Author: Tawnee
Laducer
9th
Grade
Educator: Caitlin Johnson
Belcourt
Racism. A
word I thought I would never truly understand, because I’m not
African-American. That ended up being true until I was fourteen, being called a
“prairie nigger,” in a white-populated town, not too far from my own hometown.
To this day, I still don’t understand why the students planned on saying that.
Whether they wanted me to get angry or be embarrassed, I was definitely both.
One, I was frustrated. I thought to myself, “They don’t even know me. Why would
they say that?” Secondly, I was so embarrassed. I was embarrassed to be Native
American. Why? I don’t know. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Shortly after this
little experience, my English class started to read the incredible story of
John Howard Griffin. An exquisite and brave Caucasian man who documented two
months of his life traveling down to the deep South as a man who had went
through many changes to have the opportunity to document his case in the early
60’s. Of course, the South was the worst place for Africans to be living and/
or visiting at this time. He talked about his experiences there, and that is
what sparked my imagination to start writing about my own experiences. I didn’t
realize how interested in the huge race issue I was until I started reading and
discussing this book to my peers, family, teachers, or really anyone that would
give me five minutes of their time.
To be
honest, I never really had heard or even seen racism happening to the people
next to or by me. I’ve seen it all over the Internet, but never face-to-face...until
it actually happened to me. It came as a real big shock then. I was skeptical
before. Ignorant, maybe. If a teacher would tell us that we would be doing a
unit on racism in the 60s-70s, I would give the biggest sigh and be annoyed
that I would constantly have to recover this topic every single year. Though
I’d get through the lessons and discussions eventually, I was never seriously
interested. Maybe when I experienced what I did, it opened my eyes are showed
me that these things really do happen, and not just to the African-American
people you see on Facebook, but also to the people in my community.
I guess my
main purpose for this paper is just to spread the word that racism is real, and
it probably will still be a huge issue twenty years from now. That is, unless
we try to do something about it. I don’t know who will be reading this paper,
but I hope that whoever it is, never has to experience it first hand, or is not
personally giving it out to anyone. No one would ever need to feel self-conscious
about their own skin color.
When most
people hear the word “racism” they automatically think it’s about
African-Americans. Yes, Africans are more prone to experience it, but that
doesn’t mean that Native Americans, Latin Americans, Muslims, basically any
race that isn’t white (minorities), don’t experience it as well. They do, and
it is a very real, raw thing to go through. Now, I’m not blaming white people,
because it’s definitely not all of them. Majority of the time though, white
culture is the originator of the problem. For example, Donald Trump recently
called Elizabeth Warren, the U.S. Senator of Massachusetts, “Pocahontas”
because she claims to be of Native American descent. Trump called Warren that
name using a degrading tone of voice. Pocahontas is actually a lady of Native
American descent, who had been a crucial part to the white man being in North
America. He belittled a whole race of people, when he knows next to nothing
about them. Trump called her that name not once, but twice. One of the two
times, he actually had the audacity to call her that in front of the Navajo
code talkers. It might not even sound like that big of a deal to most people,
but to someone that is Native American, it feels really ignominious. This is
only one of the millions of treacherous facts about things that happen and are
brushed off like it has no significant meaning to anyone that isn't Native,
almost as if we aren’t really human.
I read on
7 Statistics That Will Change How You View Racism, that employers are more
likely to not hire potential job applicants if the applicants have a “Black”
name, which is a name that isn't considered to be appropriate for a white man.
Isn’t that disappointing? Imagine not getting picked for your dream job based
on your name, which you had no control over whatsoever. In Griffin’s book,
every little detail about how he lived and got treated in the South all came
down to one thing. What was that one thing you may ask? His skin color. Say,
for example, you were to ask someone, of color, if they believed that the
changes and laws and rights that were made for people of color, changed
anything, I bet they would say no. Personally, I know I would say no. Yes,
there have been things that have changed, in good ways, but there are also things
that are still occurring today and no one is doing a single thing about it.
Did you
ever hear of Cyntoia Brown? She's an African American girl whom was put into
prison, because she killed someone. Now, you're probably thinking, how is that
unfair? Well, she was sex- trafficked, and is now being punished for defending
herself from one of the guys that had “purchased” her. This case actually
happened around ten years ago, but is now being brought out into the light,
because of all the fame her case has brought to social media recently. Kim
Kardashian, for example, saw Brown’s case and she called her lawyers, because
she knew that what the system was doing for her was wrong in so many ways.
Rihanna also spoke on Brown’s half. Why? Because people know that it is so
wrong and that our system, isn't being fair to a lady of color. If Cyntoia’s
case doesn't change, she will be eligible for parole when she is sixty-nine
years old! This happened to her around the age of fourteen. She was raped and
drugged for countless of days. She finally got the courage to shoot the
forty-three year old man who had “purchased her.” She somehow gets the blame?
On the other hand, the man who had attained her was let off with no
consequences. It is things like this that make us question our justice system.
It’s crazy
reading about all these different people and cases about most white people not
getting treated the same. A lot of time, the Caucasians are more susceptible to
winning their case. Often, the Caucasians don’t see it as much more than having
a strong point, but a lot of other people view it as ‘white privilege.’ This is
why a lot of white people don’t necessarily experience racism or believe it to
be a real occurrence in today’s society. Obviously, not every Caucasian has the
same views or thoughts on racism, which is why we can’t categorize them all
into having ‘white privilege’ or being a racist.
There is
nothing individuals can do about racism by themselves, but if everyone works
together, things could seriously change for the best. If you feel moved or
inspired to do something about racism, and are asking yourself what you could
do to take action, there are so many opportunities that will stand in your way.
Whether the problem has something to do with you, or if it has to do with your
fellow neighbor, family, friend, or even just someone you might pass by. Don’t
be afraid to stick up for them. It’s a horrific thing for anyone to go through,
whether they have been through it a million times or not, it still hurts them,
I guarantee it. Growing up in a society with constant brawls and arguments all
over the news about race, it starts to take an effect on you too. I grew up in
this age. You don’t really get to form your own opinion about much of anything.
You’re either categorized into the people who are considered to be “right” or
the people who are “wrong.” It shouldn’t have to be a constant battle with
people that are learning, growing, and experiencing all the same things as you,
despite skin color. Like John Howard Griffin once wrote, “We shall remain
prisoners of culture unless we become aware of the process and force ourselves
to confront it and to reprogram it” (Griffin, 1960).
References
Griffin, John Howard. Black Like Me. New American Library, 1960.
“Seven Statistics That Will Change How You
View Racism.” The Odyssey Online, 11 Nov.
2017.
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