Here is the deal.
I am a sociology minor who grew up in the middle of nowhere.
Sometimes I feel as if that puts me at a disadvantage because there were no minorities to speak of where I grew up, so there weren't any overt race issues.
And that may be true, but I am just now grasping the seriousness of discrimination/prejudice in the United States.
Race is always something I've brushed off since coming into college. I can't say honestly that I stand by, unaffected by things that other people say, and I can't say that I've not said some of the same things.
But I'm getting to the point where I just don't know who to be upset with.
White people always say that black people have a chip on their shoulder, that Hispanics are lazy, Asians are taking "our" jobs and that Indian people are doing that, but also that they smell... or do that annoying head bobble, or even more ridiculous things.
And being the imperfect person that I am, I have found myself agreeing with some, if not all of the aforementioned stereotypes at some point in my life.
My point in writing this is that people seem to underestimate race.
White people always say things like, "racism is over, now the (fill in the blank) people need to get over it"
I'm going to be the shit-stirrer that I am and say... It's not.
White people are afraid of other races, and that comes out in prejudice or discrimination more often than not.
Since taking this incredibly bothersome sociology class this fall, I've come to see how real racial issues are.
In reading stories about pig processing plants where white people get paid more for putting together boxes, and Mexicans get paid dollars less an hour for standing on a 45 degree chopping floor, hacking apart pigs, with their extremities going numb.
And also in a story I read just this morning about Harlem drug cops.
I am so frustrated by this issue, it's hard for me to even vocalize my feelings.
But I think what needs to be done is maybe to STOP talking about race.
Because the ignorance which is oozing from the White people, Black people, Asians, Native Americans, Latinos, Europeans, Arabs, Muslims, Jews, Germans, Poles, Canadians, Brazilians, Australians, and every other race and ethnicity is holding back progress.
And apparently talking about it doesn't help.
Maybe I'll finish this blog at another time... I'm just really frustrated right now...
