Essay Sample on Racism Is an Obstacle to Societal Development

Introduction

Although different groups use racial words to one another but just between them, a person that does not belong to the same group calling them those names can cause a lot of trouble. They have to resist accepting the use of the racial words by their targets. For instance, words like "chink" and "Nigger" has no actual meaning, but according to Christine Leong and Gloria Naylor, it is only the proposed meaning that counts. Although some people are familiar with racial words to a point they use them to refer to each other in the same group, Leong says that these words can be the reason that different people in different races only socialize with people of the same age, sex, color, and race. By changing the tone we use when referring to people, words can denigrate or harm them.

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In the essays "The meaning of a word" by Gloria Naylor and "being a chink" by Christine Leong, the writers examine the use of hatred words used to hurt, scorn and disgrace people. These words also can be used in a fashion of endearment among the people that they were created for, without wanting to hurt them. Leong and Naylor have a distinct way to discriminate their ethnicity and culture. They discuss the words "chink" and "nigger" as the words most ignorant people use. They are minorities who have been raised in America and talk about how hatred towards the minority in America is almost always inevitable, with the population of the Caucasians being the most populated. In her essay, Leong writes "language is the tool used to define us and differentiate us from the next person. Sometimes these things are innocuous, depending on the particular word and the context in which it is used. Often they serve to ridicule and humiliate (Leong, 2014, p494)."

Naylor and Leong explain how the words "Nigger" and "chink" are used to offend, yet the same people whom the words are supposed to offend are the ones who use them on their conversations daily. Naylor says "it could be applied to a man who had distinguished himself in some situation that brought their approval for his intelligence, drive and strength" (Naylor, 1986, p470). Both Naylor and Leong were minorities who were born and raised in an area that was highly populated by Caucasians. In the essay, Naylor writes "I was part of a large extended family and had migrated from the rural South after the Second World War and formed a close-knit network which gravitated around her maternal grandparents ( Naylor,1986)." Her family was aware of what the term nigger meant but had not to let the true meaning of it get on the way of their living in America.

Racism is an obstacle to societal development, and a discriminative word should never be used. Efforts made to guard against words and set barriers are destined to fail. The use of racial words by target groups and their acceptance is the only means they have to fight back rather than resisting. Through modifying the connotations of these words inclusive of, as Naylor writes "a disembodied force that channeled their history of struggle and present survival against the odds into a victorious statement of being" (Naylor, 1986, p408) is not satisfied with defeat. The family of Naylor chooses to give negative and positive meanings to the word "nigger." Even if words are used by the original group to distinguish them from others, Christine Leong states that" in some ways, it has helped us find a certain comfort in each other, each of us knowing what the other has gone through, a common thread of racism." Names and labels separate us, and by one group adopting a name or a label, severe racial problems arise leading to violence when that label is used by a person who does not belong to the same group.

A conversation with Latino's on race

In discussion with Latino's on race by Joe Brewster, Blair Foster and Michele Stephenson, for some people, the Latino identity is quite confusing. Most times a person finding themselves whether they should be Latino, or Hispanic, even though they are Mexicans. Regardless of what specific country a person is coming from, a community is formed ones you are in the United States (conversation with Latinos on race, n.d.). One interviewer says that history is the history of indigenous people, African people, and Europeans. These people collide most of the time without their consent, leading to some issues that most people have. Most immigrants have to navigate between different cultures, giving up a lot of what they grew up with, in trying to fit into the culture of Americans in general.

How a person looks determines if they can get an apartment in New York City, making it clear that race is an issue. Unless a person speaks their language, from the color of their skin, most people assume that they are black Americans. It also goes down to families, in one, one daughter is lighter than the other, and that has caused issues, with the oldest daughter telling the youngest she's "black." some of them have been forced to leave their cultures entirely. Since the concept of the Black Nationalism and black liberation movement is more accessible with fewer language issues, some people had to leave their nationalism to these. A person who is closer to being white is supreme, but still, being Latino is being phenomenal since a person can blend in all areas.

A conversation with black women on race

In this interview, black women explain their experiences. An attack on them comes in different forms. Some people experience police brutality, others racial profiling, while some women have not had a direct interaction (conversation with black women on race, n.d.). Black women are attacked in various ways; there are internal race issues in their own culture and external race issues, and their mothering issues on race. Being a woman of color and race is very much. Some have been criticized at their places of work for their hair not looking "professional." They are unable to dance and play and interact freely with other people because of continually being told that their hair, clothes are not good enough. Most whites try to make sure that everyone notices the presence of blacks. At some point, some women thinking about themselves have changed due to these factors, that maybe they are just not good enough. There was a high population of black women who were single. They all seemed beautiful and attractive, ambitious and intelligent but the question is why they still had no one to date. This is because of the world today. The power of a woman lies on accepting who she is, and from her perception of self.

A conversation with white people on race

In these conversations, interviews present their views; to some, it is not comfortable to talk about race, because it is not something she does(Conversation With White People On Race | Op-Docs | The New York Times, n.d.). Others feel that there are many reasons as to why they think they should talk about race. They do not want to say anything that will offend anyone since it is a very touchy subject, and even more difficult when a person thinks they are on the right side to have a dialogue about it. A person might be racist and still not know about it, because the society's perception of racism is a guy in a rope. There is a system of disadvantages and advantages that are based on race, experienced by white people. The mere fact that a white person should bring the topic up to their children to suggest that there is no difference shows that there is a significant difference.

Most people wonder why a black person is called black, and the answer is always the same "is just a term, move on". they do not identify themselves as being white and some did not even know they had a racial identity prior to these conversations, or how it had shaped their outlook on a sense of belonging, on life, on safety and on feeling entitled to help children thought to be a part of a community which was unable to figure out how to help themselves. Whites feel the burden of most people out there feeling the weight of them being white, and they take upon themselves to carry the guilt of how it all started at first place. Everyone is implicated in a system that is racist, doing things that challenge it, and perpetuate it at the same time. One interviewer confesses to never saying anything when they heard racist comments. Getting involved in topics that involve race is not necessary to others because they have only been beneficiaries of it and being white means that; a person has the privilege to think that they are not affected by racism.

A conversation with Native Americans on race

In this conversation, Native Americans challenge their invisibility in society. The government calls them the "Apache." They will tell them how awesome they think it is for them to decide to be a part of their own culture, and it is annoying to the Native Americans because that is not a decision to make, but something they live every day. They are more comfortable with the term "Native" without including it with America, although some people still use "Indigenous." To be called "American Indian is not quite preferable (Conversation with Native Americans on Race | Op-Docs, n.d.). To be indigenous means to have an interconnected and intimate relationship to one's homeland. The city reminds them daily that people do not even remember or notice their presence. Some white men have approached Native Americans saying "if this were forty years ago, I would do whatever I wanted to do with you." natives in America are perceived as the exotic antelope on the walls, like animals.

The Indian card in the United States is used to divide natives against each other, to show that one person is more native than the other. To say that a drop of blood makes a person black is to legitimize black's oppression as much as possible. If it were up to the American government, there would not be natives around. They only exist around because of the benefits they provide. The essential point on their claim to the land, sovereignty, to resources and culture gets lost if they don't insist on the fact that they are nations. Native Americans have taken substantial steps to decolonize and there is that proof from people being able to speak their languages and to be in the land of their ancestors. Holding a Native name means that, a family survived colonialism and shelter.

Being multiracial in America

In his Speech, Barack Obama, former president of the United States says that he has brothers, cousins, and sisters of different races, scattered across three continents. He does not necessarily mean that he is mixed or not mixed but talks more about it (Being multiracial in America, n.d.). If that can happen with one person then in a larger community, it can happen to more people. In the census in 2000, people were made to respond to more than one race, and that group held 7.3 million people. It makes a lot of people nervous to ask those of mixed races what they are, to prevent bringing up race as an issue. Most people have now started to acknowledge that race is complex. Most mixed people are excited to sit together and talk about the things that they face and their sense of culture. The more you look like something, the more you are identified with it. The issue with most multiracial people in America is that they do not fit in any boxes very well. This leads to people having some degree of animosity towards them because they cannot be categorized. As time goes by and new generations come, people are becoming more open to various cultures.

A conversation with black women on race. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=A+conversation+with+black+women+on+race

A conversation with Latinoa...