Racism And Ignorance
As there is a very clear difference between having a politically incorrect or ignorant thought and saying something that is racist, many do not recognize that concept. To have an ignorant thought is to lack knowledge in a particular subject. Normally, it is used as a way to establish superiority above another for not having the same understanding. A lot of the times, the word comes up during political discussions such as: gender and race. After all, ignorance does come from the root word ‘ignore’, which implies just that. On the other hand, to say something racist is to be impudent without reason of another race. For example, saying “Asians or Latinos are better than any other race”, is indeed being racist. To know when we see it may be difficult to some and easily noticeable to others. As Bob Dickson mentioned in his essay, racism goes way back into history. More than often it gives us an understanding as to why races face discrimination to this day. In chapter 11, Introduction to Race and Ethnicity, the short story of Trayvon Martin’s death is introduced. Trayvon, a black teen, was reported by George Zimmerman, a white hispanic male, as a suspicious suspect at a small convenience store due to a number of break-ins at the same store. A confrontation later arose, and soon enough Trayvon was shot and killed by Zimmerman, whom later was found not guilty.
This form of action can be seen as aversive racism to many. In unit 3, it is mentioned that whites are very fearful of blacks, specifically young black males. You can surely pinpoint the racial profiling that went on against Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was clearly afraid of Trayvon and took action the way he did. Though Trayvon had supposedly attacked the man, I do not believe that it was in Zimmerman’s right mind to shoot the young man, especially when he was told NOT to follow the young man by the 911 operator to begin with. If Trayvon was to be a white male, I assure that there would’ve been a different outcome. At times, just because someone is being ignorant, it does not always mean they are racist and in need of an intervention. Ignorance is actually very tricky, as it is both the state of not knowing and the inability to recognize it. As different ethnic groups do tend to have their own way of living and eating, someone else out of that ethic group may genuinely not know how to feel or respond to that specific group’s way of life. You cannot expect an Asian person to eat an live the same lifestyle as someone who is African American simply because they did not grow up that way. All that there needs to be is awareness. In the world that we live in today, there is so much prejudice that has been built over time and is still continuing to rise. Whether it be race, gender, sexual orientation, poor versus middle class, etc. At the end of the day, we are all human. Each and every person shouldn’t be categorized solely on opinion. We all deserve the right to be respected for who we are. But the sad truth is that in our multicultural society, there will always be a reaction.
