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Lily Nieves

Jorgensen

English 10 H

26 November 2018

Fear of the Unknown

In the 1950s, Racism was very prevalent and known,but people didn't know exactly what

they were saying their opinion against. Racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over

another, which often results in discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race

or ethnicity. In this case it’s with African Americans and Whites. They really don't have a

specific reasoning of why they are discriminating against them, They just go along with what

other people are protesting about to not be an outcast. They don't know what will happen if they

disagree or what an African American is ‘capable of’ when really they are the same as all of

us,they just have a different history. Racism in an America is caused by the fear of the unknown.

Many people in America don’t know what they are fighting against. They just go along

with what everyone else says. In “Racism In America: Small Town 1950s Case”, it shows

interviews of the people in the white suburbs. Many of the woman in the neighborhood think that

the housing cost was going higher due to colored people living there. This was just one of the

many rumors being spread around. No one really has a strong opinion on the matter because it

isn't their own. They are going along with what people are saying and talking about.Even their

kids are going along with what the parents are saying since the young children don't have a

voice. The only opinions they have on this topic is the same as their parents. In “Negro In The

Suburbs”,​ i​ t shows how two colored children are new to the neighborhood and three white kids
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standing there right in front of them judging. The little colored boy hid his baseball glove so the

other boy, across from him, does not see it to judge him. Even the animals have tension between

each other since they are on opposites side. The white kids are influenced by their parents since

they are children at the time (1960s) were taught that being colored wasn't okay. The colored

kids feel hopeless and horrible about themselves, since other children judge them.

Also Americans say certain slurs towards African Americans and they don't even know

why or what they are saying. They are just doing this since others are doing. In an Instagram post

from the account,@TheShadeRoom, it shows an African American minding his own business

until a white lady comes and disturbs him. The African American gentleman tries to get away

from the toxic situation, but the lady keeps getting in his face because of the color of his skin.

Her child was there to,therefore, blinding him with these morals into his life that treating

someone like that is okay. In “Between The World And Me”,​ ​by Ta-Nehisi Coates states “All of

this is common to black people. And all of this is old for black people. No one is held

responsible” (Coates 9). All of this happens everyday ,but this needs to stop. All of this is

happening since people are scared of something they don't even know. They don't know these

certain people or what exactly is happening at the time. They don't know the whole story.

Even people from the government make the mistake of fear the colored people when we

don't have too. In “Ambassador Of Conscience”, Kaepernick makes a point by saying “As police

officers continue to terrorize Black and Brown communities, abusing their power and then hide

behind their blue wall of silence, and laws that allow for them to kill us with virtual

impunity”(Kaepernick 1). Some police officers think they can make these huge mistakes and not
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take account for them. They can't just hide from the angry people and not deal with their actions.

They need to learn that they are doing this based on fear of the unknown and they need to fix it.

In the trailer “The Hate You Give”​, ​it shows a colored teenager boy getting pulled over

and gets told to stand outside of the car. He is jokingly talking to,Starr Carter, a girl sitting in the

passenger seat. He reaches for his hairbrush and gets shot and killed with no questions asked.

The police officer shot this young colored student just because he's scared of what he thought he

could do. The police officer could have warned him to get back to his place ,but instead he took

an innocent life.

In “Are African American Families More Vulnerable in a Largely White

Neighborhood?” Cause… And How It Doesn’t Always Equal Effect”​, ​Gregory Smithsimon

stated “Everything goes smoothly until the foreclosure crisis, a hurricane, job loss, or recession

throws things into certainty” (Smithsimon 1). Smithsimon is saying everything goes great and

righteous, which means the colored humans are minding their business and living their life until

something horrible happens. In that case, it’s when the White Americans are disturbing their

peace and bombarding them with unkind words since we are following what other people are

doing.

There are many different situations on how people are treated and where,but it's the same

ending each time. It ends mostly with the White Americans in the wrong and the African

Americans as a victim in our acts. It's due to the Americans fear against colored people and their

ignorance towards them. They won't take ownership for their mistakes,but instead they will sit

there and act as if nothing happened.

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Works Cited

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. ​Between the World and Me.​ Spiegel and Grau, 2015.

Fox, 20th Century. “The Hate U Give | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX.” ​YouTube​,

YouTube, 24 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MM8OkVT0hw.

Kaepernick, Colin. ​Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award.​ Speech, 21 April

2018.

Morrison, Toni. “Sweetness.” ​The New York Times,​ 9 February 2015.

“Racism in America: Small Town 1950s Case Study Documentary Film.” ​YouTube​, Accessed on

1 November 2018.

Rockwell, Norman. “New Kids in the Neighborhood (Negro in the Suburbs).” ​Brooklyn

Museum​, 1967.

Smithsimon, Gregory. “Are African American Families More Vulnerable in a Largely White

Neighborhood?” ​Cause… And How It Doesn’t Always Equal Effect,​ Melville House, 13

February 2018.