Why we need to call out casual racism Essay Example for Free

Why we need to call out casual racism Essay For the last couple of centuries, the United States of America has been known to be a country where racism exists. Since the United States of America was founded, racism started to grow in this country. The root of the problem started when landowners started to use black slaves to do their work. Since then white people believed they were the superior race. They treated black people as if they were animals. Yes, the U.S. is a racist country, and, we, as human beings need to unite and work together to eliminate this behavior. What is racism? Racism is not knowing anything about someone when you look at them, but disliking them anyway, not because of who they are, but because of how they look or because of the color of their skin. Racism is cowardly, and more importantly, racism is a weakness and an obvious sign of ignorance. So, what is it that makes us racist? More than likely it is fear of the unknown. In other words, it is lack of education. The only way to overcome this ignorance is to educate each other. Since racism is taught and not passed on by genetics from one generation to another, it is something that needs to be made aware of. Parents have the responsibility of teaching their children about this followed by the school where their children go. Back then if a black person was accused of any wrongdoing by a white person, the black person couldn’t testify against a jury and would always be found guilty without a just trial. Even worse, it was very common in the 19th century and early in the 20th century for black people to be lynched or hung if they were accused of any wrongdoing. How can any country allow such cruel acts to be done to any of its citizens? These acts would remind us of something that was done in ancient times when uncivilized people lived and were barbarians. Racism still exists today as there are many examples that show it. The latest example of this happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, where torch-bearing white supremacists shouting racist and anti-Semitic slogans marched in protest for a Southern monument that was going to be removed. Protesters and counter-protesters collided with each other that resulted in  violence  and chaos. A car driven by a known Nazi sympathizer mowed down a crowd of activists and then fled. The president of the United States is also an example of the racist person. He said that both white supremacists and the people against them were to be blamed for what happened. How can a president try to split the blame for what happened at Charlottesville when clearly there was only one side to blame. He also accused Mexicans of being rapist and criminals during his campaign. The only logical thing to think is that he is a racist person. A plan to eliminate, or at least reduce this behavior needs to be implemented. There needs to be a punishment for people who act in a racist manner in the public. For the first offense, a financial fine has to be given to the person who acted in a racist manner. For the second offense, a higher fine should be given to the person. For the third offense, the person should go to prison for a few days or weeks. During his time in prison, the person should receive classes to help eliminate his way of thinking. There need to be classes in schools that teach students to be friendly with people of different race, and show them why being racist is wrong.