What is racism?
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the definition of racism is any action, practice, or belief that reflects the racial worldview—the ideology that humans may be divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called “races”; that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and traits of personality, intellect, morality. Racism is not new to any culture. It has existed for many centuries and forms the views of many people across the world.
Racism started in America when Christopher Columbus thought he discovered America. During his journey across the Atlantic Ocean, Columbus found a country that had American Indians. These people had developed had their own culture and sets of beliefs. American Indians had hunting and gathering skills. They did not need to be discovered. They had the land Columbus had traveled to and stole from them. This was based on the premise of racism. Columbus wanted to feel as if he had made a great discovery. To accomplish his dream of stealing land that did not belong to him or the country he traveled from, he did some of the most unimaginable things that would change the course of events in America. There is plenty of debate about where Columbus landed first when he got to the “New World”. It really does not make a difference. His blatant display of racism is what matters. Columbus came to the “New World” and tricked the people. He tricked them out of their gold, which he took back with him to make it seem his discovery was a great one. Columbus took natives back to his country and made them slaves. Columbus thought he was better than the people he captured. Columbus left the “New World” with the gift of violence and diseases. These infections diseases killed many tribes, due to the fact that they had no immune systems to fight off smallpox, measles, and influenza. Columbus created a way to genocide the natives. This not only allowed him to kill off the natives but also to claim land that was never his. Not only did he commit this egregious crime, but he also made many trips back to the “New Land” and continued to round up as many natives as possible to make them part of the slave trade. On one journey, he command his crew to round up as many as 1500 people to be shipped to Spain and forced into slavery. Columbus also demanded that gold be ready for him every three months. This is one of the greatest displays of racism that has been flipped into a story of discovery. Columbus did not come to America with the hopes and dreams of finding a “New World” and being friendly. Columbus came to attack and kill. The very foundation on which racism exists. Columbus should be associated with being a great colonizer. He had a great impact on Atlantic exploration and the colonization of North America.
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Columbus exhibited racism because he thought he was his skin color and culture were better than people of the “New World”. He thought the country that he was from made superior to others. His voyages attributed to destroying ancient civilizations, he murdered approximately eight million Red/Brown people, raped and tortured millions of them, and robbed them of millions of acres of land. This form of racism is the foundation of what America was created on and did not stop here but continued with the slave trade of African people.
Racism against the African people was the greatest crime against the African American people. This crime was first committed in Africa with the kidnapping and enslavement of its people. People who were brought to America and sold into slavery. Families are torn apart never to see each other again. Africans were sold to do work in the American colonies and exploited to work as indentured servants and labor in the production of crops such as tobacco and cotton. Slavery was based on racism. The mere fact that a white person was able to beat and force a black person to be a slave, because of skin color, is another foundation of racism. Slavery allowed white people to think and have a true conviction that they were supreme to black people. White people not only wanted to control the body of black people but also control their minds. In order for mind control to take place. White people introduced their religious beliefs into slavery. Slave owners told slaves that they needed to be slaves because this is what God wanted, it was their destiny. To make sure that slaves understood their roles in slavery, a slave bible was written. Titled “The Slave Bible”, this book was written to teach enslaved Africans how to read while at the same time introducing them to the Christian faith. Unlike other missionary Bibles, however, the Slave Bible contained only “select parts” of the biblical text. Its publishers deliberately removed portions of the biblical text, such as the exodus story, that could inspire hope for liberation. Instead, the publishers emphasized portions that justified and fortified the system of slavery that was so vital to the British Empire. This form of racism was used to keep the slaves to be submissive to their owners. It encouraged slavery. Slaves had no other choice but to believe what they were given. Many could not read and those that could were given a bible that only told part of the story. The bible included verses such as Peter encourages the Church to “live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves”. The Church’s greatest allegiance is to God, and they can glorify Him by “submitting [them]selves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority,”, including emperors, governors, and even earthly masters. Or while many in Paul’s audience were literal slaves, the message of Christ was applicable to all who recognized their bondage to sin and wanted a way out of it. According to God’s Word, not just 80 or 90 percent, but all believers were once slaves to sin. And those who are saved by Christ are now slaves to Christ. These bible verses were used as mind control. It allowed slave owners to justify why slavery was good in the eyes of God. This bible helped to give slave owners the right to beat, rape, and kill their people. The bible was written on racist ways of thinking. The thoughts became actions and actions were to oppress the slaves. Enslavement had been based on race.
Slavery of the African people was about cultivating wealth and power. The use of slaves allowed White people to control the money and the power. It allowed White people to believe they were better than Blacks. Blacks, or slaves, had no rights to anything. However, they built this America with their bare hands on their knees. Slaves had to give up everything. Slavery was based on the racism of English colonizers. The slave trade allowed for political power, social standing, and wealth for the church. Racism in slavery was self-evident. It existed because of the color of skin. Attitudes and class structure legitimized a slave system based on the color of skin. Slave codes were also a part of the racism that existed. These codes regulated the slave system to promote absolute control by the master and complete submission by the slave.
Not only did racism take place between the master and the slave, but was also taking place within the hierarchy of slavery. A social hierarchy among the plantation slaves also helped keep them divided. At the top were the house slaves; next in rank were the skilled artisans; at the bottom where the vast majority of field hands, who bore the brunt of the harsh plantation life. This racism had slaves turn on one another. It also created a way of thinking that allowed light skin slavery to feel as if they were in better positions than slaves who were darker. This created tensions between the slaves. However, even with the tension, a slave knew he or she was a slave and must still stand up for each other. Fighting the slave owners and their racist ways was not an easy feat. Slaves started revolts, killed many of their masters, destroyed machines used in the fields, and ran away. Many even took their own lives or the lives of their families so they would not continue to be slaves.
The racism that exist so many years ago did not die when slavery was abolished. It continues to rear its ugly head through America. African Americans have still been deprived of their rights, even if laws were put into place to protect the rights. America's enslavement of Black people became the excess of the racism that exists today. The racism that has enticed us today is by our very own President. President Trump has made many racist remarks about people from other countries being illegal and terrorists. Trump has made the decision to build a wall to keep the citizens of Mexico from entering America. After the hurricane destroyed Puerto Rico, he offered the advice that their President takes care of the country. Puerto Rico is part of the United States of America. Due to his racist beliefs, he did not want to give aid to help. This observation of the President can only allow one to think he is a racist. There are many cases where racism towards blacks still shines in our society today. This empowers his racist followers to feel more comfortable about being racist in America.
There are cases of people being opening racist and not having any sort of remorse for it. Nancy Goodman is a 71-year-old white woman who has been seen on video calling black women the N-word. Chanda Stewart and Lakesha Shaw were eating at a restaurant called the Bonefish Grill in North Carolina when Nancy thought it was okay to tell them they were too loud. After some back and forth and once Nancy saw she was being recorded she said “Why are you so stupid, Niggers?” Nancy knowing she was being recorded, looking dead at the camera had no problem with the use of the racial slur. It can be assumed that based on her age of 71, Nancy more than likely grew up around the 1940-the 50s and saw firsthand accounts that led to her racist ways of thinking. Nancy even went too far as to say that she would have no problem calling the women out their names again. This is just one example of a person being racist proudly with no problem or regard for others. Another example of racism in today’s society is when a California teacher used black face. Black face origins were after the Civil War by White people who dehumanized African Americans. The teacher was trying to be well-known rapper Common for Halloween but instead was put on administrative leave after wearing a black face in front of his class. The principal of the school, a black man named Chris Norwood had these comments to say” As an African American man, the history of a black face reminds me of cruelty, hatred.” One of the students also recorded the teacher talking and uploaded it to Twitter which then made the incident a much bigger problem. This may not be a direct form of racism because maybe the teacher didn’t mean any harm it or wasn’t trying to be racist. It’s the point that this teacher thought this was okay, he probably didn’t see the problem with him wearing a black face which is the problem as a whole. He wore black face when his boss, the principal of the school is an African American man that had more than likely experienced racism in his everyday life and now has to come to work seeing one of his employees being so ignorant to wear it to work. Back in 2016 at a Chicago music festival call the Margarita Fest women repeatedly called a black man the N-word numerous amount of times. The video shows the woman seeing that she is being recorded and she continues to argue with the man and call him out his name. Then as she starts to walk away while the man is still recording she spits toward him. The lady was eventually removed by security from the music festival. These examples show how common and recent racism is and how it is still very much alive in America.
Racism affects all Americans. As Africa Americans, we deal with racism all the time. There are so many accounts when there isn’t someone recording or it is publicized for the greater public to see. Many of the public’s opinions on White people are that all of them are racist. These views can only allow for small-minded thinking and those who have those thoughts are now on the level of racist white people. We are assuming or profiling these people before we meet them just how they profile us. Therefore we need a solution for this problem and a space where people can gather and talk about these issues. This safe place will be not just for White and African American people, but for all people to have discussions about how racism is a problem. The only way to combat problems is to have viable solutions that will not only address the problem but eventually come to and get rid of what has been a part of the fabric of America.
The safe would offer a crucial and important space that would allow people to openly discuss the historical perspective of racism and the impact it plays on society as a whole. The safe place that my team and I will design will offer to teach tolerance by addressing the issues with solutions. The safe place could be designed as a community center that teaches classes and offers workshops, and conferences that will help with the issues of racism. One part of the center would have a museum to that would have exhibits to teach the history of racism. The center would deal will all levels of race and racism. It will offer a safe place for one to talk about the issues of one’s own experiences with racial inequality and give people a chance to speak up. This community center would have offices so that people could have 1 on 1 talks and get the proper help they need with dealing with the situation. It would also have a mess hall type of area so that larger-scale conversations can be held in order to reach a larger group and get more people in the conversations. This place would be a safe haven and would make the community come together to fight this racist society that we live in today.
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