Every time I watch that racist chant, I cringe. I get shivers down my arm. I’d like to believe that everyone in the world feels the same way against such blatant racism… clearly, however, this is not true. Even though America has come such a long way from the widely-accepted racism of the pre-Civil-Rights movement era, we’ve still got so much left to do as a society.
Personally, I think that racism may never be entirely exterminated. As this video helps prove, racist ideals come from previous generations teaching their children from a young age. Those students at SAE clearly did not decide to be racist upon enrolling at OU or upon joining the fraternity. They were influenced by the racist environment around them—even if that environment is not publicly, blatantly racist, all of its subtle prejudices and snide remarks can help form racist ideas within any child.
I can even see it in my own life. Though my parents are not what the public may perceive as racist, they still believe in racial stereotypes—they themselves were raised in a racist society in Indonesia, where native Indonesians have long held contempt for Chinese-Indonesians. Once they came to America, they picked up on the racial prejudices of the South and even began to believe in the black, white, and Hispanic stereotypes. As a result, I was raised in an environment filled with subtle racism, and though I’d like to think I’ve broken free from my childhood influences, I cannot deny that inklings still remain. Sadly, this is even clearly true among many in my own generation—whether they admit it or not—as I still see evidence of racism all the time among my very non-“racist” friends. With regards to those disgraced students at SAE, I (for perhaps the first time EVER) actually find myself agreeing with the sentiments of the rapper Wacka Flocka Flame: I’m disgusted; unlike many people, however, I cannot say that I’m surprised to hear young people say such terrible things. After a bit of inner contemplation, I realize (and hope that others realize) that a person’s racist beliefs stem from a privately prejudiced society that undoubtedly surrounds us all.
I don’t know if it is possible to completely exterminate the prejudices within the human race, at least, not in humanity’s foreseeable future. Admittedly, I’m not sure if it is even desirable to discontinue the idea of different “races” within the human species: what will happen to cultural pride or societal variety? Does being colorless necessarily mean societal happiness? What I’m sure of, however, is that society should wholeheartedly strive for unlimited equality among all “races.” We should take pride in our own culture, yet also take united pride in other cultures for being so different…so human.
A Leaky Faucet 
It makes me uncomfortable to say the least every time I think about the events at OU. But that’s good. Racism isn’t going to die without people like you who cannot bare to see such random acts of ignorance. I understand what you mean when you say that racism may never die and I wish I could say you were wrong. But it seems that the only way we can diminish it as much as possible is to let people know what you think about it. If its uncool to hate people because of race or creed, maybe people will eventually see the light.
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Yeah, I’ve begun to think that it should be uncool to hate, but very cool to acknowledge: to remember, love, and
cherish one’s race–not as superior to any other, but as a way to honor one’s origins. Who knows, maybe one day people w will even be able to joke about race fearing racial offense or backlash! Honestly, I’d love to live to see that day.
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I think a lot of what you said was like…things I knew but couldn’t really put into words. I haven’t personally experienced the negative effects of racism, but I do live in an all “white” family which has only known Texas from the moment our ancestors came to America. So I definitely feel that (not so) subtle racist environment even within my own family. It’s interesting what you said about eliminating race altogether. I kind of see it not as something that should be moved out of the way so we don’t have to deal with the possibility of racism, but I think it should instead be a hurdle that we as a society should work to overcome. It’s the only way we’ll ever get better at true acceptance, I think. Loved reading this!
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Strangely enough, I was actually thinking on the concept of racism recently… Though still present in the United States, I do believe that the quantity of racists and racial slurs are slowly declining. Racism, I believe, is produced, not through the belief that some one is different than you, but that their differences that come with their race are not equal to you. This belief has continued through racial stereotypes and jokes that have been one of the most common types of racial persecution of the day. When I was young I heard many racial jokes in school, while seemingly harmless, these jokes created a barrier between the race and my understanding of all humans as humans by turning them into an object to be “joked” about. Thankfully, I have not heard a racial joke for quite some time now, which hopefully means that they are becoming less prevalent. But all in all, I do agree with you that racial tension does, and continues to exist in America. And while I may not have the definitive answer to it, I do believe that a way that this problem can be possibly rectified is to not view someone as part of their race, but to view their race as part of someone, which does not and can mean anything.
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