The sides taken in the war on racism can be very broad. When looked at closely it is easy to understand that everyone takes some part in the war on racism. Racism has become a part of our everyday lives and we can see it everywhere we look. Newspapers, the internet and news broadcasts repeatedly report about the racism that seems to be getting worse in resent years. The sides taken in racism can vary from judging a group of people based primarily on their skin color to the genocide that takes place all across the world.
Genocide is one of the most horendeous aspects of the war on racism. One of the most well known examples of genocide would be the Jewish Holocaust. The Nazi's wanted to exterminate groups of people who they concidered inferior to them-mostly the Jews. Genocide continues today in many countries. The Washington Times printed an article by Ashish Kumar Sen on September 3, 2010 saying, "The period July 1996 to July 1998 was marked by the 'relentless pursuit and mass killing' of Hutu refugees by members of the former Armed Forces of Rwanda and affiliated militias, the draft report says." Rwanda is only one of the many countries who have experienced Genocide because of the radical racists who believe in torturing and murdering those who are different than them.
One significant part of racism is the way people are grouped together. Throughout history it has been proven that racial groups get categorized. A good example of this would be during WWII when Americans treated Japanese-Americans cruelly. Many Japanese Americans who were fighting for America were treated like criminals. They were thrown into prison and forced to confess that they were terrorists even though there was no proof. This still happens today. The Washington post printed the article 'The Faith Divide: Descrimintation Against Muslims' on March 20, 2007. The writer of this blog, Eboo Patel, quoted a teacher saying, "A young mother approached me and said, eyes downcast, that her seven-year-old son didn’t want to go to school anymore because of the names people were calling him: 'Terrorist,' 'Osama,' 'America-hater.' Kids were starting to gang up on him on the playground. Pushing him down, sometimes kicking him." This young child was discriminated against while in school because of his Muslim heritage. This happens nearly every time America is at war with another nation. When we were fighting the Japanese, the Vietnamese, and now fighting in the Middle East, suddenly everyone with that racial backround becomes an enemy. Most of the people discriminated against are most likely just as patriotic as any other American but they are treated differently because of the way they look and the way they believe.
Immigration plays a significant role in racism. Recently a law was passed in Arizona that police officials are allowed to question anyone who seemed likely to be an illegal immigrant. In a speach on May 2, 2010 Hillary Clinton was quoted saying, "Arizona's new immigration law invites racial profiling." The Arizona immigration law has created a big controversy. Some say that it is the state's right to pass the law while others say it is blatent racism. Either way, the law has stirred up the question of whether or not America has become a racist nations towards people of different ethnicity.
~Posted by Ellie P.
