Racial Tension: Has It Ceased?

Racial Tension: Has it Ceased?

Deirdre Woods

English Composition 122

Donn Leiske

April 14th, 2008

Racial Tension: Has it Ceased?

My answer to this question is no. I do not think we will ever see the day the Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of and had a dream. Some disagree and say that racism is no more. I agree with them just to disagree. We are a people living lives of being content. Our daily motto: “I will not bother you as long as you do not bother me”. I live everyday knowing that as soon as I step into the world; I am going to face some type of discrimination. Speaking as a young black female, I not only deal with racial tension, but I watch others as they are looked down on and grimaced because of the color of their skin. When will people of all colors and nationalities, realize that we are all people and at some point, maybe even related? “Race reflects combined biological traits and cultural givens (the so-called one-drop rule). The one drop rule is a common-sense understanding in American culture. If a white person has one drop of African or Black blood, the person is considered black” (Hunter, 2006). Historical power of white Americans was the source of black people embracing the fact that black was considered evil. If we take a moment and do some extensive research, I would almost guarantee our races and nationalities are linked; linked together by a single drop of blood, but because of our ignorance we deny the possibilities. Why does this not send a light bulb off or raise a red flag that ultimately we are the same. No one is better than the other. I bleed, have feelings, have the same financial, and drug related family problems as much as the next person. Lawrence Blum argues that, “�race’ itself, even when not serving distinct racial malfeasance, is a morally destructive idea, implying moral distance and unequal worth” (Blum, 2002). This is why people feel they have the right to walk all over or think they are inferior of another person/race.

Ethnic, cultural, or tribal tension was once a product of white America; however, that is no longer the case. Every race is just as guilty and responsible for the racial tension that lives today. Hispanics and Blacks still are unable to trust whites. Whites are apprehensive of Blacks, and no one likes the Asians. “There is not a race that is absolutely socially acknowledged by the other, yet society wants us to believe that racism has vanished” (Hunter, 2006). How is this possible when whites still control all key resources and divisions of labor and the mistreatment of young Blacks and Hispanics still exists? Take notice of the news and the crimes being committed. Notice how if a crime is committed by a black or hispanic offender there is a picture the same day of the report. Some say it is just good investigation skills. I doubt it. To me it seems like they want to be certain they have the correct person before posting a picture of a white offender. Grant it, this is not always true. It seems that way the majority of times. There was a case in Lima, Ohio where a young black woman was shot and killed by white police officers while holding her son. Although the police were not found doing anything wrong, there was never a reason for them to open fire. The reason for them entering the home was because of the woman’s boyfriend, who was under investigation for drug activity. He was not home at the time. A prominent local made this comment, “�There is an evil in this town,’ said C. M. Manley, 68, pastor of New Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. �The police harass me. They harass my family. But they know that if something happens to me, people will burn down this town’” (Maag, 2008). An elderly black woman had this to say, “�the cops in Lima, they is racist like no tomorrow’, said Mr. Cook, 56. �Why else would you shoot a mother with a baby in her arms’”