Post Racism In Social Media

Since the creation, there have always been differences, and one of these big differences has race. Does race define humans? Are certain races lesser than others, or are they all the same? Unfortunately, in this world, there is still a clear racism in humans that is vocal, or is at the back of their minds. Even after the Civil Rights Movement, it seems that the world, or even just the United States of America, has backtracked and is back on the path of racism, even subtly or subconsciously. Post-racism is the idea of a society where learning about and talking about racism is unnecessary due to the environment. In society, post-racism has not yet become evident because of many elements. Tension is rising between races in many circumstances. The vast use of social media for humor is also leading to this ignorance. Having an African American president makes people believe that they are exempt from being racist as
well. People of all ages use social media, certain jokes or racist thoughts and words, and the idea of having an African American president is leading to an ignorant and generation. Slowly, bubbling tension between races in school and work areas, as well as a bad depiction of different races on television and in games, is hindering post-racism. Naturally, in today's school life, there are always cliques and different groups, and many of these groups are separated by race. The black kids hang out with their race, and the white kids their own. This creates mass tension between different cliques, and it has a sense of segregation. Many people feel more comfortable with those of their own race, even though everyone is the same on the inside. Why, if racism really is gone, do people feel find comfort with people of the same color of skin? This feeling of different is making it tough for kids to be able to interact and make friends, and it is also creating certain stereotypes of different people that can be racist and hurtful. Unknowingly, kids use racist stereotypes by saying, "Black words" "hood", "ratchet", etc. White kids use them as an ugly stereotype for the way that black people act and talk, and it is extremely racist. Kids think that these words can be used as a joke, but they are very offensive and give to the idea that this generation is not yet post-racial. Unfortunately, social media has led to an outbreak in racism because people on social media believe that they can be racist and through the internet, there is no effect.
Social media is a great tool used on smartphones, tablets, and computers by millions of people every minute. Nevertheless, while it is a brilliant tool, sometimes social media can be used poorly and certain posts or comments can be taken to be racist. Anonymously, on social media, people may think that this is funny or fine to do, but it can leave many people feeling terrible about themselves because of it. This can include pictures of people, videos of people of a certain race, comments on photos, or even photo captions using certain words or gestures. The internet is full of people making fun of others, and sometimes it goes too far. An example of this is maybe a video showing a black man doing something that can be seen as funny, but just because of his race. The sharing of hateful videos and people being unaware that they are making fun of somebody and not contributing to
post-racism. Many people are using the subconscious excuse of having an African-American President for comfort of having racist thoughts because they feel that now that a human of color has been elected president, everything is made up and good. If somebody voted for a black man to be president, they cannot be prejudice, right? Wrong. Astoundingly, many people think that just because there is a president in the Oval Office that is black, they are free of any punishments for their racism because it doesn't exist anymore. Having President Obama has decreased the guilt felt by people, as well as the fear of racism. This is contributing to the spread of racism and ignorance about other races. As Tiya A. Miles said,"It absolves people of being prejudiced" It should not at all. Having a black president is definitely the step in the right direction, but people making fun of a race and not feeling guilt should not be done without punishment. In this modern society, it is inevitable that racism still exists, and the world is not yet close to a post-racial generation. There have been multiple contributors to this racism that are around every day. Tension in school is ongoing between kids and groups of different races that lead to racist feelings and ideas of segregation. Social media is also adding this racism, where people make jokes and are anonymously mean to others based upon their race. The last big cause is that the president of the United States is black, and people think that because a man of color is in the office, they are exempt from the guilt of racism. If the world is ever going to really be post-racial and colorblind, with all people equal, it is going to have to start at people's mindsets and their ignorance towards races in general. With a new mindset, maybe the world can become post-racial after all.