What is an ideal state? What democratic country is perfect? Is it not a place where all are entitled equality? Is it not a place for every citizen breathes free air and chooses work of their own free will as long as they remain responsible citizens? Is the United States of America the most powerful democracy? Then why is it that inequality prevails in a sovereign state? Why racism still lives like a dormant volcano, ready to spew its burning ashes on the ones who differ in color? There are many questions that come to mind when the racial aggression surfaces not just amongst civilians of the United States, but in the administration as well. This article tries to contemplate all these questions and analyzes what future trends are for racism and racists in the United States of America.
Not so long ago, the United States showed that racism is still alive deep down in their hearts when 24 year old Nina Davuluri, an Indian American, was crowned the title of Miss America. Although the moment came as a proud one, depicting that the true qualities and talents are always appreciated in the United States, with twitter tweets and news showering comments like, “celebrating diversity through cultural competency” (Brown). But what followed marred the pride. Racist slur flew from every direction and the proud Miss America had to face insinuations from the whites who could not even make it to the top three (Brown).
Going back in time, hostility grew against all “turbaned” races that lived in the US and every person of the “brown” ethnicity was put under a scanner post the Pentagon and The World Trade Center. No matter what country a “brown” person belonged to, they were considered part of anti-American terrorist groups just because of their ethnic background. Going further back with another crisis the infamous November 1979 Iranian hostage crisis of the U.S. embassy in Tehran triggered an outcry of anti-Iranian sentiment in the United States, aimed at both the new Islamic rule and Iranian nationals who immigrated to the United States. Ever since this incident such sentiments gradually subsided when the hostages were released at the beginning of the year of 1981. However, anti-Islamic sentiments flare up now and then. As a direct result of this passive aggression amongst Americans, some Iranian immigrants to the U.S. have detached themselves from their origin of nationality and identify themselves on the basis of ethnic and religious connections instead (Blackburn and Aro). The Second Gulf War saw the slur of racism going across borders into Iraq territories, where the acts of racism were equally answered by Arabs. The situation is very sensitive still and the future seems no different, as middle-eastern and South Asian settlers are all openly categorized as anti-American terrorists.
Nearly 1600 individuals on cases with death penalty are “colored”, out of which nearly 49% are African Americans (EJI). Facts reveal that in the period of 1981 to 1997, United States Department of Agriculture discriminated against many African American farmers, and denied them the same loans that were provided to white farmers in similar situations. The discrimination became the main topic of speculation of the Pigford vs. Glickman lawsuit that was brought forward by members of the National Black Farmers Association, which finally culminated into two settlement agreements of $1.25 billion in 1999 and of $1.15 billion in 2009 respectively (Southall). The future is yet uncertain about the black-white racism, though efforts have begun and with the increasing knowledge of the psychology of this racism through research.
Racism has found targets even for white individuals who migrated from the European continent. There is a special term used for racism against European settlers known as “Nativism”. The racism was aimed against non-British settlers, who were considered inferior, especially in the 19th century when Italian and Jewish settlers arrived at the shores of the United States. The White-White racism declined significantly post 1930’s due to the political shifts caused due to the ensuing wars in the World War II. However, this type of racism has become colloquial in the American language though the aggressiveness of any form has not been reported so far. The White-White racism was replaced by a more prominent black-white racism. As of the present day, Nativism and Nordicism has subsided although future trends may reveal something unexpected.
Statistics from a recent survey say that the original white population that descended from the first settlers on the American continent has become a minority and the United States is now officially a country of multi-ethnic persuasion. The irony of the fact is that the individuals who involve themselves in the act of racism are descendants of people who migrated to the States from foreign lands. The idea of nativity is very sensitive and requires explanation, but superiority on the basis of color is baseless. In fact, racism is ethically wrong as ethics dictate the equality of human beings.
What needs to be done is to understand and reject the idea of stereotypes. Just because one “brown” is a terrorist or if Osama Bin Laden wore a turban, that the rest of the brown or turbaned people are terrorist, and just because an African American is poor he has to be a thief or a murderer. However, it is evident that ethical and moral argument is futile and deeper psychological methods are required to persuade people to give away the notion of racism.
Works cited
Blackburn, B. & Margaret Aro. "Muslim-American Soldier Claims Harassment in the Army". ABC World News Diane Sawyer. American Broadcasting Company. 14 Apr. 2010. Accessed 20Oct. 2013
Brown, S. Miss America Victory Marred by Racist Slurs: Twitter rage after Indian American from New York wins crown. Newsfeed Time. 16 Sept. 2013. Accessed 20 October, 2013
EJI. The death penalty is infected with racial bias. Equal Justice Initiative. N.D. Accessed 20 Oct. 2013
Southall, A. "Bias Payments Come Too Late for Some Farmers". The New York Times. 25 Oct. 2010. Accessed 20 Oct. 2013.
Takaki, R. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York: Little, Brown & Co. 1993. Print.
