“How do you believe racism develops in society? Is racism inevitable, or are there actions we could take as a society to stop racial inequalities?”
To answer this question I need to go into a little bit of history that I think people of my generation, and younger generations tend to forget. I say people forget it because I hear and read online, a lot of comments like “ that was years ago, they need to get over it” or comments like “we personally did not participate in slavery, so why is there such a big deal etc etc.” So originally, before the founding of America, race-based slavery did not exist, slavery existed just not race-based slavery.
The colonists settling America invented race-based slavery based on their need to identify those that they held as slaves; and that was based on the slaves from Africa's skin color, their ability to withstand heat, and work long hours, and what the slave owners considered, their durability. There is a lot more to it, but this is the short of it. So this is where race based prejudices and discrimination began; with race-based slavery.
Slavery did not end until 1865, and immediately thereafter the Jim Crow laws were passed in the 1880s, And they were further confirmed in 1896 with the “separate but equal laws”.
To give a little perspective on that, my third great-grandparents were born in the 1860s, and my great-great-grandparents were born in the 1890s, so even though it seems like a very long time ago, it really isn't. My grandparents were born in the 1930s, so they literally grew up in an era of separate but equal and Jim Crow laws. Then you get to the civil rights movement of the 1950s, I have aunts and uncles who were born in the early 1950s, and my parents were born in the late 1950's and early 1960s. So, you have generations that are growing up with it fresh in their minds, from their parents and their grandparents who thought that racism was okay because it was "legal", that maybe the Civil Rights Movement shouldn't be happening, and that separate but equal was a good thing. Then of course the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 which ended public segregation based on race, color, religion, or sex.
But this time my mother would have been 4 years old, and my grandparents and my great-grandparents would have still had their mindset the racist attitude that they grew up with, which was enforced through the passing of the aforementioned laws.
My point is, I believe that present day racism has developed because it has been carried on through multiple generations at this point, and racism against other groups is accepted easier because of the racism that was already present against Africans or African Americans. In other words, once someone has racist attitudes and ideas it is very easy for them to be racist against multiple groups. I think that our country has not moved on far enough in time, past the ending of slavery, past the ending of segregation, nor have purposeful strides been made to remove the ideology that comes along with racism, so it continues to perpetuate.
There are young black men and women today who have grandparents and great-grandparents that were very negatively affected by Jim Crow laws and "Separate but Equal", so in that way it truly does affect younger generations today. Because just like you or I have grown up with experiences that were taught by our families, they too are growing up with experiences have learned from their families.
I don't think that racism is inevitable, and there are many actions that we can take to stop perpetuating racism, racial profiling, discrimination, and prejudice against minority groups such as African Americans. I would say the first step is to acknowledge that the lingering effects of separate but equal and the Jim Crow laws still exist.
Try to imagine how you would feel knowing your grandparents were subjected to terrible treatment based on their race, how you would feel hearing stories of how they were beaten because of it, etc., coupled with present day racism. We have to acknowledge the anger and upset of that, and realize how racism is still present in the subconscious of people who have grown up with racist attitudes, and who participate (wittingly or not) in discrimination and racism; which was passed down to them based on how their parents grew up, during a time of legal racism. Burying our heads in the sand and repeating the mantra of “that was so long ago,” “I didn’t enslave you and my parents didn’t enslave you,” has to stop first. Otherwise it will continue to be perpetuated and continue to trickle down to other races, and life is too beautiful to be so full of ignorance and hate.
To answer this question I need to go into a little bit of history that I think people of my generation, and younger generations tend to forget. I say people forget it because I hear and read online, a lot of comments like “ that was years ago, they need to get over it” or comments like “we personally did not participate in slavery, so why is there such a big deal etc etc.” So originally, before the founding of America, race-based slavery did not exist, slavery existed just not race-based slavery.
Slavery did not end until 1865, and immediately thereafter the Jim Crow laws were passed in the 1880s, And they were further confirmed in 1896 with the “separate but equal laws”.
My point is, I believe that present day racism has developed because it has been carried on through multiple generations at this point, and racism against other groups is accepted easier because of the racism that was already present against Africans or African Americans. In other words, once someone has racist attitudes and ideas it is very easy for them to be racist against multiple groups. I think that our country has not moved on far enough in time, past the ending of slavery, past the ending of segregation, nor have purposeful strides been made to remove the ideology that comes along with racism, so it continues to perpetuate. I don't think that racism is inevitable, and there are many actions that we can take to stop perpetuating racism, racial profiling, discrimination, and prejudice against minority groups such as African Americans. I would say the first step is to acknowledge that the lingering effects of separate but equal and the Jim Crow laws still exist.
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