Running head: RACISM IN AMERICA

Racism in America
Jordan Lewis
University of Arkansas/Little Rock
Composition I
Mrs. Scaife
November 18, 2015

Racism
Racism affects all aspects of the very world we live in. This ideology has been taught and
practiced in societies for as long as history has been recorded. According to Sechandice For as
long as humans have recognized differences between groups of people, there has been racism in
the form of cultural prejudice (Sechandice, 2015, para. 1). It is no wonder that now, in the 21st
century, racism is prevalent in modern societies worldwide.
In current times, it is not uncommon to hear on the news of another unarmed African
American or minority killed or persecuted by law enforcement; having their civil liberties
violated. All too often, these citizens are labeled as thugs and future criminals, being both
verbally and physically attacked. Nevertheless, as we are programmed to racism, defense of
those charged with serving and protecting are not held accountable with the same due process
when charged with criminal acts.
It is not uncommon for an African American male to be stopped in a store and questioned
for patronizing because he is stereotyped as criminal. Regardless if this individual had plenty of
funds to make purchases and exhibits no signs of criminal behavior, negative racial components
play an instrumental part in paying closer attention to this person than others. I cannot explain
this problem, despite knowing the root cause behind this way of thinking. What I try to ascertain
is how and why is it so prevailing in these current times. In spite of being raised by both parents
who are educated; being taught to judge a person for who they are, and holding myself
accountable for my actions, I have been a victim of racism and negative stereotypes. Being
looked at as a criminal based on the color of my skin is asinine, yet happens on a daily basis.
Racism is a social phenomenon of separation through the inherent differences in culture
and the color of skin, leading one race to believe it has superiority over another ("Racism,"

2001). This perception of degrading these differences essentially created a hierarchy in society
where whites deemed themselves superior and people of
color inferior. Racism was inevitable.
The Civil War expanded constitutional rights beyond
the conventional practices of the time. However, racism was
prominent in the South, finding ways to deny people of color
their rights, such as the use of Jim Crow laws that enacted
racial segregation. Later, racism was perceived as customary practice in the South. For example,
the South is where the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) headquarters is located; the Little Rock Nine made
headlines during school integration in the south; and it was the setting for the Civil Rights
Movement.
Amongst the younger generation in todays society, racism is still prevalent in the South.
Members of University of Oklahomas Sigma Alpha Epsilon performed a racially insensitive
song to show that they were not accepting black students in their fraternity. These racially
charged incidents can be seen throughout southern history and its modern day. Racism still
thrives in Southern states due to several factors; the concept the south is where it all began,
institutional racism, and the misconception and categorization of the African American race.
For Racism in the United States of America, the southern half of the Mason Dixie line is
where it began. During Slavery the South states held the most enslaved Africans compared to
North. They believed in the inferiority of the Africans (due to the ideology of Social Darwinism),
and that they were utilized as property and tools for the booming agricultural industry.
Nonetheless, after the Civil War and Reconstruction period, these so called tools gained rights

on par with their white counterparts. Thus hatred and anger prevailed, and systemic socialized
racism grew.
Attacks on the black race in southern United States became a common part of society
and the groups such as the KKK was birthed from the hatred they felt. The basic rights granted to
the former slaves could not be taken away from them but, many southerners would not accept
them. In protest, they enacted Jim Crow laws for racial segregation and the Supreme Court in
Plessey Vs Ferguson issued the claim separate but equal.
As the need for equal rights grew in the black community, the Civil Rights movement
came into full swing. This was met with great opposition from state and local governments.
Protesters for equal rights were met with strong resistance; and the greatest resistance was in the
Southern states.
The general hatred towards African Americans was like a seed
planted in the ground. Negative racial prejudices were passed down to
the future generations. Watered by the blood of thousands, this plant
(racism) sprouted forward and grew bigger producing a tree. This tree
was used by these oppressors children and their childrens children to
play on, using the branches to house swing sets. When they grew
older they built their homes from the wood of this very same tree.
This component of racism and hatred was a part of future
southern generations everyday life growing up. The term People in the south never leave the
south was very true; over 50 percent of southern states populations stayed in their respective
states (Aisch, Gebeloff, & Quealy, 2014) so this ideal of racism was passed down to future

generations. With this mindset, the south never changed its racist outlook when it comes to
African Americans and still being prevalent in the south today.
The pervasiveness of racism in the south pay its dues to the misconception and
categorization of the races. By categorization I am implying grouping certain traits exclusively
with one race, and judging everyone in the race by those categories. For example, in the three
racial categories: Black, White, and Asian race and a list of words that are associated with each;
intelligent, ghetto, well spoken, thug, ignorant, broken English. Most people would associate
white race with intelligence and being well spoken, Asian race with intelligent and black race
with ghetto, broken English and thug. This categorization of races, happens a fair amount in
our society, and we do not realize it, myself included. There are times when we say you talk
white when we mean you are well-spoken and talk intelligently.
Racial categorization leads to preconceived perceptions and prejudice views of a person
based on color of skin. Instead of seeing everyone with open eyes, individuals allow
misconceptions and categorization to slowly close their eyes, leaving them blind to the world and
others. Categorizing races leads to serious complications in how we encounter someone of
different racial ethnicities. For example the categorization of the African American race, they
associate words like; thug, ghetto, criminals, ignorant, loud and misbehaving. When people let
this categorization dictate, resentment, disgust, and overall negative outlook, leading to racism.
Illustrations of racial categorization are evident in high-profile criminal cases such as
Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Unarmed African Americans killed are portrayed in a
negative manner, comparing them to the likes of thugs, using tasteless rhetoric to portray them
as criminals. Many of these instances occur in the south, reinforcing the ideology of keeping
racism alive and well in these territories.

Another factor that can be attributed to the prevalence racism is still prevalent in the
south is institutional. Institutional racism occurs when one group specifically targets and imposes
oppressive and negative conditions on another group based on their race or ethnicity
("Institutional Racism). In the south this form of racism is more commonly seen in education. In
poverty stricken minority areas in southern states, education and opportunities are worse
compared to middle and upper class areas. Schooling in these areas are under financed and hold
completely unrealistic teacher to student ratios. All minorities in a community are sent to the
same school, where there is an overabundance of children, yet not enough teachers to teach them.
Supplies and resources are scarce and public funding is not allocated to these needed schools.
Poverty stricken areas are the last on the list to get aid from their governments, leaving
them with outdated materials. They are not able to keep up with todays curriculum, leaving them
academically behind compared to their white counterparts.
Desegregation laws were enacted to make sure everyone had the same opportunities to
resources and close the academic gap between white schools and those who educated children of
color. The problem is schools started to oppose this. For example, Maumelle High School in
Maumelle, Arkansas decided they wanted to become their own county for the purpose of getting
rid of M to M transfers. The people who did not benefit from this were predominately African
Americans and Hispanics from Little Rock and North Little Rock. Without M to M transfer,
these minorities are now forced to go to schools like JA Fair, Central, and Hall High School,
where education is terrible and bullying and harassment is a major problem.
Many people argue that, due to historical events and the root of impoverishment of
minorities in the Southern states, it is easy to imply prevalence of racial discrimination in these
territories. However, signs of racial discrimination can be seen in all areas in this country. This

true racism is seen thoroughly throughout the United States, however to say that racism in the
south is comparable to racism throughout the U.S.A is not possible. The states that are deemed
the most racist include; Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana, and
Alabama all are included in the southern states of America. Deaths of Eric Garner, Treyvon
Martin, and the racist chant of the University of Oklahoma SAE fraternity all came from the
south. In other parts of the United States-besides the south- racism is less tolerant and acted upon
more harshly compared to the south. The south is more able to get away with what they do,
which in turns perpetuate their behavior. Yes, racism does happen in the Northeastern, western
and mid-west part of the United States but the majority of it takes place in the south.
Racism is believed to be a learned behavior and not associated with genetics. Modern
racism is not associated with the burning of crosses as in the pass. It comes in the form of
narratives by Bill OReilly and media outlets such as FOX NEWS that preach and perpetuate
racial discord in America. According to Sean McElwee, It is beyond dispute that the United
States contains deep structural racial issues (McElwee, 2015, para. 5). To discharge the problem
as not having one perpetuates the problem and dismisses any chance of a resolution.
Racism, to put it simply, is ugly. From minorities becoming victimized because of their
skin color and looked at like just another thug that will never amount to anything, these people
become another statistic destined to live a life full of crime and never give back to their
community or helping others escape the cycle. However, that is not the case for all.
Bill Strickland, who once was considered an at risk teen during his time was able to turn
his life around completely and give back to his home town by helping others-at risk teens doing
bad in school, single parents, people out of work- better themselves. He provided them with a
world class environment to help influence them positively. When everyone gave up on these

people, he was the only one to stay because he knew what it was like to be given up on.
According to Bill Strickland we've discovered is you can solve the race problem by creating a
world class environment, because people will have a tendency to show you world class behavior
if you treat them in that way. If more people were like him and more people tried to find the
roots of racism and fix it then we would not have to worry about it anymore, there would be only
one race left, the human race.

References
Aisch, G., Gebeloff, R., & Quealy, K. (2014, August 19).
Where we came from and where we went, state by state. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/upshot/where-people-in-each-state-wereborn.html?_r=1

Institutional Racism. (). Retrieved from

http://civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/g/inst_racism.htm
Mcelwee, S. (2015). The hidden racism of young white americans. Retrieved from
https://iasp.brandeis.edu/about/2015/RWAPBS.pdf

Racism. (2001). Retrieved from http://archive.adl.org/hatepatrol/racism.html#.Vlj6U_mrTDd

Sechandice, A. (2015). Scientific racism. In Scientific racism. Retrieved from
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com
Strickland, B. (2002, Febuary). Bill Strickland: Rebuilding a neighborhood with beauty,
dignity, hope. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_strickland_makes_change_with_a_slide_show/transcript?
language=en#t-1420000