The article looks at racism from a Hispanic perspective, and how racism is not only limited to the traditional white- black racism model. The United States is a nation where racism up to now seems to be a key issue. In the past, the white-black relation model is what has defined the concept of racism, but currently composition and culture seem to be changing quickly. The population by the year 2050 will reach a state where it will be difficult to classify the different groups of people exclusively. Thus, the original white-black racism will not be the only level of racism but will also include the Hispanics and Asians. This is what is called multicolored racism. This concept can assist to create a greater anti-racist force that can ultimately put an end to racism itself.
For the fight against racism to be successful, putting an end to the comparisons among the different oppressed social groups is essential. The Harris Poll survey showed that people of a different color are prejudiced towards each other. This is detrimental towards the fight against racism as it puts the coloreds in the same level of racism as the whites. This survey never focused on the positive attitudes of the colored people.
Another key issue that the article portrays is the idea of academic scholars focusing on the black racism, as it seems to receive more funding compared to the racism on Hispanics and the Asians (Martinez, 1994). Politicians also increase the Black -Latino friction by blaming them for the economic crisis of the American nation.
Thesis
The main argument the author is trying to bring out is that racism is not only limited to the black community, but also to the Hispanics and the Asian communities. This is what the author refers to as multicolored racism. Through this concept, the author argues that it would create a greater force in the fight against racism in general.
The author argues that it would be absurd to maintain the model of white-black racism when the population composition in America by 2050 is expected to be 32 percent Latino (Martinez, 1994). In addition, the author argues that, in 1990, the New York police under suspicious circumstances killed more Puerto Ricans than any other ethnic group (Martinez, 1994). Furthermore, the massive participation of the Latinos in the 1992 uprising was referred to as a Black riot by the media. Moreover, certain politicians are creating and passing racist, unconstitutional laws on immigrants. They have further used the word immigrant to mean Mexicans.
The author tries to explain the concept of racism as a multicolored affair and not just a white-black affair. In addition, the author illustrates that some political statements such as the problems in America are due to immigrants have a racist perspective in them. Further, the author offers a solution to tackle racism by creating a bigger force through fostering understanding between blacks and the Hispanics. If the blacks are aware and informed of the sufferings the Hispanics go through, they can be able to relate and in the end assist in the fight against racism in America.
I tend to agree with how the author is trying to show the multicolored aspect of racism. The only place I differ with the author is the use of only the Hispanics to portray the multicolored racism. In order to illustrate that the issue of racism is not only a white-black thing, the author could have given more examples of racism on other groups such as the Asians and other minority ethnic groups.
Reference
Martinez, E. (1994). Seeing more than Black and White. Retrieved from
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/blackwht.htm
