Racism: My Individual Opinion

Racism, it isn't an easy subject to deal with due to the perceptions of everyone regardless of whether or not a specific individual has an opinion on the subject. There are many people that are on both sides of the issue but no one wants to tackle the issue head on due to people being harshly criticized in the public forum even when the people are dealing with a specific situation.

The real problem with racism is the fact that many perpetuate it inadvertently by crying racism even when there is compelling evidence to the contrary. In certain situations there is evidence that someone or some group is racially motivated, for which the racism should be brought to light and dealt with appropriately.

There is definitely a culture that breeds racism in the United States and it isn't always whites being prejudiced against blacks there is definitely a culture of blacks being prejudice against whites. There is also a subculture of black on black racism which makes it harder for society to tackle racism. Both blacks and whites have a very different idea of what constitutes racism, blacks who believe that racism is still rampant feel that whites insist on oppressing the black community even if it means belittling the black communities who then take action based on that belief.

Whites also experience racism which is just as bad but no one is willing to talk about publicly due to many people both black and white not wanting to acknowledge that it happens. There are times where through the course of an individuals own actions they are forced to be held accountable for their own actions but take it as them being mistreated due to the color of their skin if it is a white person holding them accountable what happened.

Racism goes both ways and as long as each race has people in it that perpetuates the problem we all will continue to be affected by it regardless of whether or not a specific individual is racist or color blind when it comes to race.

When it comes to black on black prejudice, it is a lot more complicated and difficult for a white person to comprehend. Sometimes it is just as simple as one black person treating another black in the same way a white would treat a black but there is more range to black on black racism which goes all the way to some blacks calling others a sell out due to trying to fit into mainstream society and trying to make a better life for themselves.

A fairly good example of black on black racism is what happened to the comedian Bill Cosby when he stood up and said that the black community has to take responsibility for their own problems rather than treating their problems as something imposed onto them by someone else. The backlash ended up coming from organizations that publicly state that they are trying to fight racism that condemned and dismissed Bill Cosby's comments saying that he was in no position to be talking for the black community un the United States.

I feel that Bill Cosby is a far better representative for the black community due to what he has accomplished and what he did to help children in his early career as a comedian and actor. He graduated from college with a doctorate and he did his thesis while staring in a children's show on Public Television that brought early childhood education to television in the early 1970's while in college in Boston. The show was called Electric Company which also stared Morgan Freeman who was also early in his career at the time. If anyone has done a lot for the black community in today's society it would be them due to them helping society itself not just the black community.

There are also a lot of black people that have contributed to society but get little recognition due to the fact that they were out to become famous and with a little time and effort anyone can find that there are a lot of blacks that contributed significantly to the very society for which a segment of the black community says works against them.

I will leave with this one question:

If you are a firm believer of equal rights, then what would you think Martin Luther King's opinion would be of today's civil rights movement?