by Melissa A
Most people believe that racism started when slavery was popular. Although this was a significant part of the racism epoch, it isn't what I believe to be the start of racism. In my opinion it really started many years ago when the pilgrims discovered new land. The reason why we live on this land is an example of discrimination between two races.
We all know the story about how the pilgrims and native Americans worked together and shared the first thanksgiving. But after all of the peaceful nature between the two they began to have conflicts. The pilgrims eventually took over the land. They could not live in harmony with the other people on the land so they decided to seize them of their home. I believe they wanted to convince them to believe in their religion and dress like them. Those are very discriminating characteristics to me.
That was a very important part of racial discrimination history but not the only one. During the fifties things were progressing because of the new found leaders such as Martin Luther king Jr and Malcolm x. Although they did help the cause their speeches and points of view caused riots. People took what Malcolm x said to heart and tried to gain rights at any means necessary. There were many people who were hurt during these riots. There were attack dogs set loose on the crowds and there were cops maltreating people.
Even after all those people being hurt in this time it was shocking to see that racism hadn't ended yet. You could go any where around here and see something that is offending a specific type of person. There are subtle little things that can be offending such as commercials only using African American athletes. These advertisements are in a way saying that African Americans are better at sports, which has been a stereo type for years. All of this propaganda reaches certain ages that shouldn't be learning more stereotypes. They just keep fulfilling the cycle.
There are many reasons why racism is alive and well today. Our civilization was built on tearing down different people. We are feared and respected as a whole but only to other nations. In our society there is no respect towards the many races in our nation. And what I mean by that is that people instinctively come together based on characteristics such as race. Race is a large divider here. But when people feel threatened they come together and there are many reasons to do so.
Photo Credit:
Flickr Creative Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27719269@N00/79016553/
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