Racism and Racial Identities in Florida State - Essay Example

Introduction The race and the community In order to appreciate the race and community in the storey county let us look at what a race and community are. A community is a build up by the variety of people living in a certain areas or surrounding and who interact and live together despite their color or physical characteristics. On the other hand a race is the word that describes the outward characteristics of a person and especially the appearance; the skin color and the areas of origin of the person. There have for along time been conflicts in the communities involving the races living there. Some years ago members of certain races were discriminated in the communities and were seen to be inferior to others. This posed a threat to peaceful coexistence of the different people from different races. However with the civilization the racial discrimination slowly ebbed out. Today racial difference between different parties is almost meaningless. In this paper I will show the extent of a peaceful co-existent of the Cubans in the Bradenton county, Florida, among different races and how and racial identities in the county has helped built healthy and just communities though normally considered to be divisive (Herrera, 2001). Bradenton, the capital of manatee-Florida The Bradenton county seat is located in the manatee county of Florida, a western state of the United States of America. Manatee County is found on the west coast of the state and is well connected to the other parts of the country. It is situated on the tamiana trail, and the paradise loop that connects top the Dixie highway. The town of Bradenton on the other hands connects well to the entire town and the villages of the county. Bradenton is the most metropolitan of the west coast state and the most rapidly growing county in the state. The county seat is located on the south bank of the manatee river which is useful in fishing, bathing boating and other sports. The county seat town is beautiful and has magnificent architectural designs, magnificent theatres, and hotels and a leader in celery distribution. The manatee county is one of the areas in Florida with the highest concentration of Latin American immigrants and specifically the Cuban Americans due to proximity to Cuba .Cuban Americans are people who emigrated from Cuba to America during the Spanish rule, and also those who emigrated in search of better lives, others were offered political refuge against the harsh Cuban rulers and became permanent citizens of USA. The population of Cubans is estimated to stand at 11% of the total migrant population with Mexicans comprising the highest percentage of the population. Assimilation of Cubans Apart from these Cuban ethnic communities other communities also have residence in the county (Maria, 1994). Some of them include the Bradenton town is a relatively, which is a cosmopolitan modern city. Other Migrants into the county comprised Mexicans, Mayans, Indians from Guatemala Asians and Spanish speakers. Just like the other communities, Cubans have well been assimilated into the cultures and the way of life of Americans. the people in this neighborhood travels and reside together and work together not just accidental but a well knit social unit bound together by the family relationships and the common local cultures of the different ethnicities. The Cuban have adopted all the aspect of the Americans, the language, tastes such that it is difficult to differentiate between a Cuban and other communities were it not for the physical characteristics. Cuban Americans have successfully establishing businesses and developing political clout by transforming Bradenton into a modern city (Herrera, 2001). Coexistence The threat of the coexistence of the races together and the subsequent emergence of the racial discrimination could be attributed to some cause. Racism evolved during the European exploration of the world and the discovery of new worlds. As the explores reached new lands the found the original inhabitants of such a place where more they waged wars , fought and conquered the people, the defeated were classified as people of a different race from theirs and therefore they were looked down upon. Another origin of racism and the notion of race could have been from the misunderstanding of the Darwin theory of evolution to indicate that a biological difference existed between different people of different races due to differences in the civilization. Coexistence is the mutual existence of people under conditions where they are diverse in religion, culture and traditions. Man is defined by the relationships he holds towards other people. The lack of coexistence has promoted conflicts in the societies and communities. In fact the world wide lack of coexistence has witnessed two world wars, and other wars in different parts of the globe, genocide and holocaust. The destruction created by the wars and the impacts left on mankind leaves the promotion of coexistence as the only imperative for the 21st century. The modern coexistence should not only involve intra state coexistence but also should include the existing together of different peoples, religious groups, races, clans, tribes. However this is a great challenge in the 21st century bearing in mind the continued civil wars and the conflicts. In my community the Cubans have managed to coexist together despite their wide differences in their skin color and place of origin. The unifying factors have range d from the fact that all members of different communities and races live in the same residential areas and therefore friendships develops as a result of uniting in social activities . another unifying factor has been the education system whereby nobody is discriminated in any way in this regard children grow with the notion that nobody is superior to another consequently the idea than could have developed into inferiority complex among the minorities or the superiority complex among the majorities is nipped in time.. Finally sport is another unifying factor in the sense that it pulls people together to work as a team to attain a common goal. Cleary racial tolerance is upheld very well in this County. Racial injustices rectification The last three decades has seen activists and the authorities work hard to try and eliminate the historical injustices in form of racial discrimination meted primarily against the members of the African American origin. Racial issues in American society have to be looked at with reference to the historical context. History points out to a time whereby the African slaves sold in America were regarded as inferior to other colored people and therefore unfit to associate with white people in the social and the political context. The county was no exception to this problem. Similarly they had no rights that could have been respected. When the civil war fought to end slavery, majority of the Americans remained in the south where later they migrated to other regions where they went and formed racially exclusive neighborhoods. It was until the World War II that the perception was broken. Today some of those neighborhoods still exist though in some parts with an exception of Bradenton. In the Bradenton, members of different races live in the same places and thereby are no such neighborhoods. Similarly unlike in some neighborhoods where just by knowing the name of a street you can be able to tell precisely the skin color of the residents of the place. the street names and the place names in manatee county of Florida does not in any way give an indication of the race of the people you are likely to find there. Among the children born recently there does not seem to exist in their mind a notion of differences in races. The industrial employments are particularly illustrative in showing the extent of integration among the difference races in the storey county. There are no specific sections of jobs which you can find predominated by members of a specific race. Everybody work in the section where he has got skill in. This mode of living in a racially and a socially integrated society promotes unity among the various races and therefore act as a repellent for the racism. I have lived here for some time now and I cannot say I have ever seen a case of racism. today if you visit this communities around storey county you will bear me witness of what I am talking about. You will be treated like a human being only but not likes a member of a particular race. I feel part of the community here because it is so interesting to live here no matter your skin color or your race you just feel belonging to the whole community of the Bradenton. These treatments indicate that the residents have disapproved all theories that were forwarded in support for the racial segregation and discrimination in the American society (Maria, 1994). Children raised in this community always get puzzled when they move elsewhere and are racially discriminated. They fail to understand the reason for such a thing. That could be one reason why the storey county has produced a notable number of human rights activists in the United States of America. I appreciate living in this community where everybody seems civilized with regards to racial matter knowing very well that the situation could be different in some other communities still in the United States of America. In storey county of Nevada the inalienable rights of individuals as expressed in the American constitution are upheld to the letter. By looking at each other through the eyes of God the show of impartiality, fear and prejudice against other people is discouraged. Conclusion The problem of racism is a complicated one in the world. After the September 11 attacks on the American soil by terrorist, members of the Arab communities were racially attacked some of them to the point of being killed. Racism has wide implications and effects not only in America but in every part of the globe. If the concerned authorities in places where racism is prevalent fails to take the necessary steps to address it then the problem will continue to grow worse. Political solution to this problem should be sought since it is a social problem and therefore only the government can solve it completely by putting necessary legislatures in place that may include heavy punishments to the racist (Herrera, 2001).. However, this could prove difficult since it is almost impossible to make law against hate or love or emotions that could be in the individual's heart or mind. It is only action that can be bridled law and therefore laws such as never to deny somebody a job based on his race need to be upheld by the employees. In the same way home owners need not discriminate against potential home buyer or landlord due to his race. The persistence of these vices in today's society though not widely reveals that the battle against racism is far from over. References Andrews, K.T. (2006). Racism in Nevada State: the Nevada Civil Rights Movement and Its Legacy. Carson City. Carson City Press Herrera, A. (2001). Remembering Cuba: Legacy of a Diaspora; Austin; University of Texas Press Portes, A. & Alex, S. (1993).City on the Edge: The Transformation of Miami. Berkeley. University of California Press Maria, C. (1994). Cuban Exiles and Cuban Americans in South Florid; Havana USA University of California Press. Read More