Racism in North America

There is surely no continent in the work that holds "racism" in greater numbers than North America. The media and public have become so used to stories of rape, robbery, arson, and murder that they are almost commonplace in North America.

A good example of this is when a group of young white kids in a small town called Moncton decided to burn a cross on the front lawn of a Black family's house. It set off a major issue in the supposedly almost anti-racist town. If the group had "merely" murdered someone, they would have attracted much less attention and criticism.

Racism is, indeed, a continental obsession. Newspaper articles and politicians denounce it. America is said to be leaded with it, but exactly just what is racism?

Dictionaries do not provide much assistance. They usually define it as: "The belief that one's own ethnic stock is superior to others, or even as the belief that culture and behaviour are rooted in race." Now, to North Americans, racism means a whole lot more than just these clues to the true meaning of racism. A particular meaning derives from the current dogma that all ethnic stocks are equal. All races have been announced to be evenly hard-working and talented, and anyone who questions the belief is thought to be not wrong but simply evil.

Every time a non-white is poor, commits a crime, goes on welfare, or takes drugs, white society stands and again reacts in a racist way. This is not fair because white individuals do much worse in committing identical crimes. Society now is much more open-minded than it was in the past, but there's still room for improvement.

Racism hit its turning point with the civil rights movements in the 60's. Rosa Parks did not give up her seat to a white man on a bus in 1963. This type of act was not accepted during this time. It set off a booming, national controversy about "racism". But with Rosa Parks' courageous act, the law had come to a conclusion that racism had to be stopped. The government then decided to create laws against racism.

Since the incident in 1963 with Rosa Parks and others, racism has started to drop. There are still some acts of racism, but they are taken very seriously now. Someday, this constant battle with racism will hopefully end.

Back to top of page