There is a very real possibility that you are reading this article and are anticipating finding a sensationally dumb opinion that will upset a lot of people. Perhaps you thought I’d write a piece about why racism isn’t a problem in America anymore, and that I’d perpetuate the problem with my ignorance.
Sorry to disappoint you.
Racism is absolutely still a present and prevalent issue in the United States. That is an indisputable fact, and it would be preposterous to try to argue otherwise. I believe that while this is true, an issue that should be further recognized and addressed that often goes hand-in-hand with racism is socioeconomic prejudice.
Let me explain.
“Racism” is defined as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.”
This is different from prejudice. “Prejudice” is defined as “preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.” Racism deals directly with prejudice against people due to their ethnicities. Racism is a type of prejudice, but they are not synonymous words. They are different concepts, and it is crucial to know the difference because of what I am about to tell you.
The following story is absolutely true:
Through an assignment, I briefly met an older southern lady who must have been in her early 70s. She was a white, wealthy, protestant, southerner who, outside of an obvious disapproval for Blacks, Muslims, Hispanics, and, strangely, red-headed people, was a nice enough old lady.
As we were walking down the street in downtown Nashville, we were coming closer to a group of young white men that she referred to as “street trash." She told me that young girls like me should stay away from that type because “those boys are surely selling drugs and looking for pretty girls like you to take advantage of."
Woah. Kind of a big jump between being a little scruffy and unrefined to being rapists and drug dealers.
Not five minutes later, we were boarding an elevator that we shared with a young black businessman. He wore a suit, politely pushed our floor’s button for us, and wished us a good day when he left.
As soon as the doors shut behind him, she turned to me and said, “What a nice young man, making something of himself, unlike the family I’m sure he grew up in...”
Anyways, as uncomfortable as the entire interaction was, I realized something pretty big about racism that day.
A lot of things that we deem racist actually have nothing to do with race. A lot of prejudice comes down to money.
While this lady was probably a legitimate racist, her biggest problem wasn’t the ethnicity of the people we’d come across that day. It was that she associates minorities with a lack of socioeconomic standing, and therefore she sees them as inferior.
Gross, isn’t it?
Historically, minorities have been disadvantaged by the lack of opportunities that were provided to them in the realm of education which made making larger salaries far more difficult.
These trends of increased difficulty have trickled down through the generations and remain an issue today, as the vast majority of people in America die in the same social class they were born into.
If you take away anything from this article, let it be this: we can grow.
A big step in ridding our society of prejudices of all kinds is to, simply, recognize that they exist around us every day.
Pay attention the next time someone starts a sentence with, “I’m not racist, but...”.
Maybe they aren’t racist. Hopefully, they aren’t even prejudice.
On the off chance that you come across someone who is a little bit prejudice, kindly drop a little knowledge on them. After all, a little education never hurts.
