Racism Today

There is an underlying problem that is promoting racism today. It is the fact that a lot of people believe, and try to make themselves believe, that racism no longer exists. Many people today live their lives oblivious to what is happening in the world around them, often trying to convince themselves that racism is not a problem in their world. Others think they know all about the problem, but don't really realize that they themselves could possibly be contributing to the problem of discrimination against someone else's human rights, while at the same time believing saying they are open-minded.

One of the main problems of racism is that many people live in racist conditions, without even seeing it. Oftentimes it's in their school, workplace, community, or even in their own homes. People often tell jokes with racist slurs, and while we know not to laugh at ones about blacks, it seems that ones about other races like Chinese and Hispanic are okay. We tell ourselves that they are just jokes, but not to those who they are ridiculing. We are all perpetrators of this and we usually feel that these types of jokes are harmless. The jokes can be harmless and maybe at times we even think they are funny, but they are also hurtful and degrading. Some of the most harmful racists are those who don't even know that they are, and even say that they aren't. These people are racist because they cannot comprehend what is happening and do not realize what they are saying is racist. Until they come to grips with this problem, in their minds there is no problem. They say that they are not racist, even when they don't hire the East Indian employee who was the most qualified of the candidates, or when the athletic team they coach consists of all white athletes.

Often times these people feel just because a person is a certain color or race, they must be a thief or a criminal. This is very typical in today's society and no one deserves to be prejudged. The prejudice of people in the world is disgusting. The worst part of it all is that people don't even know that they are doing it, often thinking that it is just "normal behavior". There are people that don't realize that they are racist and then there are those people who are ignorant and unaware of racism in the world. They walk down the streets, through the stores and work at their job, completely oblivious. They don't see what is