R.E.A.L. Talk,
High Tech Middle Media Arts,
7th Grade Trailblazer
I’ve been called racist just by talking to someone of color. As someone whose ancestors are English, American, French, and Belgian, I realize, that being called racist isn’t the worst thing someone can do to you in terms of discrimination in ethnicity and racism, but I think it is something to be aware of. Just because if I, a white person, I’m talking to a person of color, doesn’t mean I’m being racist or saying racist things to them. When two human beings talk to each other, it doesn’t have to be in a negative way. Personally, I believe that everyone should be able to talk to each other who is not their own race or ethnicity. Some issues today, especially in schools, is when people say “oh that’s racist!” When it’s nowhere near that. I think that race should be discussed positively because it is one part of what makes everyone unique. And, throwing around the phrase, “That’s racist!” makes it not have as a strong effect when someone actually is being racist. In conclusion, humans should be able to talk to other humans without them being called racist. Also, we should celebrate others differences.
Race is Fake, but Racism Isn’t.
Race is something humans have created. Slavery in America was created when the first African slaves were sent to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to farm tobacco. Americans did this because they needed free labor. They needed these slaves from Africa to think they were less than the Americans to “keep them in place.” Slavery was never okay. How would you feel if I told you slavery is still affecting us today? These “ideas” that some people are better than others created racism. The lingering idea of this anarchy is affecting us 397 years later.
In 1950, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a statement saying that “all humans belong to the same species and that ‘race’ is not a biological reality but a myth, a social reality. They found this out using anthropologists, geneticists, sociologists, and psychologists”, yet racism still exists.
Early humans came from Africa. As population grew, humans migrated from Africa to new areas. These new areas where different than Africa, so the humans had to adapt. In areas like England, it was not as hot as Africa, so people didn’t need darker skin to protect them from the sun. While people in hotter climates needed their skin to be dark to keep them from sunburn and heatstroke. This, is why humans look different. But why are people today still getting shot and killed because of it? Are we listening to Martin Luther King Jr’s dream, or our own, deadly one? According to DCentric, out of all students being bullied, 54% are Asian Americans, 38% are African Americans, 34% are Hispanic, 31% are White. And people still say racist bullying doesn’t exist. Even adults are being bullied on the streets for race. Is this what we are teaching kids today? How to be racist? Lastly, we need to step up. Don’t be a bystander. Everyone is human and everyone has thoughts and emotions. We need to show future generations we are not all separate races, we are one. The human race.
