Racism Today
"...Everybody jumped on him, beat the hell out of him... Everybody was
hitting him or kicking him. One guy was kicking at his spine. Another guy
hitting on the side of the face... He was unconscious. He was bleeding.
Everybody had blood on their forearms. We ran back up the hill laughing...
He should have died... He lost so much blood he turned white. He got
what he deserved" (Ridgeway 167.)
The skinheads who performed this random act of racial violence in 1990,
had no reason to brutally beat their victim other than the fact that he was
Mexican (Ridgeway 167). Racism is objectively defined as any practice of
ethnic discrimination or segregation. Fortunately, racial violence is
steadily declining as the turn of the century approaches. Now a new form
of racism, covert racism, has recently sprung from the pressures of
political correctness. This new form of racism, although slowly declining,
still shows signs of strong support (Piazza 86). Covert racism assumes a
form of civil disobedience against politically correct thought and speech.
Essentially, covert racism is a "hidden" racism, or a racism not easily
detected (Piazza 78). "Racism is still strongly prevalent in today's
society" (Gudorf 3).
The three different basic forms of racism, open racism, violent racism,
and covert racism all express forms of hatred towards distinct ethnic
groups (Bender 47). These basic forms of racism, although different in
form, all have the same main purpose, to promote racism.
Open racism expresses freedom of racial thought and speech. Open racists
promote their views through strictly persuasionary tactics. This form of
racism is allowed in our society because of the First Amendment. Open
racism is currently almost nonexistent and steadily declining, because it
is considered politically...
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