Racism: Will it disappear one day?
By Thomas Brouillard
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
March 27, 2009
When I reflect back on today’s class the one word I would come up with to describe it is, powerful. The last few classes we have spoken about gender and that topic created some heated and interesting conversations. But one the topic that can top that as far as being interesting, engaging, and heated is the topic of race. Overall I enjoyed the class because the conversations that took place were real and honest. They addressed a lot of problems people face today with the issue of race and other important areas such as socioeconomic status.
I thought the “cross over” activity was very powerful. The best thing the class could get out of that activity was to show that no matter what your race, gender, or economic status is, we all have problems in our life. Just because someone has a lot of money does not mean they are better than someone who does not, and it does not mean that they do not face problems in their lives. We all face challenges in our lives and some of them are not out in the open, and probably would surprise some people.
The discussion we had after the activity was even more powerful. The topic of race sometimes makes people uncomfortable. What I liked about the discussion though was that everyone was honest and for myself personally, I did not feel uncomfortable during the conversation. It was certainly interesting to hear everyone’s view points. I thought Vivet brought up a lot of good points, as well as Chris, Sean, and others in the class.
One of the questions asked was can racism be wiped out? I think that is an impossible question to answer at this point in time. I personally don’t think it is impossible, but it is highly unlikely and very hard to answer. Our society has greatly advanced the last 40 years on the issue of race, but racism is still out there. I think the majority of the country is moving forward in the right direction, but it seems like there will always be someone who harbors negative feelings toward a race different than his or her own.
Not long ago I watched a documentary on HBO called “Right America” in which the interviewer went to a few John McCain rallies at the height of the election season and interviewed people at these rallies. What I heard from some of these people made my jaw drop, and not in a good way. Some of those people were still harboring not only racist attitudes but also sexist attitudes. One man commented how he is ashamed of America when he sees Barak Obama running for the Presidency. He felt like if Mr. Obama was elected his privileges would be taken away. The man with tears in his eyes said “If he is elected we’re not going to have anything anymore, he’s going to take it away, what’s happening to this country?”
Another comment that stuck out to me, and personally offended me was when a women was interview about Mr. Obama, she commented how when she watched young people in America, people my age, supporting Mr. Obama it reminded her of Hitler’s youth and how young people in Germany at the time supported him. She compares now President Obama to Hitler and compares my generation to Hitler’s youth. Honestly that was one of the most hateful, unintelligent, and ignorant comments I have ever heard.
When I reflect on what I saw the key word I use for these individuals is ignorance. This was brought up in the class discussion and it is major reason for racism, sexism, or any other prejudice. As long as there is ignorance it will be hard to combat racism. Now not everybody interview was racist and I am not insinuating that John McCain supporters are racist, but again these attitudes do still exist. As future educator’s it is important that we make sure our children do not harbor ignorant views on people different to them. We must do everything we can to make sure that their ignorance does not turn into unjustified hate. Ignorance is just a step away from hate.
I find it interesting when a tragedy happens, such as September 11, people of all races united. A good point was made that for a few months after the attacks, I was not looked at as a white man and my friend was not black, but we were both American. I think that shows that it is possible to end racism. I think my generation is moving forward in the right direction but even so I still believe it is highly unlikely that racism will be completely erased.
Long Island University, C. W. Post
March 27, 2009
When I reflect back on today’s class the one word I would come up with to describe it is, powerful. The last few classes we have spoken about gender and that topic created some heated and interesting conversations. But one the topic that can top that as far as being interesting, engaging, and heated is the topic of race. Overall I enjoyed the class because the conversations that took place were real and honest. They addressed a lot of problems people face today with the issue of race and other important areas such as socioeconomic status.
I thought the “cross over” activity was very powerful. The best thing the class could get out of that activity was to show that no matter what your race, gender, or economic status is, we all have problems in our life. Just because someone has a lot of money does not mean they are better than someone who does not, and it does not mean that they do not face problems in their lives. We all face challenges in our lives and some of them are not out in the open, and probably would surprise some people.
The discussion we had after the activity was even more powerful. The topic of race sometimes makes people uncomfortable. What I liked about the discussion though was that everyone was honest and for myself personally, I did not feel uncomfortable during the conversation. It was certainly interesting to hear everyone’s view points. I thought Vivet brought up a lot of good points, as well as Chris, Sean, and others in the class.
One of the questions asked was can racism be wiped out? I think that is an impossible question to answer at this point in time. I personally don’t think it is impossible, but it is highly unlikely and very hard to answer. Our society has greatly advanced the last 40 years on the issue of race, but racism is still out there. I think the majority of the country is moving forward in the right direction, but it seems like there will always be someone who harbors negative feelings toward a race different than his or her own.
Not long ago I watched a documentary on HBO called “Right America” in which the interviewer went to a few John McCain rallies at the height of the election season and interviewed people at these rallies. What I heard from some of these people made my jaw drop, and not in a good way. Some of those people were still harboring not only racist attitudes but also sexist attitudes. One man commented how he is ashamed of America when he sees Barak Obama running for the Presidency. He felt like if Mr. Obama was elected his privileges would be taken away. The man with tears in his eyes said “If he is elected we’re not going to have anything anymore, he’s going to take it away, what’s happening to this country?”
Another comment that stuck out to me, and personally offended me was when a women was interview about Mr. Obama, she commented how when she watched young people in America, people my age, supporting Mr. Obama it reminded her of Hitler’s youth and how young people in Germany at the time supported him. She compares now President Obama to Hitler and compares my generation to Hitler’s youth. Honestly that was one of the most hateful, unintelligent, and ignorant comments I have ever heard.
When I reflect on what I saw the key word I use for these individuals is ignorance. This was brought up in the class discussion and it is major reason for racism, sexism, or any other prejudice. As long as there is ignorance it will be hard to combat racism. Now not everybody interview was racist and I am not insinuating that John McCain supporters are racist, but again these attitudes do still exist. As future educator’s it is important that we make sure our children do not harbor ignorant views on people different to them. We must do everything we can to make sure that their ignorance does not turn into unjustified hate. Ignorance is just a step away from hate.
I find it interesting when a tragedy happens, such as September 11, people of all races united. A good point was made that for a few months after the attacks, I was not looked at as a white man and my friend was not black, but we were both American. I think that shows that it is possible to end racism. I think my generation is moving forward in the right direction but even so I still believe it is highly unlikely that racism will be completely erased.
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