HAMMONDS

Shelby Hammonds
Ms. Schneider
Intro to English Comp
25 September 2014
Racism: It is Not Just Black and White
Constantly causing an up-rise in the US today, racism is prejudice, discrimination,
or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's
own race is superior (Google definitions). Most people today are racist based off of how
they were raised or what time frame they had been raised in. Racism does not just pertain
to the Caucasian and African American population. Races all around the world have these
problems such as Mexicans, Chinese, and Arabians etc. As a young white American
female, most of the racism I have witnessed comes from society.Society always
contributes to racism in such vast ways. From the households to schools and work places
it seems to always be a never-ending issue.
The household is a big influence on the way an individual views racism. Growing
up most kids are taught to love everyone no matter what color their skin is. But others are
taught to glorify only people with their skin color. Growing up, I was taught many
different things, and one of them just so happens to be racist, from automatically passing
judgment on the Arabian man sitting across from me or feel disgusted seeing people in an
interracial relationship. My dad brought me up this way ever since I was a little girl. As I
got older, I came to realize I should love everyone no matter what color skin they have,
God loves each of us equally, so I should to. Many people grow up and cannot get out of

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their racist behaviors due to the way they had been raised. The household is and will
always be the most influential place when it comes to learning things about life.
Studies show that racism happens in schools still today. According to the
Huffington Post, Five percent of white students were suspended annually, compared
with 16 percent of black students, according to the report. Black girls were suspended at a
rate of 12 percent -- far greater than girls of other ethnicities and most categories of
boys. Depending on where the school is located has a lot to do with how the racism
takes places. If you have a school such as Goshen, in a rural area, you will not see many
people from other races. Going to school at Goshen you maybe only saw three to four
African Americans and one to two Mexicans, if that. But, going in closer to the city, like
Milford, will see people from several minority groups.
When trying to find a job it always ask what race you are on the application to me
this is racist. Why does it matter what color skin you have or what ethnicity you are. In
the year 2012 alone 33,500 cases were filed about discrimination (Low Income). It is
illegal to discriminate in the work place according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This
law provides protection against employment discrimination on the basis of race and color
as well as national origin, sex, or religion. Statistics show that African Americans are
twice as likely to be unemployed and earn about 25% less that white employees (Low
Income). Not only are African Americans discriminated on their skin in the workplace,
so are Hispanics, Mexicans, Asians, and quit a few others.
Depending on how our generation raises their children, we could possibly see a
change in societys view on other races. As years pass, racism will continually increase
causing more and more issues in the United States unless we make the change now. I

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hope that one day this world will come to the realization that I came to, as I got older. For
others things will never change due to how they had been raised from generation to
generation. I will never raise my kids to hate on people because they have a different skin
color than themselves.

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Works Cited
Resmovits, Joy. "American Schools Are STILL Racist, Government Report Finds." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
"Low Income Housing and Social Issues Blog." 33,500 Workplace Racial Discrimination
Cases Were Filed in 2012. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.