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Matters of Race. Essays
Matters
of Race - Jennifer, Grosse Pointe, college freshman
Race is one of many features that identify a person. Its definition
is simple; race is any of the varieties of human beings distinguished
by physical traits, blood types or any group of people who share in
the same ideas and beliefs. But although race has a simple definition
there is no simple solution to stop the discrimination and segregation
created from the differences between the groups of people. Even in today's
world when different racial groups live and work together there is still
tension caused by the differences in physical appearance, attitude,
and beliefs. The question now is if we can put an end to these hate
acts against different races, but history will show that discrimination
against different groups of people have always been around leading me
to believe that this unfortunate behavior will continue to be around
for time to come.
For centuries groups of people lived in the same area of the continent
grew to from bonds between one another, these bonds continued to grow
and by 400 AD great civilizations had developed. Later the Islamic empire
in the 1000's for example had great cities in the Arabian Peninsula.
The cities population was mostly made up of Islamic peoples the few
exceptions were the Jewish and Indian traders living near the markets.
The sultans of the Empire treated these outsiders differently then the
rest of their subjects, they gave these traders and any other group
of people who were not Islamic a tax to pay and restricted them from
certain activities. The sultans treated them differently based on their
race. They were not like them therefore they needed to be treated differently.
But the Islamic Empire is not the only group of people who treated outsiders
in this manner. There are many other civilizations that treated outsiders
the same way. The Chinese in the early 1200's is another example. They
thought they were far superior to any other civilization at that time
and as a result they thought that no outsider to their race should be
allowed to trade with them. These are some of the earliest examples
of the racial supremacist thought that is still visible today in the
21st century. This thought has not seemed to fade away even when these
ancient civilizations have.
The U.S. in particular is a large melting pot of a variety of people
who live and work together to make the country successful. But underneath
the surface there is still racial tension between the different groups
despite past attempts to integrate minority groups into the large white
protestant majority. The 1960's are the best example of America's attempt
to solve this unfortunate flaw in our racial thinking. Civil rights
acts have been passed to try and create equality for African-Americans
as well as other minority groups. But even those acts could not stop
the racial discrimination to continue and keep minorities from getting
the best jobs, schools, and housing. There have been further efforts
to try and create more equality such as Affirmative action. But even
this created more controversy over who should be allowed the special
favoring. It seems that the unconscious thought of many Americans remains
the same has it has been for centuries. If they are not like us, then
they should be looked at differently.
Race has been around for as long as humans have inhabited the Earth.
Race is a part of our identity; it is who we are. To think that we could
completely put an end to racial discrimination and segregation in our
thinking is nearly impossible. It is in our human nature to form groups
with the same ideas, beliefs and physical appearance. It is seen throughout
history in ancient civilizations up until today's great societies. Although
the result of many different racial and cultural groups can cause unfortunate
results such as hate acts against these different groups, it is also
a part of us to categorize our selves. It is a part of which we are
as human beings.
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