Racism Is Unacceptable Essay, Research Paper

How can anyone discriminate against his or her fellow human being?

We are all human. We deserve equal no matter what background, sex

or religion. Differences make us unique, but no matter how different

we are, we’re all human in the end.

Racism, the action when one person or group from one race discriminates against another person or group because of their race, differences or beliefs (e.g. religion) As the anonymous person above says we are all human with different backgrounds and qualities which should not lead to discrimination. As singer, Gavin Rossdale says, “There is nothing to justify racism.” It is wrong and unacceptable and can hurt people mentally and physically.

Although racism is unacceptable, “Hatred and cruelty based on differences- different skin colors, different religions, or different political beliefs -are nothing new.” The Bible is filled with conflicts between different groups. In Ancient Rome, despised Christians were fed to lions for public entertainment and “by the fourth century, Jews were blamed for Christ’s death as well as for any other crimes that could be pinned on them” . The Ku Klux Klan (a secret club) has been “stalking, intimidating, hanging, and hurting blacks and other minorities” since 1866. Some were killed because they were Christians or blamed because they were Jewish or hurt because of their color. What is the logic in this? There is none.

Inappropriate behavior of racism has happened in the past, and it still happens today. A brother and sister (grade 2 and grade 1) were walking home from school one day when a bully decided to “play” with them. He punched them in the stomach and yelled racial slurs at them just because they were Chinese. It was not hard to see why this boy was so rude: when the parents tried to talk to the principal, he ignored their demand to punish the bully because as long as they were “off the school property” the children were no longer the school’s concern. The principal should have taken some action to inform the bully that racism was wrong, but he ignored the opportunity because the children were “off the school property” The truth is that he did not care, probably because he was also racist. If the principal knew how unacceptable racism was, then something different would have happened.

As with the racism that happened with the bully, principal and family, the conflict between natives and non-natives is another unacceptable type of racism.

Just recently, a group of non-natives burst into the room of John Maher and other natives and told them to leave. The next thing Maher knew, he had two men grabbing him and trying to get him out the door. One non-native was heard saying, “You guys get out of here man, we don’t want you in this community.” The non-natives took everything the natives had and set it on fire “right down to their toothbrush and underwear.” Indian Brook Chief Reg Maloney said that this is “racism at its ugliest” . What is the point in doing all those hurtful and pointless actions just because this small group of natives planned to catch snow crab off the coast of southern Newfoundland. This reaction was completely inappropriate. They should not be discriminated against just because they are natives.

Natives being discriminated against is as wrong as the five skinheads beating Canadian, Nirmal Singh Gill just because he was Sikh. Almost two years ago, Gill “died simply because he was Indo-Canadian” Gill had confronted a man who was vandalizing a car and the man started beating on Gill. Four other men soon appeared and helped to beat Gill to his death. Judge William Stewart “rejected the defense contention that the men didn’t know Gill was Indo-Canadian” The men were sentenced to 12-15 years in prison. This is a recent example that proves

that racism does happen but that there are attempts in stopping such an unacceptable action.

Like the unacceptable actions with Gill the unacceptable factor of parents, teaching their children racism is also wrong. “Parents are the first and most persuasive teachers a child has.” And as the song from the Broadway musical says:

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late

Before you are six, seven or eight,

To hate all the people your relatives hate

You’ve got to be carefully taught.

This song in the musical South Pacific, shows how easily children become racist and prejudiced. Children look up to their parents. If they see their parents being racist, they think, “Hey, Mom and Dad do it, so it must be al1 right!” This of course is not true. The worst part is that parents are not aware or do not care what they are teaching their children because of the parent’s racist attitude and background. Unfortunately, these children do not know that racism is wrong. Children should be taught that racism is wrong so they are not racist during their life.

Although some children have racist parents, these children have learned that racism is wrong. In a chat room, a girl said “I can’t walk down the street with my boyfriend because our families wouldn’t approve.” They realize that it is the

person who matters, but they are afraid of what their parents will say and they do not want to disobey them. On the other hand, the children do not want to be racist either. This logic is understandable but they should tell their parents the situation and express their disapproval of racism. It may cause trouble but, a battle is never won without a fight; and this fight is indeed one that needs to be won.

Like the difference in opinion between racist parents and non-racist children, the fight between English -speaking Canadians and French -speaking Canadians is yet another form of racism. Canada should be ashamed. When the rest of the world is fighting to maintain world peace and human rights, Canada is fighting over the rights between English – speaking Canadians and French -speaking Canadians. Can Canada not live in peace and harmony as a country and not be divided by the language that each individual speaks?

The fight over French and English, natives and non-natives, black and white, white and Chinese, are all forms of present day racism. Although racism is unacceptable and unfortunate, there are things that are happening to help eliminate racism. More parents are beginning to teach their children that racism is wrong. The world marks March 21 as “The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination”. People are starting to realize that we are all human although we come from different surroundings and backgrounds. It is great that we have made some progress. Hopefully in the future the elimination of racism will get even better. The short and simple slogan “Racism! Stop It!” created by Andrea Ibien sums up what the world needs to accomplish.

Bibliography

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Racism! Stop it! (ONLINE) http://www.equalitytoday,org/march21.html

Racism (ONLINE) http://schoolsite.edex.net.uk/101/Debates/whatisracism.html

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http://www.kidsnrg.simplenet.com/grit.dev/london/g3_feb13/le_kkactj/Racism3.html