Race

Imaginewalkingintoaclassroomandfeelalleyeslockedonyoubecauseofyourrace.

Imaginestandingoutinacrowdduetoyourskincolor.Orimaginebeingcriticizedbecauseof
yourreligionorevenyouraccent.Sohowwillweendracism?MorganFreemanwasonce
askedthisexactquestioninwhichhereplied,stoptalkingaboutit.I'mgoingtostopcallingyou
awhiteman,andI'mgoingtoaskyoutostopcallingmeablackman.Now,hedidnt
necessarilysuggestracismisntanissueorthatweshouldignoreituntilitgoesaway.Instead,
weneedtoteachupcominggenerationswedonotdefineoneanotherbycolorofskin,but
ratherbycharacter.Someargueracismisanaturalsideeffectofhumanityandwillneverfully
ceasetoexist.Othersargueracismistaught,andifweasasocietyalterourperceptionofrace
beingarelevantfactor,racismcouldpossiblyendaltogether.Today,however,racismisan
issueallracesdealwithdaily,whetheritswhiteprivilegeorlivingasaminority.Namely,racial
profiling,orinitiationbypolicenotbasedonapersonsbehaviorbutratherhisorherrace,
ethnicity,ornationalorigin.Racialprofilingbecamecommon,forexample,afterthe9/11
attacksasifeveryMuslimorpersonwearingaturban,especiallyonanaircraft,wasconsidered
dangerous.Ofcourse,9/11wasaterribletragedyofAmericanhistoryandsurelymany
Americansthusfelttherightandevenneedtopracticeracialprofilinginordertopreventmore
tragedies.Somemightnothaveevenrealizedwhattheyweredoingforsafetymeasureswas
wronganduntilrecently,racialprofilinghasnotalwaysbeenconsideredlegallyormorally
wrong.Notonlydid9/11influenceracialprofiling,buttheattacksinParisaswell.Peoplebegan
toaccuseallMuslimsbeingevilanddangerous.InApril2010,thestateofArizonaattemptedto
preventillegalimmigrationfromtheirSouthernborder,Mexicobyrequiringallimmigrantsto
constantlycarryaroundtheirdocumentationvalidatingcitizenshiporotherlegalimmigration
status.Eventually,Arizonasdecisionwasoverruledbyfederalcourt,althoughmanyother
statesdecidedtoincreasetheirimmigrationlawregulation.Toreverseracialprofilingthere
existsthecontacthypothesis,whichsuggestsinteractionbetweeninterracialpeopleisleast
likelytoresultinprejudiceorwillotherwisereduceprejudiceifthesetwoparticularpeople
coexistinequalstatus.

Ethnocentricpractices,ortheattitudethatonesowncultureorraceissuperiortoothers,

havebeenreoccurringbythoseinpowerthroughouthistory.Racialandminoritygroupshave
consistentlybeenprejudiced,lookeddownupon,harassedandtortured,merelybecauseof
theirracebecausethoseinpowerbelievedthemselvestobesuperior.Everyoneelsewho
doesntfitthenormmustperishorbepunished.Hitlerservesasanaryansupremacist.He

wantedtheworldtostrictlyexistofblondehaired,blueeyed,Armenians.Heestablishedan
organizationsostrongthateventhosewhowereArmenianbutstillwantedtocoexistwithother
ethnicitieswouldbepunishediftheydidnotjointheNaziarmy.Moreover,Americaalsowas
partiallyestablishedbecauseofpeopleswhowererejectedfromEurope,suchasthePuritans.
Sadly,eventhoserejectedbecauseoftheirreligious,economic,politicalbeliefsstillrejected
othersforthesamereason,orbecauseotherswereadifferentrace.Itappearspeoplegenerally
fearorareintimidatedbythatwhichisdifferenttothemselves.Thedifferencesinpeopledont
comparetohowrelatedweallare.

Raceisamadeupcategorybasedonphysicaldifferences.Ironically,tothosewho

practiceracialprofiling,asignificantchunkofAmericanprideisbasedonthefactthatAmerica
ismadeupofcountlessethnicitiesandbackgrounds.Americancitizensare,afterall,onlytrue
AmericansiftheirancestorslivedasNativeAmericans/Indians,Cherokee,orInuits,for
example.Raceandethnicityshouldberecognized,thoughdiscriminationisstillwrong,and
thesetwoaresymbolsassourcesofidentity.Americansfrommultipleracialbackgrounds,
therefore,havemultipleculturestocelebrate.

Clearlyminoritiessufferfromunfairdisadvantages.Nonetheless,certainsubordinate

groupsmanagetoeconomically,socially,andeducationallysucceeddespitethediscrimination,
prejudice,andevenviolencetheyexperienceinattempttodoso.Thesesubordinategroups
thenobtaintheconsiderationofatermcalledidealminorities.SincetheVietnamWar,Korean
War,bombingsofHiroshimaandNagasaki,TheChineseExclusionAct,andotherlimiting
historicalfactors,AsianAmericanshaveprogressedeconomicallysocially,andeducationally
andareconsideredmodelminoritiesoftoday.Beinglabeledasaminority,however,doesnot
seemtobeacontinuationinthenearfuture.Unfortunatelyforthem,theystillmustcarrythe
burdenofminorityeveninthetermmodelminority,supposedlyagoodthing.Also,certain
peoplemaytargetthesemodelminoritiesfurthermoreandespeciallybecauseoftheir
progressingstatus.Weseemtobehardwiredtothedifferencesinsociety.