Racism

If there's one good thing that came out of the 9/11 tragedy, it is the fact that 9/11 was the day that brought America together. On that fateful day, Americans, of all shapes and sizes -- regardless of their own differences in race, age, sex, or class - were all united as one. The whole world watched as the twin towers of New York City fell to the ground, taking thousands of lives in its rubble. But amidst the dust and the smoke, a new spirit was born. Flags were flown half-mast all over the country; commercials featuring individuals with different ethnic backgrounds professing that we are all Americans; anti-terrorism messages were proliferated in the media; and a lot of campaigns about spreading unity and love. 9/11 is, truly, a day to remember; but four years has passed since that tragic day, and the notion of a "united" America has already been forgotten. Right after the incidents of 9/11, a lot of people were pointing fingers as to who's to blame on the tragedy. The hatred and animosity that a lot of people felt towards Muslims and Arabs cannot be denied. Muslims and Arabs all over the country were feared, some were stared at, and some were ridiculed. Racism, once again, became rampant.

Webster Dictionary defines racism as making the race of other people a factor in attitudes or actions concerning them. Joe R. Feagin and Hernan Vera, in their article "White Racism: A Sociology of Human Waste," discusses one particular type of racism: white racism. White racism, as they define it, is the "socially organized set of attitudes, ideas, and practices that deny African-Americans and other people of color the dignity, opportunities, freedoms, and rewards that this nation offers white Americans." For me, white racism simply means one thing: it is the feeling of superiority that the Anglo-Saxon race has over any other race. If we look back through the course of human society in history, one will notice that the Anglo-Saxons have always had this feeling of edge over people of other ethnic backgrounds. Some historians say this is due to the cultural advance that European nations had in the 15th and 16th century, a white man believes that he is sent here in earth to educate and develop uncivilized societies. While other historians believe that their superiority is based solely on their skin color.