Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
There are several factors about how racism came to be, creating a more unfriendly world that could pose a danger to the innocent.
Let the Playing Field Level the Playing Field by Dennis Joiner talks about how racism affects different people around the world. It focuses on how America longs to be the perfect and influential country but gets frustrated when an even stronger external influence comes into play.
Racism and other forms of discrimination have been a controversy for years. People try to fight against it, but they create a more toxic environment as they give rise to “woke” people who are not shy of harassing other people with their color, beliefs, systems, and life trajectories.
How did racism come to be? Here is a list of the top reasons why people become discriminatory about racial identities:
Quick Judgment
One of the most concrete reasons behind racism is the capability of people to make quick judgments. By judgment, people classify other individuals by color, culture, and Gnosticism. Some people will not accept or agree with the fact that other individuals have different ways of living.
Media Representation
The media can easily influence people by showing things that are enticing. Media representation since the olden days has provided offensive takes on racial differences. Television, films, and social media have misrepresented some groups of people, making them look bad or unpleasant to the viewers. The misrepresentation also created a dangerous path for people of color, religious beliefs, and mental spectra in their businesses and/or life trajectories.
Color Discrimination
When we were young, we were told several fantasy stories involving the good and the bad. These stories are supposed to teach us about manners. However, some stories misrepresent people of color as well. We have always been taught that white is good while black is bad. Some storytellers associated this with skin color or religious belief.
Selfishness
Greed has always provided a path for racial discrimination in history. As the white Europeans took their voyage to explore the world, they discovered several lands they needed to conquer to expand their territories. Along with the conquest is fighting off the natives with darker skin tones.
In the 1610s, dark-skinned Africans found themselves becoming slaves to the whites after their lands were taken from them by force. Millions of black people died in the process, while others were taken on a voyage to the different plantations to work for the white people who claimed to own them.
Scientific Classification
Science has always been a curious body of knowledge. It creates different systems to make everything easy to do and understand. One curious thing it did was the classification of organisms. When Aristotle started classifying plants and animals, a lot of people followed suit. The classification of organisms is also made to classify people. When this happened, discrimination against those who are different took rise.
Political Beliefs
People choose their leaders in the hopes of experiencing a better change in society. Each political leader has an impact on the society. When election day comes, political candidates tend to use their influence on people to garner votes for the position. Some supporters in the community will discriminate against those with a different political belief because their leader does not have the same vision as the other candidate.
Trying to Keep the Peace
The world today is active when it comes to keeping peace in check. But have we seen the “real peace” we have been aiming for? No, because each movement creates another issue that discriminates against other groups of people. It is so ironic to see that seeking peace is one of the reasons behind racism itself.
Social media have given rise to “woke” netizens who do not have the guilt of calling out somebody’s fault in public. Social media become their mask for pointing out their stand on a particular idea.
Blaming People
One issue that white people in America get so angry about is unemployment. Some of them blame people of color for taking their jobs away from them. People overseas tend to find good-paying jobs and positions in the American industry. These people already acquired the requirements needed for the position, such as higher education, experience, and skills.
Education in America is expensive. Some Americans graduate with huge student debts, while some cannot go to school at all. For those who did not get to attend school, employment becomes more difficult.
For now, we still do not see the end of racism. It is a strong force that we should take into consideration when making a move. Even if we influence the young that racism is bad, they can still grow up learning to discriminate against other people. Everyone is a little bit racist, but we can take control of it.
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