Asmira Topal Americko sada June, 2012

The Issue of Racism in American Present

Racism is part of the American past which would rather be forgotten. Many believe that racism remains only in the past, but even today America is dealing with this issue. Electing an African-American as their president is certainly a huge step forward. However, there are still those who refuse to acknowledge Barrack Obama as their president. Many racist stereotypes remained in American culture. The media is greatly responsible for keeping these stereotypes present. Economic and social differences among people of different races are also still present in America. Racism still finds its place in government as well. Propagating itself as a nation respectful of human rights and equality, America is trying to lower the visibility of the presence of racism in its culture. In the past Americans were openly racist. Even the government openly supported racist laws until the civil rights era. Today it is rare that one will encounter people in America who are openly racist. Those who admit they are racists today are most likely remaining members of the Ku Klux Klan. Even though most people claim they are not racists, many are led by stereotypes against African-Americans. A study in Philadelphia showed that African-Americans are excessively represented as committers of crimes in local news outlets when compared to the actual rates of crime in the city (Rogers). Another stereotype about African-Americans is that men and women are aggressively sexual. Because of this stereotype, African-American men are more often assumed to have committed a sexual crime than men of any other race in America.
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The sex industry is often an industry in which African-American women work. However, white women working in this industry are paid a lot more than African-American women. African-Americans are often represented in the media in a bad light. One of the most thorough studies on this subject, the Entman-Rojecki Index of Race in Media, discovers considerable differences in the way African-Americans and white people are portrayed in movies (Rogers). In most movies African-Americans are portrayed as ghetto criminals, pimps and hustlers. In comedies, they are usually portrayed as loud and unpleasant. African-American women are usually portrayed as being violent. In the news, during crime stories, AfricanAmerican offenders mug shots are more likely to be shown than if it is a white offender. Also, after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, most portrayal of looting and criminal behaviour in the news showed African-Americans. There is also a surprising case of racism regarding a young adult novel and movie: The Hunger Games. In the novel, a couple of characters are described as having dark brown skin, and in the movie adaptation of the novel, those characters are played by black actors. What is shocking is that some fans of the novel reacted extremely negatively after learning that black actors are playing those parts. Some of the reactions included comments such as Eww, Rue is black? Im not watching, Not gonna lie, kinda ruined the movie, when I found out Rue was black her death wasnt as sad, How in the world are they going to make Rue a freakin black bitch in the movie and Since when has Rue been a nigger (Stewart). All these reactions, and the fact that there were so many people reacting this way, reveals the fact that America may pretend to have moved past the days of racism, but in reality, people are just better at hiding their racist feelings. It is online, where people feel more anonymous and as though there are no consequences for what they write, that these horrible racist tendencies come out. It appears that people have been taught that being explicitly racist is bad, so they learned to
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hide their racism, but have not actually stopped being racist. Maybe America today isnt as racist a nation as it was a few decades ago, but it is clear that racism is definitely still very alive, just hidden and masked a bit better. African-Americans also face numerous social and economic difficulties. They are by far the group most likely to find themselves in jail: African-American males between the ages of twenty-five and twenty-nine are five times as likely to be incarcerated as the next highest group (Rogers). Economically, the unemployment rate is much higher among African-Americans, and they are also much more likely to become unemployed. The jobless rate for blacks is at least three times as high as that for whites (Herbert). This is something that would not have been accepted years ago this would have caused an outcry from African-American citizens to bring about some change and improve the situation. However, today, perhaps due to the recession, this sort of racist economic and social state is accepted, and instead of moving forward, AfricanAmericans are moving backward economically. And unfortunately, in these cases, media will only give the statistics, but they never mention the possibility that the negative social and economic situation for African-Americans may be caused by racism. Another blatant example of racism in America today is racial profiling. According to a study in Maryland, 76 percent of the drivers pulled over on a highway were African-American, whereas only 20 percent of the drivers licences in the state are African-American citizens (Rogers). Racial profiling is often viewed and discussed as something done by police, but the general public is prone to racial profiling as well. A well-known example of this is when somebody called the police saying that there was a black male with a gun by a school, and it turned out that it was a student of the school without anything even resembling a gun, he just stood out because he was black. Also, a study published in the journal Science shows that people
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may be more racist than they think. Participants in the study would witness a white person make a racist comment about a black person, and the participants would immediately afterwards have to pick either the white person or the black person as their partner for an anagram test (Landau). More than half of the participants chose the white person, even though they witnessed his/her blatant racism. However, when participants are simply asked to predict how they would react and who they would choose in such a situation, they are more likely to be upset by the racism and claim they would choose the black person as their partner. Not only does this show that people tolerate and practice racism by automatically assuming a white (and racist) person is a superior partner to a black person, it shows that people are not even aware of their own level of racism. Just like participants in the study thought they would be upset by the white persons racism, and would choose a black person as a partner over a racist white person, the study proves that people may not know themselves as well as they think, and they even might have been able to hide their racism from themselves. So, while people perceive themselves as liberal and egalitarian, reality may be quite different. Not only is there racism towards African-Americans, there is also varying degrees of racism: in general, the darker someones skin is, the more likely they are to be discriminated against. A study from Stanford University found that defendants in death row cases were twice as likely to receive the death penalty if the colour of their skin is very dark and they have traditionally African features, than if their skin is slightly lighter and their features more European (Rogers). Similarly, African-Americans with lighter skin are more likely to find a job than African-Americans with darker skin. As previously mentioned, however, both groups are much less likely to find employment than someone who is white.

On the other hand, though it may be slightly easier for lighter African-Americans in general, sometimes racism is expressed towards those who are part African-American, but appear white. For instance, in elementary school, a child who appeared white, but had one black parent was told he should draw himself as black since he is mixed-race. Though they were attempting to appear liberal and politically correct, the employees at the elementary school actually displayed racism since they seem to expect anyone with black heritage to view themselves as black. On the other hand, students who appear black but are also mixed-race are not told to draw themselves as white. Similarly, there is a case of two twin brothers, one of whom appears black while the other appears white, experiencing problems in high school with other students. Even though the high school was almost all-white, the twin who appeared white was the one who had problems. When students found out the two are related, and that they are both (part) black, they would verbally and physically attack the twin who appeared white. It seems that they felt he should be punished for coming off as white, even though he was really black, as they saw it. It was as if he had tricked them into thinking he was white when he really wasnt. These types of cases demonstrate how people discriminate mixed-race persons because they deny them the right to call themselves white, even when they appear so and despite the fact that they may be equally black and white, genetically. It shows racism similar to the so-called one drop rule, implying that as soon as someone has any black heritage, he/she is automatically deemed black and does not have the right to refer to himself/herself as white. It is a case of anyone who is mixed-race being deemed impure and thus not worthy of belonging to the white race. Some people refuse to acknowledge Barrack Obama as their president, openly displaying their racism. The media on the other hand discreetly shows their racism by portraying African5

Americans in a negative light. Police and the general public often resort to racial profiling, and though they might not be aware of it, have a greater tendency to deem white people as superior to black people. Racism is not gone in America today; it has just become more discreet. The media and the general public all generally think of themselves as not being racist, but reality shows that the majority still treats African-Americans as second-class citizens. Until major steps are taken to educate people and have white and black Americans interact more and more, racism will continue to be widespread in America.

Bibliography

Herbert, Bob. Blacks in Retreat. The New York Times. 18 January 2010. Web. Landau, Elizabeth. You may be more racist than you think, study says. CNN Health. 7 January 2009. Web. Rogers, d.E. Racism vs. African-Americans in America Today: At-a-Glance. The World of David. 30 June, 2010. Web. Stewart, Dodai. Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Very Disappointed. Jezebel. 26 March 2012. Web.