I would like to start with my own explanation of what it means for me to be a part of a community in which people with different backgrounds, religious education, traditions and even languages exist near each other. I would like to mention that I have never faced direct racism towards me but I have seen several times how the race affected the attitude towards some of the people I met in my life. Moreover, I am a very lucky person and I met very positive people in general who were interested in our cultural differences but no one ever made any comments about the colour of my skin, my hair or something else and they treated me, as I was one of them.
I live in a country where you can meet people from all corners of our big and so multifarious world and it is hard to say which race is the most common. It never occurred to me that racial differences should dictate us how to behave in the society. However, there are cases that I just cannot ignore. Some people claim that since I am a white female with straight hair and blue eyes I am a part of privileged community. I never agreed with this statement and I could never understand why people say such horrible things. I believe that it is wrong to divide races into such categories. We are talking about people, not things! On the other hand. the other interesting fact about community I live in that you can meet people from different races who are occupied in the same area and are able to cooperate and find the best solutions for their daily job.
The major difference is that the representatives of one race prefer to live separately from representatives of other race. In my opinion, it does not mean that we cannot stand each other or we cannot be friends, it means the attempt for each race to save the traditions, specific accent, the way of thinking and perception of the world. I believe that for some people it might be weird but if we think about it deeper, it does not mean anything racist towards other cultures, nations or races. People will always try to protect their roots and they would be fools if they forgot about their grandmothers and grandfathers.
Of course, not everything is so good and sometimes I hear people calling each other names and trying to offend each other but it does not show the attitude of the whole race towards other race. It only proves that there are bad and obtuse people no matter what skin colour they have. From all written above, I could conclude that no matter which race you belong to, people behave pretty much the same because all the actions we are taking are dictated not by our skin colour but by our human nature, our level of intelligence and ability to forgive those who are weaker.
I would say that the leaders in my community treat people who are like completely equally to others. I was lucky that I never faced any racial discrimination and I am very thankful to my leaders. I think that in my country everyone can find a job easily and on fair terms, no matter what nationality or race they have. I think it is very important that leaders see beyond the skin colour and are able to treat everyone around them with all due fairness. I feel would be better if all the people had the same rights and the punishment was the same for everyone no matter what their skin colour is.
As I mentioned before, I have not faced any racism, towards me of course, there were some unpleasant situations in my life where I felt that my skin colour could have affected the conflict, but I, personally, try not to pay too much attention because it could negatively affect my attitude towards other people and it is not the right way to choose. However, some of my friends mentioned in our conversations that they were discriminated by people of different race. One of my friends told me a story that she was having his coffee in one of the cafes in downtown and suddenly she spilled the coffee on an African-American who was passing by. She did it accidentally and did not mean to bother anyone, however, the man did not want to believe that it happened accidentally and he told my friend that there are always troubles coming from the people of my race. He insinuated that what she did was done on purpose, in order to insult him for his race colour. I believe stories like these are still happening in our society because of the attitude we have towards each other.
It is worth to mention that the media do not hide anything from people like me. It is possible to read news about the achievements, about scholarships, about the courses concerning my studies and many other useful things. Moreover, it is possible to read about achievements and interesting school-projects people like me had made and about their success. I am a part of great community and I am able to be happy for others. It makes me proud that in my country the unemployment rate is no longer a question of skin colour. In 2011, nearly 20 percent of employed Blacks worked for state, local, or federal government compared to 14.2 percent of Whites and 10.4 percent of Hispanics. (The African-American Labor Force in the Recovery )
People who belong to my race have the bigger chances to find a good job and in shorter terms or to get a place in the University without any problems because there it still alive a prejudice that white people are smarter and they are able to study harder. Moreover, some employers think that the representatives of my and Asian races could be more competitive and smart in terms of work.
Another thing that I would like to add on this matter is that we made a long and a tough way to get where we are now but there is still a long way to change many things. Of course, everyone is hoping for the better future but I get a feeling that someday the borders of racism and prejudice will disappear. I am happy that I live in a country where people are eager to find the best and most appropriate way to live together no matter who belongs to which race.
One of the issues I would like to resolve in my community is to make people believe that it does not matter to which race you belong; your intellect does not depend on the skin colour. This problem could be resolved if people could give more space for creativity to the others and to give them more trust. Without trust it is not possible to prove people that you are worth something.
Moreover, it would be nice to prove to people that there is no need to wait for racial behaviour towards black people from whites. If you get to know a person and do not let your prejudice interfere, you will comprehend that there is nothing to be afraid of because white people are willing to live in a peaceful world. That is one of the reasons why white race helps African countries. White race has a natural desire to help others and there is a great potential for us to be and let other feel equity between all people in my country.
I would like to create more social educating programmes or communities, which could help others to get acquainted with the culture of white people. I would like to share our rich cultural heritage with others– our music, dances, and even cuisine. It is uncommon for white people to visit these events and I believe that it is a big letdown. If the community gives a chance to each minority the world would be less cruel and violent. Sometimes many issues can be resolved just by getting to know each other. I also think that it would be of great help to understand each other better if we get a chance to be in a multicultural environment in school. In my opinion it is very sad that sometimes children cannot go to the school, which may be closest to their home because the word is that it is a “black” or “white” school.
Bibliography
- Bratter, J. L., & King, R. B. (2008). ’’But Will It Last?’’: Marital Instability Among Interracial and Same-Race Couples. Family Relations (57), 160-171.
- Strategies and Activities for Reducing Racial Prejudice and Racism. (n.d.). Retrieved from Cultural Competence and Building Inclusive Communities: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/reduce-prejudice-racism/main
- The African-American Labor Force in the Recovery . (n.d.). Retrieved from United States Department of Labor: http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/blacklaborforce/
