Race and Your Community - Personal Statement Example

? Race and Community Race and Community Admittedly, my community, that is Dallas, is notorious for the existence of racism. It seems that the issue of racism is much higher in this city because of the special nature of the demography here. In this area, all the racial groups are almost equal in size. According to the 2000 statistics, Hispanics are the largest group which constitutes nearly 35.55 % of the population followed by 34.56 percent whites. The presence of blacks is estimated at nearly 25.65%. Asians and other races are the minority, which together contribute less than 5% of the total population. Evidently, this mix of population has a specific role in amplifying racial issues. Due to the almost equal proportion of various groups, both politicians and media are eager to utilize racism as a tool for campaign and publicity. In fact, my neighborhood too is a mix of a variety of races, and the difference is visible in the look of people too. There are people who are black in complexion, some who are rather brown in complexion, and there are whites. The fact is that my society is more mixed than many other cities in the US. The difference is visible in communication too. For example the Hispanics, the Whites, and the Asians are easily distinguished for the way they use language. I have come to know that people like the Asians who first reach the place face serious problems communicating, and this situation leads to poor access to vital social services like medicine and other governmental grants. Admittedly, the leaders within my community are highly aware about the situation, and often, it seems as if they intentionally try to use the matter for easy public attention. Though most people and leaders try to avoid hurting other people by avoiding racial comments, some just make the comments publically. An example is the recent statement made by a Dallas County commissioner to an attorney that “All of you are white. You can go to hell” (Piggy, 2011). The commissioner claims that he got angry because he found the statement of the attorney racial in nature. Though there are allegations of racism every now and then, from my observation, it seems that the leaders try to avoid any racial discrimination in their dealings. And most of the time, the term ‘racism’ does not arise in public offices and services. However, when there are issues involving people from two different races, the first allegation is racial profiling or racial discrimination. When a black child is punished by a white teacher, the situation is often given the color of racism. Similarly, when a black youth is arrested for drug or looting, the media shows the tendency to present the situation in the light of racism. The frequently made claim by the media is that, or what they try to make people believe is that, blacks are antisocial creatures who live on violence, theft and drugs. Another area where racism is highly visible is peer groups. Admittedly, the youth prefer to remain within groups of their own race. Within such groups, often comments of racial content take birth, and most of the time, it seems that such groups are behind racial attacks and abuses. I feel that the youth, if alone, will not resort to such activities of racism. As White and Perrone (2001) point out, it is the collective identity and the feeling of security within the group that makes them engage in such rare activities of racism. Though it is not always so, there are many whites who prefer to remain within white groups and blacks who prefer to be with blacks, and the main reason behind this situation is not hatred, but fear of getting maltreated by the other that is injected by the society and the media. Thus, though the administration cries ‘no racism’, there is racism in the air, and everything in the society is first analyzed in the light of racism. A catalyst of racism, as already said, is media. It seems to me that media is bent on crating stereotypes and formulas in the social relations. As Rickford (2011) states, while the whites are the discriminators in all cases, the blacks are thugs, antisocial elements and drug peddlers. Considering the great interest the media show towards racism, one can easily predict that the issue will not disappear from the society in the near future. This attitude of the media can be easily demonstrated through the Dallas Morning News series named ‘Striking Differences’. In this series, the newspaper alleged that the Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill is a racist because he tried to use racist jury selection procedures to avoid black jurors. The newspaper published such racially charged news that claimed that the department became racist in nature. However, as one reads the news ahead, one reaches the revelation that the proportion of black jurors remained more or less the same in the pool though there was alleged discrimination (Striking Differences). As the matter was not followed up by other media, it could not create the kind of public controversy as Dallas Morning News would have liked. However, one thing becomes evident. The media is bent on exploiting the matter to a great extent. In other words, racism is a hot issue in the hands of the irresponsible media. Admittedly, the people who often become victims of racial abuse are African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, Arab Americans, Iranians, Asian Americans, Muslims, Sikh Americans, and visitors from Asia and Africa. Admittedly, there are various reasons behind the abuse of each of them. Muslims and Arabs are often suspected and abhorred for fear of terrorism. The 9/11 attack had a role in intensifying the issue. All Muslims are considered as terrorists, and the extremist contents in their religious scriptures make other people feel that all of them are highly likely to become extremists, or at least, try to support the extremists. This fear results in the social exclusion of Muslims and Arabs from the mainstream society. As Harcourt (2006) points out, this is evident from the fact that many of the so-called racial incidents involve security personnel conducting thorough search on people from other racial groups; and, such issues take place on the road, airport, and whenever there is a security threatIn such a society where it is quite difficult to identify who is right and who is wrong, security personnel cannot blamed for being careful. However, such issues make one thing clear: even the government officials are not free from the vice of racial prejudice, and both the torturer and the tortured are equally guilty in the matter. Similarly, in the case of Hispanics, the reason behind discrimination is that there are many illegal Hispanic immigrants. The mainstream society feels that they people take away the social benefits like Medicaid and various other social care programs illegally (The Initiative Team on Racism and Racial Violence). Thus, the Hispanics are considered as illegal aliens. In a society where resources are limited, such discriminations are likely to take place. Physical appearance and use of language too are reasons behind discrimination, it seems. For example, it is often seen that people who wear extraordinary dresses often become victims of racism. This can be illustrated through the way some Sikh people are ill treated. In total, the situation in the Dallas society is that both the whites and the blacks are properly represented, and their issues often gain media attention. However, the ones who are left behind are the Asians and other groups who do not have representation in the administration or public sphere. Though there are some organizations developed by each of such communities, they only are able to play a meager role in representing the communities in public. As a result, the ones who often really are the victims of racism do not get any media attention at all. For example, Asians and other immigrants often face more discrimination than the blacks do. However, media and politicians are in no way interested in their plights. Many a times, when such people are alone, they are targeted, humiliated, and beaten up. There are instances when Asian students were beaten up in clubs on racial grounds. If I get a chance to improve the situation, I would try to make provisions to have politicians and media responsible and punishable for making unwarranted comments of racial nature. This legislation will deal with racial issues within the territory, and the politicians and media will be closely observed for the way they deal with the issue. Also, education system will be revitalized with better lessons on racism and racial tolerance. In total, it becomes evident that the problem of racism has been deep rooted within the society. Also, it becomes evident that the reason behind this existence is its presence in political and educational spheres. In political sphere, it is often dragged into public attention to ignite racial feelings and sentiments. Moreover, as there is very little effort from school authorities to incorporate racial tolerance as a necessary part of education, even schools do not help in reducing the extreme emotions connected with the issue of racism. Lastly, the media too is a culprit in creating unnecessary controversies regarding racism. Instead of pacifying the situation, and neutrally looking into the situation, the media is more interested in exaggerating the issues. Thus, it becomes evident that in order to improve the situation in Dallas, one needs to improve all spheres ranging from politics, education, and media. References Harcourt, B. E. (2006). Muslim profiles post 9/11: is racial profiling an effective counterterrorist measure and does it violate the right to be free from discrimination? Economics Working Paper. Retrieved from http://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/files/286.pdf The Initiative Team on Racism and Racial Violence, Facing racism: a vision of the beloved community. The Office of the General Assembly 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Retrieved from http://oga.pcusa.org/publications/facing-racism.pdf Piggy, G. L. (2011). Racist Black Politicians in Dallas, John Wiley. Retrieved from http://glpiggy.net/2011/02/17/racist-black-politician-in-dallas-john-wiley-price-pt-1/ Rickford, J. R.(2011). Racism in media language and law enforcement officers’ actions after Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from http://ccsre.stanford.edu/pdfs/JRR_KatrinaRemarks05.pdf Striking Differences. Junior. Retrieved from http://www.dentonrc.com/s/dws/spe/2005/jury/index_jury.html White, R & Perrone, S. (2001). Racism, Ethnicity, and Hate Crime. Communal Plural. 9 (2): 161-180. Read More