Imagine you’re walking with your friends, and then, all of a sudden, you hear someone call your brother a racial slur. I didn’t have to imagine, because that happened to me. The worst part is that my brother didn’t care. I’ve expressed to him how much I care about the situation, but he still didn’t have a problem with it.
Racism has existed in our past, it exists now, and it’s going to exist in our future if we continue to not do something about it. Our future generations shouldn’t have to live in a world of discrimination and hate, which is what the world is and will become.
The question I’ve always asked myself is, why are people racist? Most recently I’ve realized why they are. People will act a certain way based on what their culture or their environment teaches them. “We often assume that it takes parents actively teaching their kids for them to be racist. The truth is that unless parents actively teach kids not to be racists, they will be,” says Jennifer Richeson, a Yale University social psychologist. This is very true: as long as parents aren’t making an effort to teach their children about racism and its harm to our society, then their children will never know whether what they’re learning is wrong.
Many people have experienced racism, including me. According to an article by Pew Research Center, “Roughly seven-in-ten black Americans (71%) say they have personally experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity, including 11% who say this is something they experience regularly.” I feel this is relatable to most people, not just Black Americans but also Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern people. One of my own personal experiences with racism was in December of 2021 in school, when someone came up to my friend and said to her that she looks like a certain female name. I don’t remember the exact name, but I found that offensive to her. So, I told him he looks like a Kevin. He turned to me and told me I look like a slave. After that experience, I look at race in a whole new light. I see that, no matter how much we try to hide racism, it still will always be present.
To end, I want to say that racism will always be a problem. Unless we take action, future generations will have to deal with the hate and discrimination that many of us have to deal with. Also, parents should set aside time to educate their children about racism. They should be self-aware, and not pass their bias down to their children.
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