Bronx Tale

First article:

This article talks about racism in general. It describes what racism is like today, and also how there were forms of it in previous centuries and generations.  It says that racism is more of a Western civilization thing, rather than universal. It also goes on to explain how even though groups worldwide had slaves in the past, the slaves weren’t always defined by race, but they were rather just the “outcasts”, “barbarians” or “savages” of the time. The people who owned the slaves back didn’t see the slaves as people who fit in, but they did see them as people who could be changed and shaped into their ways. So technically, their slavery wasn’t racist, because the slaves were sometimes of the same race as the owners.

The article goes on to talk about much of the history of different parts of the world, dealing with exploration as well as the development of slavery throughout the years. Not only does it talk about slavery and racism in past years, but it also talks about how it all has developed and changed into what it is today. No matter what we do, or how hard we try, there is no way that we can change the race of anyone. It is time for people to start to accept everyone else for who they are, rather than basing their opinions of others on their race alone. It is simply ridiculous, and it isn’t okay.

Article 2:

This article describes how racism is caused partly by society. Society teaches people as they are growing up that some people are better than others, and that some groups should be seen as superior. A lot of times it probably isn’t even conscious, but society as a whole puts down certain people and groups of people. The article also says that racism isn’t just formed from one group. Not only white people are racists, even though that is what a lot of people make it out to be. Every single group is racist in some way, shape, or form.

Along with that, it talks about how we have taken good steps in the forms of eliminating racism. Racism isn’t quite the issue that it used to be, but it still isn’t completely solved either.  Although we are more tolerant than 50 years ago, we still do have our race issues. I think that another reason why racism still seems so bad is because there are so many different races interacting with one another. A lot of times people get into conflicts with someone of a different race, but the conflict didn’t start with a racial issue. Then the media comes into play, and makes it seem like a racial issue. So overall, I think we have accomplished many good things in the form of trying to eliminate racism, even though the media depicts it differently.

Article 3:

Racism, sexism, and ageism are the main focus of the article. It explains to us that many of these people aren’t racist, sexist, or ageist because of how their mind works and because it is what their mind chooses to think. They feel the way that they do because of the people around them. Everyone is shaped by society to think certain ways, and to feel certain ways about various topics. Maybe the individuals aren’t to blame about these issues. Maybe it is society as a whole.

The media also plays a huge role in the way people think. If people see the same things over and over, they will tend to think that it is normal and acceptable. However, if the things that they see are very stereotypical and judgmental, then that is generally how their mind will be taught to feel.

Studies have shown that the prejudices that people tend to exhibit and show may not even be conscious or known. Researchers found that people tend to associate words with stereotypes that they commonly hear throughout their daily life. Altogether, judgment, racism, sexism, ageism, and any other types of prejudices may simply be formed because that is how we are raised to think.

Summary:

I believe that racism is a worldwide issue, but that it tends to be a larger issue in the Western Culture. This is very evident in the United States, simply because we are such an extremely diverse group of people. We have people from every race and every part of the world. This gives us an increased chance for problems to arise, since there is so much interaction going on between these people each and every day. Ever since way back, people have found reasons to discriminate against others. However, the media has recently blown everything out of proportion. Every single conflict and issue gets turned into a “race” issue by the media. “Researchers discovered participants responded faster to the pairs that were more often found together in the literature, whether they were stereotypical or not.” This shows that a lot of prejudices are learned from society, not from each individual’s brain. “Race, as a concept that defined an individual’s identity as unchangeable and innate, dates to roughly the fifteenth century”. This shows that the concept of racism has always been here, and always will be here, because people will always find reasons to dislike each other. It is everywhere, and I don’t think there is much we can do to eliminate it completely. However, we have taken substantial steps since the civil rights movement. “Interviews with large numbers of people show that Americans of all races have become much more tolerant of other races in recent decades”. This is evidence that people in America have grown to be more accepting of each other. Even though that is a good step, there are still many steps to be taken to eliminate racism and racial profiling completely.