Is American Being Raised Racist?
Since I moved to Vermont I have met so many different types of people, and even coming from Massachusetts, which is only 250 miles away I experienced culture shock. One of the things that shocked me most was a friend I met in a few of my classes. She was great to hang out with, but soon after meeting her I realized that she was a little bit racist. She would say things like how she was afraid of Arabs, and how African Americans are second class citizens, and how Mexican-Americans were all lazy immigrants. It was appalling that these were her views, but it was how she was raised, and her opinions were not going to change. Although I made it clear that I did not agree with her views she would not censor herself because she thought she was right in her opinion.
I was always under the impression that Vermont was a very liberal state, but my friend made it obvious to be that in some parts of even a liberal state there are still people being raised to think that they are better than peoples of a different race. And I am sure this is true for all states. I’m sure there are parts of Mass that are generally more racist than others. At first I excused her behavior because it was how she was raised and “she didn’t know better. But then my opinion of her changed. I cannot imagine hating a group of people for no reason other than aesthetics, and not thinking it is incredibly wrong. That made me wonder if people who are racist know what they are doing is wrong, or if they are so delusional they convince themselves their prejudices are correct. Although I would like to think that one day racism will be a thing of the past, I cannot honestly say that I think it will happen. If racism is still alive in well in progressive states like Massachusetts and Vermont I don’t think it is likely that eventually all people will change their views.
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2 comments:
Samantha-
this is a difficult situation. I have had similar experiences when people you consider your peers say something that is pretty "off" and not funny at all. Actually, in fact the things they brush off as funny are really racist or discriminatory. In this day in age where we use humor and "just a joke" to justify saying things like those, we demean the people who the phrases target even more. I think you bring up a strong point that it will be a long time, if ever that racism is a thing of the past. You are absolutely correct when you say that even in incredibly liberal states such as vermont and massachusets there is still racism. Although we have come a long way throughout the past centuries, we still face a lot of it in the current day.
I honestly beleive that you cannot go somewhere and not be surrouded by at least one person who is racist in some way or another. Going away to school in a different state is a great example because you are put into an environment of people comming from all different states and countries. They all have different views and come from different families. I wonder also (like you said towards the end of your response) if people who are racist actualy know that what they are saying or doing is wrong. Of course to people who couldnt ever imagine being racist, it is considered a horrible thing to have racism in them. I dont really think that your friend ever thought about what she was saying about those different races you mentioned. Like you said, she was just raised differently and its a normal thing for her to have these views. As far as Vermont being a very liberal state, its different for people who actualy grew up in vermont than people who just moved to vermont for school or simply just moving. Vermont may be a liberal state but not everyone in Vermont are going to have the same views/beliefs.
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