Racism
TJ Grayson
Angie Asmussen
English 1213
27 January 2015
Racism
Racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. It is also defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This means that racism can come in both intentional and unintentional forms, although both are a form of discrimination and dehumanization of the inferior (in the sense of appreciation or popularity) race.
As touched on already, racial discrimination can be in both the form of intentional as well as unintentional — both of which are harmful to people and the culture in which they live. Now one may ask: how can someone unintentionally discriminate against another race? There are quite a few ways, actually. A major one is traditional upbringing. The circumstances that people grow up in have an extremely large impact on their lives, how they handle situations, how they think, and how they talk (and not just in the sense of their accents). In the movie “42” (The Jackie Robinson Story), a heckler in the crowd began shouting vulgar obscenities and racial slurs at Jackie because of his skin, regardless of the fact that he was an outstanding ball player. In the movie, the heckler’s son was sitting next to him, and began to repeat everything his father was saying. Now, even though this may just be a movie, this is a great representation of how a child’s circumstances influence his behavior. And what one can take away from this scene is that we need to be conscious of the example that we set for our kids. As they grow up, they are naturally drawn to regurgitate what they hear from their parents. That is simply the way kids were made to learn: repetition. A parent who is negligent in this aspect of parenting often times results in adults discriminating against
Angie Asmussen
English 1213
27 January 2015
Racism
Racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. It is also defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This means that racism can come in both intentional and unintentional forms, although both are a form of discrimination and dehumanization of the inferior (in the sense of appreciation or popularity) race.
As touched on already, racial discrimination can be in both the form of intentional as well as unintentional — both of which are harmful to people and the culture in which they live. Now one may ask: how can someone unintentionally discriminate against another race? There are quite a few ways, actually. A major one is traditional upbringing. The circumstances that people grow up in have an extremely large impact on their lives, how they handle situations, how they think, and how they talk (and not just in the sense of their accents). In the movie “42” (The Jackie Robinson Story), a heckler in the crowd began shouting vulgar obscenities and racial slurs at Jackie because of his skin, regardless of the fact that he was an outstanding ball player. In the movie, the heckler’s son was sitting next to him, and began to repeat everything his father was saying. Now, even though this may just be a movie, this is a great representation of how a child’s circumstances influence his behavior. And what one can take away from this scene is that we need to be conscious of the example that we set for our kids. As they grow up, they are naturally drawn to regurgitate what they hear from their parents. That is simply the way kids were made to learn: repetition. A parent who is negligent in this aspect of parenting often times results in adults discriminating against