RUNNING HEAD: MODERN DAY RACISM

Modern Day Racism: The Power of Social Media

Othon Palma Duque
The University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract
The following investigation explains and shows how the social media and racism relate. Lately
racism has been in the mouths of people more than before, this because thanks to social media
young people of every age, educated or non-educated, get access to information faster and easier
than ever in history. A lot of people, mostly young, have the vague thought that because they see
and hear more about it, racism is increasing and growing over time. In an issue as important as
racism it is important that the society is well informed and educated, because what mostly stops a
society of progressing is ignorance. A short survey was applied to 33 students at The University
of Texas at El Paso to help construct this investigation in a more complete manner. All the
participants were between 19 and 24 years old, from different cultures and ethnicities. The
survey consisted of one question that determined the race the students felt they belonged to and
three questions related to the topic. The investigation talks about the roots of racism, its
importance, and how social media has helped boost it along time or at least for to look as a rising
problem.

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Modern Day Racism: The Power of Social Media
Over the last couple of months, a wide amount of incidents that could have been seen as
racist have become viral all over social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The
wide use of social media and smartphones has created a network in which almost nothing can be
hidden, and every possible cause of debate becomes widely known all around the world in just a
few minutes. This giant network has a lot of benefits and is one of the main factors globalization
is occurring in such a fast rate. Racism is a problem that has persisted in humanity ever since
history is recorded, from the Egyptian ancient culture, to the slave trade during the colonization.
The existence of racism has always been a social impediment that does not permit the global
community to fully progress and develop. After many fights, wars and revolutions all around the
world, racism has diminished incredibly throughout history and it was even thought to be
eradicated or at it minimum in some parts of the world, Nevertheless, thanks to social media and
globalization, it is now a common thought that the actual eradication of racism is just an urban
myth that will never be accomplished.
Racism is seen every day in almost every area of social development. It is present at
work, schools, in the streets, and even in housing (FDHUD, 2012). The problem exists, and it is
in need to be addressed, but some people either deny it or just do not see it. Recently President
Obama, first black president in the United States history, took the chance at a memorial for a
colored kid and called his listeners to be aware of how racial bias can sometimes affect the
population without even realizing it, and asked to not just avoid racial slurs, but to elude the
subtle impulse to call Johnny back for a job interview but not Jamal (Gillis, 2015). Racial
segregation has always been a cause of polemic, not focused on the moral or ethical ambit, but
on the fact of its existence and growth. Many people have wrong arguments or information about

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racism and the answer to the following four questions should help clarify and inform most
people about the truth. These questions were designed to answer most doubts regarding social
segregation, from its history and background, to its impact in the 21st century society

How has racism evolved and diminished over time in the United States?
In what ways does modern day racism impact our society?
How has the way racism is seen and treated changed because of social media?
Is racism really on the rise or does it just have higher exposure than before?
How has racism evolved and diminished over time in the United States?
The United States has a particularly remarkable history with racism even before their

independence. Ever since the colonization, the English started to segregate and make inferior any
other race different from themselves. Native Americans were the first ones to suffer racism and
segregation in the United States. With the arrival of the colonists their life quality and customs
started being suppressed until they almost disappeared, and their segregation and separation from
the community is visible even now. Colonizers killed and abused Native Americans in a
genocidal way, stole their lands and locked them up in reservations. All this abuse just because
they thought Native Americans were savages who needed to be either civilized or wiped out
(Siddiqui, 2015). Africans and African Americans followed the Natives racism history, and sadly
racism against them is still seen nowadays.
Africans arrived America as slaves, either bought or captured, and were forced to do
horrible things and put through hours and hours of hard labor until they were either dead, or too
old to continue working. At the beginning of the slavery phase in the United States, there were
both black and white slaves, but as time went by and more Africans entered the country, slave
owners decided that white people who were slaves would now become servants or employees

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and all black people would continue in the slavery chain. This action was taken for one simple
reason, so they would never confuse one of themselves, rich slave owners, with a white slave.
Ever since, racial discrimination against black or dark skinned people is still alive, only in less
intense manners thanks to a lot of brave black men who have fought for their rights and respect
in every way they could like Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X.
During the 20th century there was also a lot of racism not only towards black people, but
also to Asian Americans, after the Pearl Harbor attack during World War 2, Japanese Americans
and other Asian cultures were violently and socially segregated from their communities. Innocent
and kind well educated American citizens were irrationally segregated from their communities
and put in concentration camps because of something their home country had done, without even
having a single finger on the matter.
Around the 1860s a group called Ku Klux Klan was founded, its main goal was to
undermine the republican plan of equality and rights for black people and they did whatever they
had to achieve it, this included intimidating, kidnapping or murdering of black and white
republicans and civilians. Their main goal was to reach white supremacy because they saw all
minorities as inferior or less developed and used violence and terrorism as a tool to express their
hatred and intimidate people looking for equal rights. At the beginning their movement started
against black people but it ended up being against all the ones who had different beliefs from
them, including Jewish, Catholics, Asian and other (History.com Staff, 2009). Their movement
declined for a couple years, but they were also present on the 20th century against immigrants,
burning churches and creating chaos, and on the 1960s civil right movement. Ku Klux Klan
members still exist but their actions are far more limited today. All throughout U.S. history
racism and segregation have taken an important place in the turnout of events, wars and

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revolutions and it is still today blocking the path to folly progress and development of the
American Society. The strongest racist currents today are against black people, Hispanic and
Islamists, and have lately been more noticeable than before, this is one of the main reasons of
this investigation, to answer it racism is really on the rise or if it is just more public and harder to
hide than before.
In what ways does modern day racism impact our society?
One of the biggest flaws our society has with racism is not only that it exists, but that
some people are unaware of its existence or just do not want to see it. It is one of the biggest
roadblocks the society faces toward full development, and without realization of its existence it
is impossible that any changes are made towards a non-racist society. Racism impacts our society
in many ways, it makes it a more violent, segregated, crime-filled society than it could be, all of
this because of mistreatments from one race to another and attempts to make the others feel
inferior or less just because of their color or beliefs.
The highest suicidal percentage all across the United States separating by race belong to
Native Americans according to the National Institute of Mental Health (Aspen Institute, n.d.).
Reason behind this? Racial segregation ever since the colonization. The main goal of the
humanity of a person is to belong or to fit in in a society, group or in the world, and by making a
complete race feel like they are bad and different and segregating them from the world, a lot of
their humanity and purpose of living goes away. People complain and use as an excuse to be
racist that minorities sometimes commit more crime and are more violent or different in these
aspects, but it is a vicious circle. Since opportunities for minorities are sometimes reduced in
education, work, housing or almost every aspect of life, they have to recur to different strategies
to go through life. And if all the time people tell them, they are born criminals, born bad, thieves

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and rapists and that those are the only things they can or know how to do, this will only lead to
them to believe this and actually start doing the thing they are said they are born to do but are not
expected to.
Racism and social segregation are the cause of a lot of the worlds most disastrous and
fatal wars in history, such as World War II, civil wars, revolutions, genocides and other events
that people try to forget (USHMM, 2016). The problem is that by forgetting the impact racism
has in the development of a society, history repeats itself and the global community just does not
understand that if racism does not stop, fully development will never be accomplished. The only
way for a society to become successful is to work and function as one, and by being separated
and unfair to each other just because of irrational things such as race, culture, or other unjustified
factors. The world community will never reach its full potential.
How has the way racism is seen and treated changed because of social media?
As mentioned before, social media devices and networks have a lot of benefits, but along
with their benefits, come potential disadvantages or misuses that turn the giant network, into the
perfect weapon for racism. Being a racist, as weird as it sounds, is not that well accepted in the
American society nowadays, at least publicly. Thanks to a lot of fighting for equality and rights
along time, the world has reached a point where being a racist and showing signs of racism
publicly, almost always I not well accepted or viewed and a lot of racists are seen as antique and
even uneducated. Unfortunately social media networks such as Facebook have become the
perfect pathway for racists and segregators to express themselves and in some way continue
attacking and humiliating minorities in different ways. The difference between being a racist
publicly and online is that while hiding behind a computer, cellphone or any other device, the
harasser or racist can create different personalities or accounts and continue discriminating and

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criticizing whoever he wants without there being a consequence for him whatsoever. As
mentioned before, social media devices and networks have a lot of benefits, but along with their
benefits, come potential disadvantages or misuses that turn the giant network, into the perfect
weapon for racism. Being a racist, as weird as it sounds, is not that well accepted in the
American society nowadays, at least publicly. Thanks to a lot of fighting for equality and rights
along time, the world has reached a point where being a racist and showing signs of racism
publicly, almost always is not welcome or well viewed and a lot of racists are seen as antique and
even uneducated. Unfortunately social media networks such as Facebook have become the
perfect pathway for racists and segregators to express themselves and in some way continue
attacking and humiliating minorities in different ways. The difference between being a racist
publicly and online is that while hiding behind a computer, cellphone or any other device, the
harasser or racist can create different personalities or accounts and continue discriminating and
criticizing whoever he wants without there being a consequence for him whatsoever.
There was a short, unprofessional survey applied to 33 UTEP students during school time
on March 2016 just to get a grasp of what and how people relate with racism and social media.
The survey sectioned the participants by asking them to Categorize themselves as either,
Hispanic, white, black, Asian or other. From the 33 students, 18 categorized themselves a
Hispanic, 11 as white and 4 as black. Surprisingly, after asking the students if they had ever
participated in racism in social media, by either sharing, or writing a racist commentary or post,
13 out of 18 Hispanic students answered yes. Ironically, the 18 of them said they have been or
felt offended by racist commentaries on the internet. On the other side, 75% of the black people
who participated in the survey stated to have never made a racist commentary or post on a social
network and 75% of them agreed that they have felt offended by someone elses post or

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comment. For one of the main purposes of this investigation the students were asked if they
thought racism was rising, declining, or the same as 10 years ago. The following chart shows the
results:

Do you think racism is rising, declining or the same as 10 years ago?

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Rising

Declining
Black

White

The Same

Hispanic

The results of this survey are obviously nonscientific and professional, but they help
fulfill the purpose of this investigation. It is visible that the minorities more affected by racism
feel it is rising again. One of the reasons this could be happening is because as young people
engage more and more with social media they become more aware of what is happening around
them and notice things that have been happening around them for all their lives. About twothirds of American young adults use social networking sites, compared to 7 % back in 2005
(Perrin, 2015). Racism and social media have been playing along lately and if the youth and
active internet users do not realize this, racial segregation is going to become an immortal virus
that will be impossible to defeat in such a giant network.

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Is racism really on the rise or does it just have higher exposure than before?

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All this talk about racism leads the investigation to the last question, is racism really on
the rise or does it just have higher exposure than before? Around last year until now, several
videos and news about black peoples rights being abused have become viral around the social
media, there are videos about kids being hit in schools by police officers or black men shot
supposedly unfairly by police officers and this has caused a lot of polemic and has brought
racism a little more to peoples mouths again. Although racism seems to be increasing because of
higher people awareness, some investigation show the opposite. For example, there was a survey
performed by sociologist Kyle Becker last year from people all around the country, and some of
her results showed that in fact the acceptance from white people to black people has been

Figure 1 This chart shows how the acceptance of black-white marriage has
increased over years

increasing along time, although at a slow rate, but increasing. The acceptance of a married
couple from both races has increased as shown in Figure 1 above, is quite an example, that
although racism might seem more noticeable now thanks to social media, it is actually
decreasing over time. The likelihood of white people moving next to a black people house has
increased about 75% from 1940 until today according to Kyle and the percentage of American
who would vote for a black president have increased exponentially since 1950.

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Conclusion
Despite the looks that racism might be increasing again thanks to social media and
globalizations, studies and data show that it is lower today than it has ever been. There will
always be differences among humans, and the competitiveness and will of power of the human
nature are almost impossible to defeat completely, so racism will probably never cease to exist. It
is a problem that humans still have to keep working on and try to keep it as down as possible,
and social media could work as a tool for accomplishing this. With higher awareness comes
higher reaction and response from people, and with the right information and the right response
from people willing to fight for humanity, Racism will keep decreasing and the community will
keep growing not only externally, but internally, as a whole.

Reference Page
The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2012). Housing Discrimination
against Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Retrieved from

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Staff History.com. (2009). Ku Klux Klan, Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/kuklux-klan
Perrin A. (2015) Social Media Usage: 2005-2015, Retrieved from
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015/
Becker K. (2015). How Racist America Really Is, Retrieved from
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/133024-10-charts-show-racist-america-really/
Center for Native American Youth. (n.d.) Fun Facts on Native American Youth and Indian
Country, Retrieved from http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/images/Fast
%20Facts.pdf
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (2015) Racism, Retrieved from
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007307
Siddiqui S. (n.d.) A brief history of racism in the United States, Retrieved from
http://www.soundvision.com/article/a-brief-history-of-racism-in-the-united-states
Associated Press. (2012) "AP poll: U.S. majority have prejudice against blacks.", Retrieved from
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/10/27/poll-black-prejudiceamerica/1662067/.

Survey Appendix
Would you define yourself as:
Hispanic
Black

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White
Asian
Other
Have you ever made, liked or shared a racist commentary or post on any social network?
Yes
No
Have you ever been offended by a racist commentary or post on any social network?
Yes
No
Do you think racism is declining, rising, or the same as 10 years ago?
Declining
Rising
The same