Racism

Michelle Ordonez

ENG12

06-10-2015

Racism goes hand in hand with discrimination, whereby the superior race discriminates the minority race, and this is mostly demonstrated through stereotypes and prejudices as Omi (635) asserts. Omi presents an article that uses the stereotypes that exist amid people from varying races, to demonstrate how racism continues to impact in the society. In the United States of America, racism has been a controversial topic of discussion for ages, and this is because it was linked with slavery, whereby whites felt that they were the superior race and took advantage of the other races living in the country, mostly blacks, who were in huge numbers. Unfortunately, as Feagin (3) even with the abolition of slavery, racism has persisted, and it is demonstrated through the way people from varying races relate. Feagin presents a discussion concerning the issue of racism, which despite the numerous transformations that the society has undergo and nations working together through globalization, the issue of racism continues to pull back acceptance among people. The idea is that in a number of states there are still difficulties with people from different races to interact, and it is demonstrated by the discrimination of these people from some workplaces, and other places defined for a given race, for instance schools. In this regard, this paper will utilize the ideas presented by Feagin and Omi to illuminate on the issue of racism in the United States and how it continues to impact on the development of the society and most especially on the notion of identity, regardless of the numerous transformations taking place, which should allow people to live together with no racial issues. McBride (1998) presents an analysis of racism and identity using his family life, which was an interracial family of black and Jewish people. Among the transformations that will be addressed include technology utilization, the media and globalization, which permits people from varying nationalities and races to carry out business activities and live in other countries.

Omi (635) holds that there seems to be an ongoing attachment of stereotypes and prejudices of racial aspects in the American culture and the situation is worse because even school children are aware of these stereotypes and most of them utilize them to enhance their bully practices against children from different races from their own. For instance, one of the stereotypes attached to blacks is that they are criminals and therefore, in a situation where something has been lost or misplaced in the presence of the black person, the others will definitely suspect him. In other words, even though the black individual did not steal the item in question, that notion that blacks are criminals places him in the position of a suspect, a stereotype that can ruin the relationship that he shares with the people from the other race. Omi (636) asserts that in the popular culture, it is normal to find African Americans comedians making jokes that express the stereotypes that other races such as whites use against them. This is a clear demonstration that these people are aware of the racial stereotypes that other races hold against them and use them to make jokes as they attempt to learn ways to live with them.