Does Racism Really Exist
(name)
University of Phoenix

Abstract
In this paper, I will analyze what forms of racism that I have experienced within my life. Whether going to school, work, family events, or community events I seem to see racism where ever I go. At some point I needed to ask myself, “why are people racist and what makes us this way”? When I have noticed racist comments and actions from my community leaders as well as from my own family this causes me to get depressed about what’s to come in this country. Are we born racist or is it the people around us that influences the way we think about racism?

Does Racism Really Exist
I am a Caucasian male and grew up in the City of Woodhaven, MI. Within this small city there is a population of roughly 40,000 people and of that count, there are only about 2,000 that would be considered a minority. As you can imagine, most of the people that lived there looked like me and had much the same religion and moral standings. As I grew up, I attended three different schools and the first of which was Yake Elementary School. There must have only been a select few minority children attending that school as I had never remembered encountering children different from myself until I went to Brownstown Middle School. There, I noticed a small group of African American children that were in the same grade as me along with some Asian America and Hispanic American children. Even at the age of eleven, I noticed the staff treating the African American children slightly differently than myself and other white students. It was as if they were waiting for them to do something wrong or to act up in class. These reactions from the staff followed them all the way through our time together at Woodhaven High School where, I believe, they began to act up in class due to everyone expecting it of them for such a long time. Now that I reflect on those time, it becomes more apparent to me how ill-treated these students were in comparison to the rest of the class. My friends and I, at the time, never thought of race as an issue or thought of these minority students as being different. It was obvious that they dressed slightly different and spoke slightly different but it was never an issue to us, only to the adults that surrounded us.
My family is mainly “old world” Maltese. My grandmother and grandfather came to this county on the boat and they worked their way toward any success that was gained by them. Growing up and attending the many family events that were regularly planned, there was often talk of many different minority groups between the adults. As a child, most of it did not make too much sense but now that I am older and can reflect on some of the overhead conversations, I now realize just how racist certain member of my extended family really were. I do not believe that I was aware of a line between races until one was drawn for me between my family and my school. Luckily, my friends and my immediate family members are wise enough not to let these outside influences effect their judgment when it comes to minorities and I believe that is what saved me from becoming partly racist myself. We were never a family that took a big part in our community. We did not go to church, social events, community gatherings, or anything of the like regularly and as a result, my exposure to different people and different cultures was very limited. As I got even older and began to pay attention to news and media, I noticed how much the media focused interracial issues whether it was good or bad, it was always something about race.
My first job was with an independently owned medical transcription company called Advanced Transcription Services. The company was owned by the family of one of my best friends at the time and it was working with this group of people that I was introduced to my first refreshing glimpse of equality. One of the family members that worked there was a white Caucasian woman who had an African American husband and everyone completely accepted this. I knew that some of my extended family members would have had a problem with this and after going through the Wayne county school district, this was a welcomed surprise. There was nothing in the employee handbook of this company that spoke of race with what to do and not to do spelled out in grade school terms. Everyone just accepted each other. Now don’t get me wrong, there was always drama working for them but it never once came back down to anything racial, it was always about the individual and the choices they made. I now work for a corporation called CareFusion and this company offers seminars on equality and it is always brought up during our yearly meetings. I also have the opportunity to travel all over the county with this job and interact with many different people. I have recently spent quite a lengthy time in Little Rock Arkansas where I installed medical supply cabinets for a large hospital very close to the downtown area. I worked with several African American staff members and many more white Caucasian staff members and I would always here side conversation going on. When it was anything that had to do with the African American staff, the conclusion was usually because they were “black” or “that’s just how they are” and this really bothered me. This behavior seems to be more prevalent in the southern states that I have visited but the same can be experienced almost anywhere.
I now live in Southgate Michigan which is almost identical to Woodhaven racially. The population of Southgate is about 30,000 with only around 3,500 being a minority group. In both cities, I never witnessed any openly racial events, actions, or comments. Both of these cities are just a stone’s throw from Detroit where a great deal of racial inequality and racial actions still take place. One would not normally think that such actions and comments would take place right in city council meetings, but in Detroit, anything is game it seems. In 2009, during a Detroit city council meeting, this is a summary of what took place: “Speakers advocating for the deal were taunted by the crowd and cut short by Council President Monica Conyers, who presided over the hearing like an angry bulldog; whites were advised by the citizens to, "Go home" (Nolan Finley, 2009). The deal that is in reference was an expansion project to Detroit’s Cobo Arena which hosts the yearly national auto show. The proposal was thrown out because the project was going to be funded by too many non-Detroit (white) people who would have too much power over the project. Another quote from the same article states: “When he dared suggest that an improved Cobo Center would create more good-paying jobs for union workers, Conyers reminded him, "Those workers look like you; they don't look like me” (Nolan Finley, 2009). Since Detroit is a primarily African American community, this type of segregation and discrimination toward whites is very common within the city. I think very differently from the community leaders of Detroit and it is unfortunate because since the minority of Detroit is white people, I do not believe their interests can be properly represented with leaders such as this. Even in the outlying suburbs, school segregation is beginning to occur because of the number of African American students from Detroit that are attending these schools. “Because the number of white students fleeing these schools is higher than the number of students of any color enrolling, public schools in the 'burbs are now facing heavy losses in revenue and, consequently, programs (Darrell Dawsey, 2011 ).” This segregation is being felt more and more in the outlying suburbs over the past few years.
From what I have seen, the council members of Southgate are nothing like the council members of Detroit but there are other members of the community that share some of the same view. Police officers in many cities across the nation have been accused of racial action against minority community member for example. To quote Martin Jones, and African American member of the Southgate community, “I have been pulled over and ticketed several times in my life for DWB (Driving While Black).” A white Caucasian male officer recently pulled him over and the first question that was asked was “Does this vehicle belong to you, or someone else?” I have unfortunately received a couple tickets in my life and have never been asked that question before, especially not in that way. I am sure that there will always be a few people within every community that have racial points of view or opinions but to display them that openly, and worse, to come from a community leader charged with protecting and serving the public is a terrible thing. Thankfully, the local media seems to be fair to all races and minorities by just reporting on the facts unlike the national media who seems to like giving their opinions on more and more topics these days. By reporting on the strait facts of a situation, you take no sides and leave the interpretation of a situation up to the viewer. If there were anything that I could change within my community, it would have to be the police force. There needs to be a higher level of regular screening to ensure that the officers on the force are respectful to all nationalities on a regular basis and to ensure they do not take sides when situation become sticky.
Throughout my life experience, I have noticed that racism only exists because we as a society continue to bring the subject to the forefront of our daily lives. The social structure in this country seems to be so focused on not insulting anyone and ensuring that everyone seems equal that racism is all that people can think about. As a child, when I did not know what racism was, it was never an issue. Everything that I have learned came from the adults in my family, teachers in school, and community members who either walked on egg shells near minority members or were openly offensive toward them. In a perfect world, we could simply erase the concept from the minds of our society members but until then, we all need to just relax. Stop getting offended by everything or thinking of situations in terms or race or inequality and start looking at people for the individual they are, regardless of skin color or physical differences. For the sake of the future generation, if we can keep any racial thoughts, comments, and actions to ourselves, then perhaps we have a chance to not influence them and eliminate racism.

References

Nolan Finley. 2009. Commentary: Elect a crazy council, get crazy results. Retrieved from: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090301/OPINION03/903010308/1008/OPINION01

Darrell Dawsey. 2011. School segregation persists in Detroit suburbs; as racism exacerbates funding inequities. Retrieved from: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/03/school_segregation_will_persis.html

Martin Jones, personal communication, 2011.