Racism

Racism has many meanings, one of which is the discrimination of a group of people due to their race, color, and religion. In addition, racism is hatred for all races apart from one that is considered the master race. Racism stemmed from the past and is still active today. Racism in the past was purely violent especially in the early 20th Century. When slavery was abolished in America in 1865 racial tension settled in. As the free slaves, where allowed to move freely around the land a majority of the white population still saw them as slaves and did not want to mix with them. Fewer than 50% of the population supported the abolition of slavery. The South was a hotbed for racism in the late 19th Century. Segregation was introduced in the 1920's and 30's. Blacks and whites were kept apart from each other. Sometimes there was a single white line between the races; the blacks were given poor surroundings to reside in, while the whites had comfortable surroundings. People found crossing the line on both sides were given severe punishments especially on the white side of the town. Lynching was a common punishment that was used many times by the white community, sometimes it was arranged.

There were separate toilets, separate washbasins, separate shops, separate restaurants and coffee houses and even separate drinking fountains and in schools. The schools were separated for the blacks and the whites it ended in 1954 with schools being told to let the

black children go to the same schools as the whites. There were countless demonstrations from the white parents. Segregation was also present on the buses; blacks had to sit on the three back seats and if the bus was full and a white person got on the bus the black person had to give up his/her seat. There was an incident that sparked the whole pacifist movement from Martin Luther King. Rosa Parks was going home from a day shopping, the bus she was on was packed. A white person got on the bus and told her to get up and let him sit down. She refused profusely and was physically thrown of the bus. She was then arrested and imprisoned. This caused a boycott of the bus service from the black population. Many businesses went out of business and the segregation on the buses came to an end. This forced a bill to be passed denouncing this kind of treatment of blacks and were ordered to stop this system. With the bombing of Pearl Harbour in December 1941, many people were afraid of the Japanese immigrants living in America. They were afraid that they were going to attack the American people. This war hysteria was very much present around the south coast. Therefore, with this President Roosevelt in February 19th 1942 declared that Japanese citizens had to be put in interment camps, which were located in isolated desert areas. Many Japanese citizens had to leave their homes and had to live their lives under harsh conditions. This shows how racial discrimination in the 1920's 30's and 40's was not only a black and white issue, it was interracial.

Racism is multicultural

Nowadays as the races have mixed and are not segregated, racism has been reduced dramatically. People are vigilant about what they say and how they approach subjects.

Even a simple joke can be taken offensive. Racism is still present in the workplace, at schools and in the community. Many thought that by the 21st Century, racism would not

exist, but groups such as the Klu Klux Klan and The Aryan Brotherhood has shown this not to be the case. In the British society today racism is very low keyed. It is still in place at the workplace. Black people in Britain are twice as likely to be jobless as white people, and when they have a job, it is more likely to be low-paid, semi-skilled, or unskilled work. Here is a typical scenario: two people one white the other black; the white person is not as skilled as the black person, who would get the job? Perceptibly the white person would get the job. This scenario is being repeated with other ethnic groups around the world.

Racism can also be observed in society today by there being stereotypes about ethnic groups. Most people expect and Indian person to eat curry and also expect their houses to smell of it. This is a stereotype that leads to prejudice. Nowadays even political figures

have been caught saying things that are racist and offensive. Britain has become a multicultural society, which in the 21st Century is something magnificent. But there is a risk of fascism coming back as in the French Presidency election when because of low voter turn-outs the French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Penn got into the second round of voting. Eventually he was beaten in a landslide victory by the Jacque Chiraque. This sent shockwaves around Europe. This was a warning that the far right movement could rise again.

Racism is extremely difficult to control in today's world, as we live in a fairly democratic world people have a right to air their opinions. It is done in a sensitive way, by allowing the groups or parties e.g. British National party to march, stage demonstrations and even speak. Laws have been passed making it illegal to be racist to ethnic citizens. That has helped the society but still it exists in society today. As there has been integration between the races people have come to accept it as a normal thing to happen. There are still some traditionalists today who still believe that the races should not integrate. There are scores of racist groups out in the world today. They mostly have the same belief, which is, that white people are the superior race and all the other groups. Others like the Aryan Brotherhood believe that the perfect race is white with blue eyes and blond hair. These hate groups are mainly found in America although some have sister groups in other countries.

Then there are groups that tackle racism with violence. Groups such as The Black Panthers believe that "Blacks must rise up from the oppression forced on us by the white supremacists." Many have been incarcerated for gun possession, murder; attempted murder the list is endless. Those who have finished serving their time state that they

did it for "the struggle." Many in the black community see these men as heroes and see why these men do the things they do.

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