Racism 101

Racism has been a problem in the United States, and throughout the world for as long as we can trace back. It had sparked many important movements in our  history, some good some bad. There have been many attempts to end racism, but even today we stumble across cases of it whether it be from a political stand point, or a social aspect from businesses, even to our own school. Racism can be defined in many different ways, racism summed up can be defined as the erroneous belief that some human beings are heritability superior and others essentially inferior to one another.   In a recent blog post published by the Democrat and Chronicle,  Dick Moss brings into question what us as normal individuals consider ":racist"
 


Question #1

Is it racist for anyone, regardless of color, to use the word “nigger”?

Answer:  I believe that  no one should use the "n word." Regardless the color of the person using it. People don't necessarily understand where the word derived from and they don't understand the history of it, and what makes it such a  degrading word to use, for anyone of any color.

Question #2

Is it racist for a police officer to pull over a black family out for a Sunday drive simply because they happen to be in a “white” neighborhood?

Answer: I don't necessarily think it's racist for a police officer to pull over a black family because they're in a "white" neighborhood. I think it's stereotyping them to be assuming that they family would be doing something wrong. I think it would be racist if he directly accused them of a crime and said it was because they were of a different color.

Question #3

Is it racist for  a high school homecoming parade to feature a float with a tepee and an “Indian maid” with a feather in her hair to celebrate the school’s athletic teams that are known as the Braves?

Answer: I don't think that's racist. It's known that a Indian Maid can be easily represented by feathers in her hair, and it's for no other purpose but to celebrate a schools athletic team, there is no racism shown or meant to be shown by this action. 

Question #4

Is it racist for a white man to forbid African-American nurses from holding his newborn baby?

Answer: I don't believe it's "racist" for a white man to forbid African-American nurses to hold his newborn baby, for all anyone knows it could be just an over-protected father thing. There is no reason anyone should question why a father doesn't want anyone touching his newborn baby. It could easily be mistaken for an over-protective parent.

Question #5

Is it racist for a person (of any color) to tell race-based jokes? (Is it worse if it’s a white man telling the joke? Is it less of a problem if it’s a black man?)

Answer: I think this question can have many controversial answers.  I don't believe anyone has the  right to make jokes about ANY ONES nationality. There are definitely race-based jokes that go way to far that I  consider to be very degrading, I think it honestly all depends on the person talking and who they are saying the joke to, and the tone that the joke is being said. It's makes things different if a white man or black man is being completely serious while telling a joke to someone of the opposite race, because it's becomes easier for the other person to take offense.
 

5th Commandment

The Fifth Commandment says "Thou shalt not kill" This could easily be considered one of the most significant Commandments. There are many things that could be go against this commandment that people taking into consideration; including abortion, assisted suicide, and capital punishment (also known as the death sentence)
Abortion is a very popular topic not just in religion, but in everyday life, and politics. Abortion is a violation to the Fifth Commandment. An unborn baby is still a human, created in the likeness of God, and made to live in the life of God. Some people try to lessen the fact that it's murder by referring to abortion as "Termination of pregnancy" or 'Family planning" According to first century Christians "You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy a newborn child." Personally, I believe abortion is totally wrong. Everybody deserves a chance at life, regardless the situation they might be placed in. There are other alternatives instead of abortion that many people consider but don't choose to do. For instance, adoption. Giving the child a loving home that someone might not be able to provide. Abortion is killing, no matter what you call it. All life is sacred, no one should take that away from anyone so innocent and pure. 
Assisted suicide could be defined as "The suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose."
Although people claim assisted suicide is not wrong, it's the taking of a life before God. It's said that people truly realize that   human diginity is fully reached at it's highest point during their final hours, before God takes them. Not someone else. Regardless the case physical or mental, people must suffer and carry themselves with the power of God. In most cases, assisted suicide is way to leave this Earth with little to non pain, which- when you think about...is it fair? For us to not have to suffer although Jesus suffered for three days strait for all of us? Assisted suicide in my opinion goes against the Fifth Commandment. People shouldn't help others kill themselves, even if they suffer, with the grace of God, they'll end up in a better place in time. 
Capital punishment, also known as the "death penalty" was confirmed by Pope John Paul II the resistance of it's use. Although the Church doesn't completely exclude the death penalty, their aren't for it in fear that it could lead to the execution of innocent people. I believe that capital punishment is wrong in many ways. I do believe that punishing someone in regards or murder is okay, but I think executing them is going to far. If anything, people should just have to be jail bound for the rest of their lives. That would prove the point that what they did was wrong. They can't apologize for what they did or come to a realization that it's wrong if their dead.

Quotes About Trayvon

"You know if I had a son he'd look like Trayvon." - Obama 
“I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.”-  Geraldo 

"I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together federal, state, and local to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened," - Obama 

"One day I'm going to wake up to BREAKING NEWS: Zimmerman arrested 4 murdering an UNARMED teen! Justice for #TrayvonMartinNOW!!! #IBelieve"-Taraji P. Henson

Dear George Zimmerman, How were you in "fear for your life" of a 17yr old boy with a bag of Skittles, Ice-Tea & a cell phone#TrayvonMartin "-Jeanette Jenkins

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"Picking up a fresh black hoodie. This tour is dedicated to#trayvonmartin my teenage son & black youth worldwide..."-Talib Kweli Greene ‏ 

Put Your Hoods Up

A young African American man was shot. Trayvon Martin was seventeen years old, when he was shot and killed in Florida by a local watch man George Zimmerman. Zimmerman has NOT been arrested for this shooting, thanks to a section in Florida called "Stand Your Ground" In other words, this section gives people the right to shoot someone if they are feeling harassed, threatened, or in danger in any way. This case has been spreading rapidly, and people are really taking notice. The media has been updating on this story day after day and giving people more information about what happened. 

Word spread fast. Only a day after the shooting, the media released messages and information to 65,000 Twitter accounts, and 585,000 Facebook members. Trayvon has been mentioned on Twitter over 600,000 times, and that number is still growing.

Some posts about Trayvon on Twitter:

"We still live in a society were the black man is public enemy #1#TrayvonMartin"

"Gosh, if I had a son, he would look like #trayvonmartin. This makes me sad and angry. I have 10 nephews. 7 under the age of 14. Justice now!"

People are infuriated by the decision that George Zimmerman is NOT being put in jail. And the choice is making the public angry.

Even the President of the United States spoke up saying "If i had a son, he'd look like Trayvon Martin." Although Obama stepped away from the question "Should Zimmerman be put in jail" He did boldly give his regards to the Martin family.

Rest In Peace Trayvon

Disgusting, unjust, ridiculous, so many other words could be used to describe the case of Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old boy shot for simply walking home with a bag of Skittles, and accused of threatening a man.   The shooter, George Zimmerman shot Trayvon saying that he was posing a threat and he claimed the shooting was simply self defense. 


Trayvon was a 17 year old African American boy who was on his way home after stopping at the corner store after stopping to get his brother some Skittles. On his way home, he was on the phone with his girlfriend. During this time, shooter George Zimmerman made a call to the police saying that Trayvon was acting "suspicious" and also stated that Martin appeared to be on some sort of drug, or under the influence of alcohol. Zimmerman also muttered "they always get away" Zimmerman was told by the police to NOT go towards the boy, not listening to what he had been told. George approached.  Girlfriend of Trayvon says that she heard Trayvon asking "Why are you following me" followed by another voice saying "What are you doing here" Shortly after, she heard a gun shot, and the phone went dead, she called back- no answer. 


In the state of Florida it is legal to bare arms, and to shoot someone if you feeling legitamintly threatened by them. This made people mad, was he really being threatened? Or was he looking for a reason to shoot an innocent boy? This case has also been called "The gun verses Skittles" Another reason why people are believing it was unjust that Zimmerman got in no trouble for his actions, when obviously there was no immediate evidence that Trayvon was a threat to anyone.


This is a case that proves that the right to bare arms is wrong, more importantly that someone could easily find any reason to feel "threatened" by ANYONE. An innocent life taken because someone over-reacted, did not listen, and took matters into his own hands. #RIPTRAYVON 

Erase The "R" Word

"That's retarded." "You're acting retarded" These are things people say without even realizing it, and it's become so normal that no one really thinks about the true meaning of the word. Many people usually saying not trying to offend the mentally ill, but anyway you put it, it still can hurt someones feelings. There is a group of about 250,000 people who had pledged to join the "Special Olympics Campaign" And hopefully make this racial slur come to an end. There have been other efforts to get rid of the word, like in 2010 Obama's "Rosa's Law" eliminated the word in federal health, education, and laws.  In order for people to stop using this word, they need to understand the meaning and know that using in certain ways are rude and derogatory. Stop using the "R" word.  

Slavery..Still?

You would think it would have ended by now. No. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863 to end slavery, even in  2012 slavery is still occurring in the United States. The Proclamation states: "that all persons held as slaves..are and henceforward shall be free" But sadly, those words were just temporary. President Obama has declared January, 2012 anti-trafficking month, in hopes that it would get the word out about slavery. Many people aren't aware that slavery is still an issue. There are many things that people don't know about slavery. Like the fact that there's 27 million slaves in the world today, or; each year thousands are slaves are traf ficked into the U.S. The average cost of a slave in modern day society is $90. Human trafficking is effecting not just men, but women and children of all ages. Some think there is nothing that we can do to stop slavery, their wrong. As students, if we do our research we can help influence others to join local organizations that work on helping end abolition. If people knew what slavery in the United States consisted of there would be  a larger effort by many into making it stop. You can make a difference, one person helping can start a chain reaction.