Patel

Priya Patel

Adam Padgett

ENGL 102

01/31/2017

You Dont Want to Be a Racist Do You?

Racism - when there is certain prejudice against a certain race to make ones own feel

superior to anothers. When we look at ourselves in the mirror do we ever think I see a racist.?

No one thinks of themselves as a racist. We may see others as racist though, but never those who

are nice and mean well. Racism is a topic we have been taught since childhood as something

evil. It is viewed that those who state their hatred towards a certain race bluntly is racist.

Currently we see all over the news about the Muslim Ban and we relate racism to Trump. In

school, we learn about groups like the KKK that lynched African Americans for the sole reason

of their skin being dark. We also learned about Hitler who sent Jews to concentration camps and

slaughtered so many based on the reason of their race. These all were big groups or big leaders.

We just see them as famous whether or not it has a good connotation. But rarely do we think,

these great, and scary leaders were once just the common man, walking around in their country,

not having any big power. We dont think what about the regular common person thinks when

it comes to race. We assume if you dont wear a great big sign that says, I am a racist then you

are in the clear and are not a racist. Are racist tendencies apparent even in an everyday common

person without them realizing it? This topic interest me because we live in a country where we

are taught history so we do not repeat it, but in the same way we dont really know what the

truth is. In a country, like America where many different cultures are relevant and living together,
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we have a vision of harmony, but what really goes on in the brain of a normal law abiding

citizen.

The first source titled, Racism: Nice People Do It Too, has a central claim of that many

people in America have this fixed belief that people who have bad lifestyle qualities are racist,

and that to say others are racist is insulting to others (Bouie). The prime evidence in this article is

the example of Bull Connor, helped out in civil rights position. From this example you see that

only certain people are viewed as racist and the rest are somehow one hundred percent pure of no

prejudices (Bouie). This made everyone in America not understand the true meaning behind

racism (Bouie). The major value is that everyone is blinded about the topic until something large

happens. Then when it gets contained for a bit and we act like racism is over (Bouie). We can

look in the past, like earlier I mentioned Hitler. We realized what was happening to the Jews, but

it was so far deep that almost a whole race was wiped out. Why do we let it get this far if we see

it happening? Do we only think racism is important when it is connected to death, but what about

before that? The authors examples are biased towards political and historical people which can

sort of hurt the author. The claim of present America thinking racism is over yet using past

examples only makes it hard for the reader to understand how there is a bridge between the two.

The second source is titled The Good Racist People, where Coates central claim is that

even those who seem to have well intentions can be racist. When we think of good people we

think of those who follow the law, do not do or say anything bad. But do they not also have

some racism inside of their minds? When you think about it, you do it every day and we do not

see people that are nice to be racist (Coates). However, because of this we fail to see that

dangerous effect that can be. Due to a nice person or someone who is globally know well we

dont see it as bad nor good, we let it pass because they are a good person. In the article, Forest
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Whitaker, Oscar winning actor, was a regular customer of the neighborhood deli and not only did

he love it but his whole family did (Coates). His wife would have friendly conversations with the

whoever was working at checkout (Coates). However, one day he was walking out and a man

approached him and falsely accused him of shoplifting (Coates). By this experience, Coates is

trying to show how people feel that if they follow all the laws and are nice to others they do not

believe to be prejudice (Coates). This source is credible in the sense that they used the interviews

as a source themselves. In this article there is some bias that we do not know the perspective of

the employee, who stopped Whitaker. As well as the situation itself, it was a little vague. This

information could have helped with analyzing the situation and the claim.

The third source is from CNN and is called Race and Reality in America: Five Key

Findings. In this article the central claim is that the people of America greatly believe that racism

is still existing if not worse. The five key findings is refereeing to the poll that has been taken by

three races, Black, White, and Hispanics. Each poll had a different question. One questions was,

In the past 10 years, do you believe that the racial tension between ethnic groups has and the

people answered: 25% said stayed the same, 10% said decreased, 1% said didnt know/refused,

and 64% said increased (Agiesta). The same question was asked, who feels as if racism is a big

problem, but this time the percentages were separated by race, and 66% of Blacks, 64% of

Hispanics and 43% of Whites all believed so (Agiesta). But what was interesting was that in

whites and Hispanics women were more open to the fact that racism is a big issue to this day

(Agiesta). One more question I found interesting was the poll on who socialized with the same

race mostly, and 68% of Whites, 36% of Blacks, and 37% of Hispanics said they did so

(Agiesta). In this poll the younger people around the age of 18-45 didnt have an issue saying

they had a mixed group of friends, but the older ones around 45-64 said they mainly had the
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same race in theirss (Agiesta). This showing that racism is taught a thing of the past now and

days but we are failing to realize the past can be in the present too. These polls are proving that

even the normal citizen believes so that racism is happening in our country rather they are or are

not a racist, with or without choice. These stats could have been better sorted since there were

only 1,951 adults of which 500 were Blacks and 501 were Hispanic (Agiesta). As well as margin

error was + or 3 overall and + or 6 for Blacks and Hispanics (Agiesta). This article is

somewhat reliable, but not entirely (Agiesta).

Here are three inquiry questions that came to mind after reading the three sources above.

Is the definition of a racist we perceive to be today, just a way of covering up the racism that is

actually going on in present day? We all have different definitions of racism but when it comes

down to using the word, do we use it to defend ourselves or catch ourselves and this question

would help clear that up. Does the world we live in push us, the people, towards racism? Society

and the world itself can influence millions without realizing it, but asking this question will help

me realize if that applies with racism or not. Why racial jokes/stereotyping not considered

racism but now and days considered a joke? We take our harsh words in general lightly these

days but this question will help me realize if we know where the line is, if there is a line.

Some agreements I found in the sources were that we tend to overlook the jokes we make

and say them without realizing that we are stereotyping. Those jokes soon become statements of

truth and blind people that they are spreading racism. Some disagreements would be that not

only are whites racist as we see in most sources. We live in a current world where there are

misunderstandings about every race. Every race should be treated fairly and equally and then

truly racism would be eradicated. These different perspective of each and every article will

influence my own perspective in that you dont really think of someone with good manners and a
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good education to be racist, even a little. Sometimes we forget that the exterior is only and

illusion and it controls how we perceive others to be. In order to write this paper, I need to know

more statistical research on how the mind can be racist, even if you are the nicest person. Using

research on that will help with persuading the readers more.

Priya,

Great topic here. I really like the idea of racism that we dont really

recognize or identify as racism. This also speaks to issues of institutional

racism that built into systems. For me, theres disconnection between your

first paragraph and the rest of your proposal. Your first paragraph does get

heated quickly. Be careful about really sharp analogies. The Hitler connection

is a common one and often pushes readers especially those you want to

persuade the most away. I think a much more analogous historical moment

is when the US turned away a bunch of Jewish refugees during WWII because

of fear of the unknown or fear of the other. So be aware of how high or low

you have the pathos dialed on this topic, which can often be a delicate dial. I

think the idea of really reconsidering and redefining what racism means is a

great way to go. Because racism certainly isnt only the more obvious

examples weve grown accustom to reading about. It can be much more

subtle and ingrained in our culture. Looking forward to seeing how this

develops. Good work here.

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Works Cited

Agiesta, Jennifer. "Race and Reality in America: Five key findings." CNN. Cable News

Network, 25 Nov. 2015. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.

Bouie, Jamelle. "Racism: Nice People Do It Too." The American Prospect. N.p., 15 July

2010. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

Coates, Ta-nehisi. "The Good, Racist People." The New York Times. The New York Times,

06 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

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