be a great way to expose the nation of Islam and invite new members who felt they did not want to join the ongoing civil rights movement. Muhammad reluctantly agreed to the broadcast, but this would be the begging of the…
This first source is a scholarly source titled Probing the Epidemic of Police Murders by Steve Martinot. The article focuses on police brutality and racism by exploring different incidents that occurred in recent history, incidents similar to the Trayvon Martin incident or the most recent Michael Brown incident. In each one, it talks about what actually occurred in the incident, how police tried to cover up their actions, and then focuses on how the media or government focused on the impact of the incident on the white individuals that were involved instead of the black individuals or other racial groups that were involved. It also talks about the history of police brutality and the need for police obedience when it comes to violence.…
Journal November 10 –– What do you think would be the effective ways of reducing the influence of hate groups? Keep in mind why people join, how groups recruit, why people leave.…
The problem behind rising rates of hate crimes has created a very controversial subject. Rising rates has brought to our attention the dangerous problems we as a society could potentially face. Over the course of the last couple years hate crimes have created a devastating impact on families and communities, but also because groups that preach hatred and intolerance could plant the seed of terrorism here in our country. Trans activists should focus our resources and attention on winning inclusion, legal equality frameworks such as, anti-discrimination laws and hate crime laws that will provide relief from the life-shortening conditions trans populations are facing. While crime is a problem already, what is even worse is that hate crimes…
The United States of America has a long dark history in terms of racism, from the civil war to World War II minority groups have been the target of crimes of hatred and prejudice. From public lynching, cross burning, arson to vandalism are just some of the tactics used by hate groups to display their prejudice. According to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) the term hate crime was not used until the 1980s, however investigations conducted by the FBI on hate related crime stretches far back to the First World War, on the group called the Ku Klux Klan attracted their attention. The department of justice defines a hate crime as “Hate crime is the violence of intolerance and bigotry, intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious, sexual orientation, or disability. The purveyors of hate use explosives, arson, weapons, vandalism, physical violence, and verbal threats of violence to instill fear in their victims, leaving them vulnerable to more attacks and feeling alienated, helpless, suspicious and fearful.” Communities such as people of color and LGBT are two groups that had been overwhelming impacted from white supremacist groups and anti-gay group. Crimes motivated by hatred have led to legislation that requires the tracking of statistical data to gather information and…
Hate crimes are an ongoing issue with no end in sight. Hate crimes do not have to deal with just race, but can and do deal with other issues such as sexual orientation, religion, and disability. The following article will examine what hate crimes are and ways such crimes can be prevented. The group that will be discussed will be the African American group. Each group of individual in the United States has had their share of hate crimes against them, but the key is to learn from them, teach the youth and move on.…
Crimes of hatred or racism, today our system is working to prevent these crimes and bring forth justice to those who committed them. “Instead of placing the blame on the teenager, we need to place the blame on the responsible adult. There were two people involved. We had an adult who was chasing a kid, and we had a kid who I feel was afraid.” Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin. Her son 17 years of age was being targeted because of his physical appearance and his life has been taken away. Citizens should not be targeted by sex, race or religion because in result the victim is brutally hurt subjected to death, it causes many problems such as law enforcement…
There has been an ongoing issue of hate crime in America. Surprisingly, there are many factors that can constitute a hate crime. It is important to not only review hate crime itself, but also the person committing the hate crime and how it can be prevented. Hate crime is a broad topic and has been interpreted differently by many. There are policies and laws in place in an effort to stop hate crime, yet it is still a prominent issue that is increasing rapidly in America today. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines hate crime as, “bias against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity” (Hate Crimes). It is critical to understand that someone is being biased when they commit a hate crime,…