Stop Racial Microaggressions Now
My projects focus is on Racial Activism and racial ignorance amongst the youth (Racial Microaggressions). Racial Activism is the act of saying racially insensitive things in an effort to make these seem like facts to others. Racial ignorance is doing things racially insensitive, but not for the purpose of being racist. Just being ignorant of racial problems in America and ignorant to racial identity. I want to start a conversation about race with a fishbowl conversation and making clothing that focuses on topics we need to talk about.
This topic interests me because of students I have seen have been known to fall into these two groups. I think these are problems in our school that need to be addressed. If these are ignored they will spiral out of control years down the line. Studies were done at that relate racial issues with depression. “We investigated the relationship of racial socialization experiences to the depression symptoms of 160 Black adolescents, including lethargy, low self-esteem, cognitive difficulties, social introversion, irritability, guilt, pessimism, sad mood, instrumental helplessness, and overall depression.” This is very important for the mental health of minorities. Studies from Newsweek show a large increase on how teenagers view racial discrimination. “In 1966, 44 percent of American teens thought racial discrimination would be a problem for their generation. Now nearly twice as many—82 percent—feel the same way.” This is important and needs to be talked about. If these problems are not addressed then the current generation will not be as mentally stable as they need to be. If they are constantly discriminated against then they will not grow up with a proper mindset. People around these problems need to know about it because it can be an important learning tool for teenagers.
The importance of this subject is massive. If it is ignored then this generation may not turn out the way that they are needed. If the country ignores these problems so will the current generation. This will not be safe for the country and its people. Racial issues need to be discussed like on Rochester campus. Students on this campus ran a racism awareness campaign. This is not an aggressive movement it just wants to start the talks about racism. I don’t know what these talks lead to because I don’t attend Rochester, but I believe they lead to some change from the administration of the school.
Racism has evolved and each time it has gotten more secretive. The American people need to be educated about this new beast. The PBS Newshour talked about this. The entire system is built to be racist, but not everyone knows this. Some people even believe that racism does not exist in the present day. “Americans think of racism as Bull Connor or the Ku Klux Klan, but today, racism is far more likely to be embedded in institutions.” Many Americans think that racism is the brutal oppression of minorities, but that just is not true. This new breed of racism is not the open oppression of minorities, but instead the secretive oppression and manipulation of those groups. Current racism hides in the shadows and it needs to be shown to those in light because they are the ones who can make a change. Starting a conversation about racism and how it hides to prey on those who do not know where it hides will help many people. Racism will be stopped because we have to stop it. We have to educate. Bibliography
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