Racism is a pressing issue in this day and age and there is no other minority group that is

getting it worse that African Americans. Times have changed since Martin Luther King Jr. and
Rosa Parks, but that doesnt mean its all over. For example, the recent incident with Michael
Brown, a suspected racism act where a white policeman shot and killed a black teenager with six
bullets in St Louis. Another recent incident was Eric Garner, a New Yorker who was unarmed
and willing to cooperate with the NYPD after being caught selling illegal cigarettes was
strangled to death by a white police officer. Eric Garner repetitively told the officers that he
could not breathe, yet the police were not going to give him space, instead multiple police
officers stood around him and used brutal force to arrest him. The main stereotype for African
Americans in the United States today are perceived as Gang members and lower class poor
people compared to the stereotype on white Americans. Racism can come from several different
ways, the two biggest reasons are the environmental surroundings and the era that we are born
into. If we enforce this ballot initiative we can reduce the amount of racist acts in the future.
Take Jane Elliot as an example, in 1985 a third grade teacher in Iowa enforced a racism class by
segregating the class by eye color. She found that this method was extremely effective and all the
students later understood racism and why they should not offend the colored. She not only
used this method on children but on police officers as well. Although it has become close to 30
years since Ms. Elliot taught the class and I believe that we should still enforce this.
The environment that we live in is a reason to why there is racism. As a teacher, I hear
racial jokes, slurs and stereotypes being said, people think its funny and others repeat it, this
trend will grow and grow picking on the minorities of the school. The stereotypes that are being
said here doesnt change your perception of that race until you have experienced it and have
actually been in their shoes. You cannot become a soccer player from reading books you have to
actually play. You cannot actually teach racism by giving lectures you actually have to put
people in the minoritys shoes. Just like what Ms. Elliot did. Roman leader Julius Caeser said,
Experience is the teacher of all things. Students in almost every school brings up stereotypes
about race as a joke but really they are just offending and hurting people of that race. The more
you say it the less funny it gets and the more serious youre enforcing that stereotype.
Being racist also has to do with the era you are born into. Times have changed and
African Americans are no longer segregated. Segregation is a dying idea and there is no doubt
that I will not come back. However physical and verbal violence is still perpetrated in streets all
around the United States. It doesnt matter if youre a businessman or a homeless man, racism
effects everybody weather you are giving it or receiving it. As of early this year, LA clippers
head coach, Donald Sterling, was caught making racist remarks towards black people. Donald
Sterling is known to be a well-educated businessman in which being racist would be the last
thing he would be. However Donald Sterling is 80 years old and was born in a time where blacks
were segregated and discriminated. By enforcing this ballot initiative teachers like me can get
more educated on racism and what is politically correct.
To conclude, anyone can be racist, a school teacher, a parent, a policeman. But racist acts
dont have to happen if we teach students and teachers about racism and actually put them in
their shoes as to what it feels like to be in the minority group. This ballot initiative can prevent

bullying in schools as of right now and also prevent racial discrimination anywhere in the United
States in the future.