Morgan Deravin English 111 Final Essay Racism has always been part of the history of human beings. For a long time, societies have always defined their superiority on the basis of their distinctive physical characteristics as well as their languages and religions. There are many instances where those practicing racism do not even know that they are nurturing as well as propagating prejudice. They see it as a normal way of life, and they may not understand that they are hurting or even inhibiting the progress of others (Gallego & Pardos-Prado, 2014). The feudalism and slavery of the middle-ages were some of the unfortunate consequences of the earlier forms of racism. There have also been several genocides which have been informed by the urge to eliminate those other people who may not look like the dominant tribe or society. Indeed, even the Second World War was in part informed by racism. One particular instance is the one where the Nazi Germany sought to eliminate the Jews living in Europe in what came to be known as the Holocaust. There have also been many instances where individuals of darker skin tones have been regarded as being inferior to the Whites. This has been witnessed in England, Germany, and even in the United States. In Africa itself, people like Nelson Mandela were incarcerated for such a long time since the governing regime viewed the members of the Black community as inferior, untalented, as well as extremely violence. The challenge is that when people are fighting such oppressions, they tend to engage in acts which may be defined as terrorism. This reinforces the belief that, indeed, the individuals being oppressed are violent and uncivilized (Aghababaei & Tabik, 2013). Racism continues since after a while, such lines of binaries as ‘Blacks’ and ‘Whites’ as well as the ‘civilized’ and the ‘uncivilized’ tend to get more pronounced. Some people feel superior to others, and some of those who are considered to be inferior accept that definition. This means that even as they fight to be recognized, they still feel as if they cannot reach a certain level and become appreciated like everyone else. There are multiple reasons why racism persists, and these include the history of the society or the community in question (Gallego & Pardos-Prado, 2014). History acts as the guide upon which most people gauge their actions. It is though those accounts that future actions can be defined and executed. This means that if the predecessors ever made mistakes, then these mistakes get reinforced and the kind of humiliation and torture is continued for a long time. For instance, while Holocaust is widely thought to be a creation of Adolf Hitler, the fact is that Western European cultures have ha ...

1. Morgan Deravin
English 111
Final Essay
Racism has always been part of the history of human
beings. For a long time, societies
have always defined their superiority on the basis of their
distinctive physical characteristics as
well as their languages and religions. There are many instances
where those practicing racism do
not even know that they are nurturing as well as propagating
prejudice. They see it as a normal
way of life, and they may not understand that they are hurting
or even inhibiting the progress of
others (Gallego & Pardos-Prado, 2014).
The feudalism and slavery of the middle-ages were some of the
unfortunate consequences
of the earlier forms of racism. There have also been several
genocides which have been informed
by the urge to eliminate those other people who may not look
like the dominant tribe or society.

2. Indeed, even the Second World War was in part informed by
racism. One particular instance is
the one where the Nazi Germany sought to eliminate the Jews
living in Europe in what came to
be known as the Holocaust.
There have also been many instances where individuals of
darker skin tones have been
regarded as being inferior to the Whites. This has been
witnessed in England, Germany, and even
in the United States. In Africa itself, people like Nelson
Mandela were incarcerated for such a
long time since the governing regime viewed the members of
the Black community as inferior,
untalented, as well as extremely violence. The challenge is that
when people are fighting such
oppressions, they tend to engage in acts which may be defined
as terrorism. This reinforces the
belief that, indeed, the individuals being oppressed are violent
and uncivilized (Aghababaei &
Tabik, 2013).
Racism continues since after a while, such lines of binaries as
‘Blacks’ and ‘Whites’ as

3. well as the ‘civilized’ and the ‘uncivilized’ tend to get more
pronounced. Some people feel
superior to others, and some of those who are considered to be
inferior accept that definition.
This means that even as they fight to be recognized, they still
feel as if they cannot reach a
certain level and become appreciated like everyone else. There
are multiple reasons why racism
persists, and these include the history of the society or the
community in question (Gallego &
Pardos-Prado, 2014).
History acts as the guide upon which most people gauge their
actions. It is though those
accounts that future actions can be defined and executed. This
means that if the predecessors
ever made mistakes, then these mistakes get reinforced and the
kind of humiliation and torture is
continued for a long time. For instance, while Holocaust is
widely thought to be a creation of
Adolf Hitler, the fact is that Western European cultures have
had a history of discriminating
against the Jews and other minorities for a long time. The Jews
were discriminated and actually
expelled from England as well as the Iberian Peninsula. Hitler

4. might have been prompted by the
successes of the past when he tried to make Germany a society
of one pure race (Luhmann,
Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2014).
The second most important reason is the lack of awareness. For
instance, Nelson
Mandela and the ANC had prepared a statement that stipulated
their core principles, and they
regarded to this as the Freedom Charter. The Charter had been
endorsed by the party way back in
1955. One of the core principles was that the ANC fought to
equality for everyone, irrespective
of their race (Aghababaei & Tabik, 2013). The problem is that it
was banned almost immediately
upon its release to the public, and this meant that even the
tolerant Whites could not understand
what Mandela was really fighting for. They just got every
direction from the government
controlled media, and that means they could not have made any
credible decisions on how to
address the issue of racism. This is a clear example of how lack
of knowledge impact on the fight

5. against racism (Vincent, Ward, & Denson, 2013).
There is also the stratification of the society. In Los Angeles,
there have always been the
Black neighborhoods and the White areas. For instance, while
the Blacks have been confined in
areas such as Watts, the Whites have always lived in such well-
off regions as the Rodeo Drive in
Beverly Hills. In fact, had it not been for the success of the
Hollywood and other sports and
entertainment activities, not many whites would have come to
appreciate the fact that Blacks
have talents. Indeed, there are many people who still believe
that Blacks can only prosper in
certain careers but not others (Vincent et al., 2013).
While I have no problem in dealing with people from other
races, I do have friends who
tend to agree with the stereotypes advanced by the media and
some politicians. Some of my
friends have also told me that they do not believe that the
individuals from the ‘third-world’ are
equally competent since if this was the case, they would never
have found any need to migrate to
other countries. The challenge is that the ‘third world’ refers to
Africa, Latin America, the Arab

6. World, the Indian Subcontinent, and countries such as
Indonesia. Therefore, people who come
from these regions of the world are thought to be inferior in
various ways.
I personally believe that all societies and individuals are
capable. Besides, civilizations
such as Burma, the Philippines, Indonesia, and even Mexico
have been in existence for
thousands of years; and there was a time that they used to be
among the richest in the world. It
could be that their current economic models are not really
working, and they might probably
achieve a lot if some policy changes were made. One case in
point is China. China has managed
to achieve a lot within a span of few decades. Individuals can
achieve, and so can the societies.
References
Aghababaei, N., & Tabik, M.T. (2013, Oct.). Gratitude and
mental health: Differences between
religious and general gratitude in a Muslim context. Mental
Health, Religion & Culture,

7. 16(8), 761-766. DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2012.718754
Gallego, A., & Pardos-Prado, S. (2014, Jan.). The big five
personality traits and attitudes towards
immigrants. Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies, 40(1), 79-
99. DOI:
10.1080/1369183X.2013.826131
Luhmann, M., Hawkley, L., & Cacioppo, J. (2014, August).
Thinking about one's subjective
well-being: Average trends and individual differences. Journal
of Happiness Studies,
15(4), 757-781. DOI: 10.1007/s10902-013-9448-5
Vincent, N., Ward, L., & Denson, L. (2013, Dec.). Personality
preferences and their relationship
to ego development in Australian leadership program
participants. Journal of Adult
Development, 20(4), 197-211. DOI: 10.1007/s10804-013-9171-9