Racism Essay -- essays research papers

Attack The Source There really is no way of getting around it. There is a great deal of racial tension in the United States today. Nine out of ten people in society today believe that racism does exist and is something that affects millions of people everyday. There is not much arguing that can done with a statistic like that. What is it that causes so many problems between each other? Is it that we are afraid of the unknown? Whatever the cause is, we have been trying to fix the problem for many years now. Since racism is learned and not genetic, it is something that needs to be taken care of in school starting from the young children. In Brown v. Board of Education, the whole issue was that schools could be segregated only if they were â€Å"equal†. This was decided by the case of Plessy v Ferguson. Schools in the South were not equal so Brown v. Board of Education was filed. Supreme Court Judge Earl Warren decide with the rest of the Supreme Court that segregated schools were in fact unlawful. Schools went through drastic changes but some schools didn’t like the idea. Schools in Prince Edward County had closed due to the ruling and children in the county lost out on their education. This had caused some racism to occur in Prince Edward County. The most effective solution for solving the racial tension problem is to change the curriculum, text books, and to keep up, if not increase, diversity training in the work force today. First of all, there needs to be an agreement that a problem does exist. It is after all evident through racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and Skinheads. These are hate groups that threaten and dislike people, not for the content of their character, but the color of their skin or what country they are from. although these are extremes when it comes to racism, it is something that affects so many people everyday in the United States. What is racism really? Racism is not knowing anything about someone when you look at them, but disliking them anyway, not because of who they are, but what they are. Racism is cowardly. More importantly, racism is a weakness and an obvious sign of ignorance. So what is it that makes us racist? More than likely, it is the fear of the unknown. In other words, it is a lack of education. The only way to battle this ignorance is to educate oneself. That is why the key to so... ...nor, what would he do? He replied, "I would probably die!" This was the straw that broke the camel's back because a friendship of sixteen years ended at that moment. Parents are the biggest influence in a child's life. Children look to their parents for support and guidance. Without the proper support and guidance, children are headed on a road to nowhere. Racism is not something that will just disappear. But it is possible to minimize it if we keep it under control. Yes we can still teach about unity and equality in our schools, but if we don't attack racism where it begins, then those school programs won't be of any value. Not all children will fall into the category that my former friend fell into. Many children grow up in racist households. My friend was a prime example of someone who couldn't climb the wall of racism but there are many children out there who climb the wall of bigamy every day. The problem of racism isn't a permanent problem. Racism is like a cancer, if it is caught early enough it could be treated but if it is caught too late it could be deadly. Therefore we must attack racism from its source, the household, before it is too late.