Valentina Alvarado
Doctor Preston
Expository Reading and Writing
12 November 2013
Racism
Exists by Choice
Racism. The word alone sounds
tremendously horrifying and disgusting. But this word cannot express the true
deception and torture behind it. Racism takes places every single day, whether
it is tolerated or not, and it will most likely continue to occur for as long
as we as humans doubt its existence.
The Civil Rights
Movement was the first time these racist issues were formally addressed as a
whole to society and not much after the death of the man who made it all
possible, Martin Luther King Junior, new laws were imposed to stop these
discriminatory acts of injustice, at least in the United States of America. But
these forms of racism have accumulated in the past years into more efficient
ways that were better hidden and more successful than the traditional ones. Over the years we have viewed and allowed
racism to grow and modernize into a more sneaky form than the most obvious and
direct one. It has formulated to be more mental type because the accusers are
aware of the fact that this will no longer be tolerated in society, at least
for the ones who are not ignorant, and they know that they can get themselves
in major trouble for engaging in these activities and accusations. This way is
definitely more damaging than the physical one because this causes us to feel
emotional pain and as humans, we can only take so much.
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Racial profiling is
characterized as a form of discrimination in which law enforcements takes into
consideration a person’s cultural background as the primary reason to make
false or potentially true assumptions to suspect an individual has broken the
law. Some discrete examples of such racial profiling took place shortly after
the terrorist attacks of September the eleventh of 2001 took place on our
nations’ capital. Many Arab Americans or Americans of physical Arab decent were
constantly stopped during airport security searches for further investigation
and questioning simply because they appeared to be terrorists. Even if they
were fifth generation Americans, the fact that they looked like they could be
part of a specific group based off of their looks is completely demeaning of us
as a society and especially coming from higher authorities who are supposed to
be more educated.
Another example of such
racial profiling is the term known as “driving while Black” as you can see is
extremely racist, based on the fact that they are doing simply nothing other
than driving while being Black. As harsh as this seems, African Americans give
themselves this term because they know that even though the authorities may
deny it, it is the cold hard truth no matter how much the government and law
may try to put it.
One of the biggest
issues I have with the government is the fact that they believe they obtain the
power to tell people where they can and cannot live, and since no one fights
back, this gives them permission to, sadly. This concept has aggravated me
throughout the years. It all began when I would travel to Mexico with my family
and view innocent lives being taken or threatened simply for setting foot on
land that “did not belong to them” which is completely unreasonable. Since
then, inquiry has fallen heavily upon me and I always revisit the subject
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with much thought and research but I can never find
enough evidence for it to make sense because there is not. It is simply racism
and there is no justification for it.
The way we communicate
with one another serves as the perfect example to prove just how much we fail
to express ourselves. No matter how much you may want to approach someone of
interest to you for any particular reason, you will most likely never gain the
strength to because something inside of you will not let you, and this is all
normal. It is known as fear, and it is embedded in our bodies. Rarely will we
gain the strength to do what we actually want to do. We are for the most part
whimps. I speak of the so-called ‘innocent by-standers’ when I approach this
topic. When racism takes place, almost no one stands up for those being
persecuted because of this fear inside of us that if we get involved it will
lead to greater consequences, at least with ourselves and we stay back and not
defend the innocent because of our selfish ways.
I am sure we have all
either witnessed or taken part of a false accusation that should not have taken
place but of course was going to. It is extremely hard for one person to take
stand up for another. People who attack other aggressively normally have
problems within themselves and therefore feel the need to take their anger out
on others for no apparent reason other than the fact that they are experiencing
lack of attention from others and live sad degrading lives. This can lead to
bullying as well. People who experience these types of lives are known to make
these racist assumptions about other individuals either because they are not
satisfied with themselves or because they feel that dragging others down will
make them happier individuals in the long run which is very sad that they have
to base their happiness off of other’s misery. “There are various levels of
caring, and if an individual is mindfully aware in him/herself, s/he will know
how committed s/he is to caring. Before we can care about others, which include
respect,
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compassion, empathy and kindness, we need to be able
to care about ourselves. We cannot give to others, something we do not have in
ourselves, and if we try to do so, we may be deceiving ourselves,” states
Colleen Steen. She reminds us that we must first be satisfied with ourselves
and our own lives in order to be able to make others’ content. If racism is
present in your soul you most likely do not live a happy life.
Nonverbal communications
such as; hand gestures, facial expressions, posture etcetera, have granted us
the ability to make a lot of judgments on people. We can easily infer that when
two teenage girls appear to be yelling at each other in the hallways and they
are invading one another’s personal spaces that they are most likely not having
a kind or reasonable discussion even though you may not be able to hear exactly
what they are saying. By simple body language we can make these connections and
choose to stand there and watch or act and do something that will benefit the
both of them and the others around them. When we get these vibes, we can
distinguish the difference between good and bad. If two teachers give me the
same answer to a math question “yes, it is” in a very calm and nonchalant
matter while the other responds as “Yes! It is!!!” in a very exalted and
aggravated tone I am obligated to feel ten times more intimidated by the second
teachers’ response than the first. We can say the same thing but in completely
different ways which can change absolutely everything. Many of this we can
interpret as racism as well.
An issue that the state
of Arizona is currently facing is the law that grants officers permission to
stop and question Mexican-looking individuals even if they are not doing
anything wrong to ask them to view their documentation, again another example
of racism. I took the time to watch an episode of “WWYD: What would you do?” directly
relating to this exact subject
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where they conducted an experiment to see how many
random people would actually stick up for the innocent humans and families
being embarrassed in public and leaving marks on their kids and pride. I
absolutely cannot stand how they attempt to full on sugar code all these
unnecessary laws that have been created to just hurt people emotionally and
psychologically that lead us nowhere other than being cruel human beings.
One
of the main issues as to why this conflict has not been resolved yet and
probably will not until a very long time from now is that we never speak about
it. Although everyone is well aware of the horrible tragedies that take place
day by day, we still choose to ignore
it as if it were not our business. Again, this is triggered by fear; we fear
that discussing might only worsen the case or just simply get us absolutely nowhere.
If we do not address these issues, they will never be resolved. Living in a society
where principles tend to change quickly and dramatically over the decades, it
is only obvious that the older generation is much less understanding and much
less accepting than the younger generations due to our exposure and how racism
has decreased over the years. Our grandparents are more accustomed to tolerating
unusual and unfair racist behavior than we are, therefore, we tend to prevent
it more. “We assume that old people are the products of less-enlightened times,
they're unlikely to change and their comments, however ugly, are largely
innocuous.” Many would forgive this and allow them to continue their ignorant
ways simply because we have realized that we cannot change their beliefs. Would
they be considered excused from racism? Still no, however, it is still more
reasonable as to why they still think the way they do. They are not more open
to ideas of equality because of customs and traditions from their past. But
ultimately we can always remember that they soon will pass on and the world can
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seek and educate the minds of the younger ones to hopefully
reach social stability in a near future.
A stereotype is a
generalization made based on a group of culture, ethnicity, gender, religion etcetera.
I recently conducted an experiment on stereotypes and asked thirty other
students differentiating between the ages of sixteen to eighteen on how they
felt about stereotypes and if they believed them to be true. One group strongly
responded that they felt that stereotypes were for the most part very true and
they tended to exist for a reason which caught my attention. Logically
speaking, these generalizations would not take place unless they happened to be
true for most cases, correct? While the second group amazed me by saying that
it was racist to believe in stereotypes and simply judge a person based on a
group generalization. They reminded me that I nor would anyone else like to be
judged on these assumptions and would like the opportunity to prove themselves
as individuals and not be categorized amongst a group. “What people call
“stereotypes” are what scientists call “empirical generalizations,” and they
are the foundation of scientific theory. That’s what scientists do; they make
generalizations. Many stereotypes are empirical generalizations with a
statistical basis and thus on average, tend to be true. If they are not true,
they wouldn’t be stereotypes. The only problem with stereotypes and empirical
generalizations is that they are not always true for all individual cases. They
are generalizations, not invariant laws. There are always individual exceptions
to stereotypes and empirical generalizations. The danger lies in applying the
empirical generalizations to individual cases, which may or may not be
exceptions. But these individual exceptions do not invalidate the
generalizations.” This is exactly what my peers meant by making such strong
evaluations of someone you have never spoken to. Although they may be true for
the majority of the group
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since they are existent, we cannot choose to base
our inferences on solely that. But no matter how many stereotypes we know of or
choose to believe, we must keep in mind that in every race or group there will
be great people and bad ones. We will find criminals and humanitarians in every
single race regardless of what our previous assumptions have been about those
groups of people, because ultimately we were created with the same types of feelings,
internal and external organs, the ability to feel pain and pleasure and so on.
We have more in common than we do different.
I have come to realize
that appearances can be completely deceiving. I cannot take hold for the
monotonous occasions that I have experienced the exact opposite of what I was
expecting! It has been one of the most valuable lessons that I have ever
learned. As a member of society, you tend to only follow trends and logical
assumptions about groups and when they prove to be the contrary, it shocks you.
Judging others based off looks can be one of the most ignorant things to proceed
in conducting. We must remember to treat all others exactly how we would like
to be treated, yet many do not keep this in mind and allow their selfish ways
to take control. “That there should be a match between perception and reality
is not surprising, because evolution ruthlessly eliminates the unfit. If you
routinely misperceive or even hallucinate and act on those misapprehensions,
you won’t survive long in a world filled with dangers whose avoidance requires
accurate distance and speed assessments and rapid reactions. Whether you are
diving into rocky waters or driving on a narrow, two-lane road with cars
whizzing by in the opposite direction, small mistakes can be lethal.” We need
to be careful if and when we make these choices to judge one another because we
can get ourselves into a lot of trouble, all for lack of education and
understanding. “As psychologists and neuroscientists have discovered over the
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past several decades, our consciousness provides a
stable interface to a dizzyingly rich sensory world. Underneath this interface
lurk two vision systems that work in parallel. Both are fed by the same two
sensors, the eyeballs, yet they serve different functions. One system is
responsible for visual perception and is necessary for identifying objects—such
as approaching cars and potential mates—independent of their apparent size or
location in our visual field. The other is responsible for action: it
transforms visual input into the movements of our eyes, hands and legs. We
consciously experience only the former, but we depend for our survival on both.”
So even though we may not want to, we are doing this subconsciously and it is
not our fault but it is something that we need to be aware of.
As we have discussed in
class, our opinions have little to no relevancy in the world. As long as we are
living in a world in which we must interact with other human beings and be
forced to care for them no matter how much we despise them, we really have
absolutely no right to our opinion. We must take part in factual evidence. I
recently read an article titled “It’s Not a Matter of Your Opinion” by Kenneth
Ham which explored the topic of homosexuality; another form of racism. “Many
people have the opinion that homosexuality is wrong; however, if it is just an
opinion, then surely the opinion that homosexuality is all right is just as
valid. The point is, it is not a matter of one's opinion!” I quote directly
from his article that was overall religiously affiliated nonetheless included
factual evidence about our way of thinking and reasoning. No matter how much we
despise it and do not want to see it occur in our society or how much we
tolerate it and want to allow it to take place, we will never really have control
on whether it occurs or not. We have no power over what each and every single
individual on the planet can or cannot do. No matter how much we restrict them,
they will in the end do as they please, and we
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cannot change that. Now we can choose to waste our
sweet and precious time on judging them based of this, or we can be the bigger
people and mind our own business because what anyone does in the privacy of
their own home does not affect you in absolutely any way. No matter how
strongly your position is, no matter what you say or think or feel or want, you
alone cannot make such drastic decisions regardless of your beliefs.
“It isn't the desire to
abide by the law that makes everyone behave as society requires, but the fear
of punishment,” a famous quote from the famous The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho who has enlightened me. As
I read this book I realized that I had never before made this connection which
left me fascinated because of how true this was. We only abide by society’s
laws in order to avoid punishment and stay out of the mouths of gossipers. This
could not be truer. And this is exactly why these new forms of sneaker ways to
proceed in racist acts have accumulated over the decades; only because people
want to avoid getting in trouble by the authorities, not at all because they
care about their victims, or else they would do it in public.
It has been
scientifically proven that we acquire the selfish trait, as much as we would
like to refuse to believe it. This trait has been in existence ever since we
were running around playing the bittersweet game of survival of the fittest in
nature chasing our food and savagely competing against one another just to live
for the next day. But just as innate as the selfish trait is, so is the caring
one. “We really do care for others as we think we do. This is innate.
Unfortunately this trait can be discouraged by the cynical, by those who
champion greed, by those who go around saying things such as, "Nice guys
finish last" and "You'll never be able to help everybody, so learn to
cast a blind eye upon the less fortunate" and others whose hearts have
somehow fallen into questionable places. They are not without compassion,
mostly. Oh, a few may have been
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struck with such devastating fortune as to truly be
able to consider nothing beyond their own personal welfare, but thankfully such
people are exceedingly rare in today's world. They are generally found only in
areas where an entire community has been visited with extreme deprivation. No,
when we hear people speak in ways that discourage kindness and charity, we are
called upon to counter their arguments. Just as we are inclined to practice
kindness and charity, we must also be inclined to speak out in favor of it.” If
so, then why do people tend to avoid agitated uncomfortable situations rather
than to choose to be the heroes in the situations and not the cowards? If we
feel threatened around racism then why don’t we take a stand? Again, this
occurs because we are sissies.
No matter how much we
believe in something, we will not see it happen unless someone else is standing
beside us. But human nature is to be a follower and not a leader. This is why
we see more followers than we do leaders. And why don’t leaders take a stand? Because
they are afraid that they will then be judged by a larger audience on their
specific beliefs on topics so they instead choose to ignore their true feelings
and thoughts and not do anything at all. “Learning to lead yourself well is one
of the most important things you’ll ever do as a leader. For almost forty years I’ve served others as
a leader, and for more than two and a half decades of that time I was the
senior pastor of a church. My years
working with people have taught me an important truth: people seldom see
themselves realistically. Human nature seems to endow us with the ability to
size up everybody in the world except ourselves.” Overall a main theme and
encounter we continue to come across while conducting this research is the fact
that to change the world we must first change each other. People who indulge in
racism and discriminatory decisions are more than obviously not content with
themselves and their lives. This is sad but we can conclude
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to be true as reasonable scientists formulating a
theory based off of some factual evidence. “Good leadership requires an
understanding of the world that followers live in. Connecting with your
congregation and your staff becomes possible because you have walked in their
shoes. You know what it means to be under authority and thus have a better
sense of how authority should be exercised. In contrast, leaders who have never
followed well or submitted to authority tend to be prideful, unrealistic, rigid
and autocratic. They lord their position and power over others.” This quote
states we must always have empathy and serve as a consoling source to other
people. If we can manage to get under their skin and feel the same way they
feel, it will create endless possibilities and raise awareness of
understanding.
We tend to concentrate
on our differences too much. Must we forget that what actually matters is all
the same amongst us? It all means so much more than a physical appearance. As much as we would like to say that we do not
base things off of looks, we really do. We were biologically created to mate
and reproduce one another and that while doing so, we would be attracted to the
most appealing characters within out boundaries. If we find something
unappealing or it is of little interest to us, we tend to pick at its flaws
especially since we are not content with our own flaws. The world will continue
to fail regardless of our true thoughts and morals as a society unless we agree
to discuss them rationally with everyone.
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Works
Cited
-Read novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
-Read the novel The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo
Coelho
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-Read the article titled “It’s Not a Matter of Your
Opinion” by Kenneth Ham
-Read an excerpt from “To Lead Others, First Lead
Yourself” by John C. Maxwell
-Watched an episode of “What would you do?” Show
with John Quinonez
-Conducted a survey: “Based off personal experience,
would you agree that stereotypes are for the most part true?” Toll: 30 people
24; Yes 6; No Audience: Generated amongst teenagers of the age 16 through 18.
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