Do you think that racism is worse or better then it was in the past?

Question

First of all let me say that I am white and married to a black man and we have a beautiful daughter.
Who endures the most racism and what is the most racist group?
Do you see shifts in racism?
I would love to hear some real thoughtful answers!

This is not a yes or no question

i am not saying that racism exists only between blacks and whites. And I am not saying that I am not in some way racist. I am not saying that I am either... It's just something that I want to hear a lot of views on.
Thank you for all your great answers!

Answer 1

This question will be answered with a wide array of answers. It really depends on perspective. Alot of people will not be able to see beyond their personal circumstances, here is what I have observed.
Racism is more alive today then it has ever been. There has been a huge push to eliminate racism in U.S. society. The government has taken legisltative steps to eliminate it from hiring practices, workplace issues and the military (by no means all inclusive of where racism is being fought) To a large extent decent citizens have attempted to identify racism in around them. They have done so through educating themselves and trying to understand the issue.
Racism is still present, it has just been re-labeled. Special programs that push for minority equality further aggravate the issue. Equality in their mind means that minority groups should be given special treatment. This creates resentment by Whites, and allows a minority to feel entitled to their special treatment because in their mind "they are oppressed". Any un-equal treatment is racist. It encourages disporportionate treatment based on race. The correct way is to give everyone equal treatment and access, regardless of race. Race should not be a deciding factor in any practice. Here is an example: The Government gives minority owned companies their business not because of superior service or product but because of their origin. It only breeds resentment and a belief in entitlement.
In a lot of instances you will find that minorities believe racism only goes one way. Meaning minorities do not believe it possible that they can be racist. A term circulated in the media quite regularly as an attempt to point out the discrepancy "reverse racism" The term is racist! Why is racism called anything then other then what it is? why is there a different word used...racism is not reversed, it is only racist from a different perspective.
It is a fact that a greater percent of Americans tend to segragate themselves. Most blacks tend to live around other blacks. Whites tend to live around whites. likewise for every other racial group. This is not racist, it is normal behavior, people fele comfortable living around people they identify with (very general example, this is not always true) My neighborhood is quite mixed in its racial makeup. We all seem to get along well. Crime that exists is associated with drug abuse, not race. The abuse goes across racial lines.
Students entering college can go and get scholorships and grants. There are many scholorships that I am not elgible for because I am the wrong color. Whereas that is not the case for any race to qualify for the scholorships that I am able to apply for. They are open to anybody, that is racial discrimination. Many people attempt to point out that some races need the additional access because they have a larger hill to climb, more opposition and racial discrimination to overcome. While that may be true, racial discrimination exists, why further aggravate the problem with an over compensated advantage to minorites?
While I was in college there was a black student union organized. I questioned a friend that was involved about it. She told me that we had our student union for whites, so they needed one for blacks. I asked if I could come to a meeting and I was told that while she did not mind many students wanted it to reamin a "black thing". Ironically the president of the white student union was black, the treausure was Indian (from India) and everyone, regardless of race, was welcome. That is racist as hell. It angers me that they feed racism so openly and if I were to protest it, guess what I would have been labeled? racist.
Another example of racism is what I observed not too long ago. A really dark black women walked past a lighter skinned black guy. you know what he said "damn your black" it hurt her, I can tell. Racism exists even within varying levels of black...who is the racist now?
Mexicans have a racist group that translates into "the race", sounds like Hitler doesn't it? American Indians segregate and discourage relationships with anyone other then indians. etc. etc. etc.
Thanks for your time.

Answer 2

If you lived in certain areas of the South 50 years ago, your husband's life would have been in danger. Your daughter would have been shunned, probably by both black and white races. You would think that racism is a fierce and powerful force in the country, but I simply don't think it's too much of a factor, at least here in California. If you are a hard working, educated African American, you will advance more, not less, because of your race.

In Los Angeles, I find that racism is most prevalent among the poor, no matter what race. Poor blacks in South Central blame the Mexicans. The Mexican's in East LA think Black people are lazy. Asians don't understand why either group doesn't simply educate themselves: after all, their own kids hardly spoke English ten years ago, and now their on their way to law school/med school...Race riots in poor high schools are not uncommon, most often during February (Black History Month) and near Cinco de Mayo.

One of my friend's mother, a school teacher (!), Japanese, said "You can't trust the Chinese" when talking about a political candidate. My friend and I gave her the most respectful verbal disagreement possible. We were both stunned.

The wealthy and educated see things differently. The minorities that they went to college with are doing just the same as they are, and their irresponsible relatives (every family has a strange branch of the family tree!) are still living paycheck to paycheck, or worse, no matter whether they are white, black, or brown.

Answer 3

You know i so want to answer this question on so many levels.
background: I am a black woman who lives in the melting pot of florida.

You know i love it when people say there is no or little racism today, because that is so not true I encounter it every day, now it is not as in you face as when our parents and our grandparents were growing up, but it is still there. you know an older black man said to some of my friends that one day we're going to look around and we as black people will be back to where we were. I didn't understand this until I got older but now I see. We are complacent, blind, thinking things are getting better and just letting things go, the new generation doesn't know anything about the fight for we have never had to fight for anything. We just go about our lives while the government is trying to away blacks voting rights, affirmitive action etc. i moved here because I thought "Hey what better place to be among all these different people", but i tell you i walk into your everyday places and most of the times don't see one minority working there (banks, dr's offices, restaurants, video store, movies) and i'm not in a one horse town I'm in the daytona-orlando area! Some of the older people look at you like you are dirt off the ground. Now as for the shift, i think there is one with younger gen because they don't look at each other with color in question which explains the inter-racial dating becoming a more excepted thing. i don't have any problem with interacial dating I figure men are men they all got their own baggage,and plus the most beautiful children do come from interacial couples.
Now for you people who say you are tired of the whining, complaining, and special treatment that we blacks do or get, then spend a month or so in our shoes, try to see what we go through day by day and stop trying to portray this so called black persona you see on tv and the video channel. Because, truth, that isn't even what our race is all about.

Answer 4

As for America, I say yes it has gotten worst! The thing is many people don't see it, and those who don't see it are the ones who are either doing it and are not exposed to it! It affects a LOT of people today, its not as open as it was back in the days, but racism is happening more subtley these days. Its worse because many people don't think it occurs but it does and it affects people more emotionaly, and that can wound deeply. But only those who are treated and affected by racism only know! Racism will never go away, and it will never get better! The only reason many people think it has gotten better, it is because they are blind and do not realize that it does affect people. I am an African-American female, and I admit black people are racist, too and it doesn't make ourselves as black people look better either. In my opinion, I think interacial relationships are beautiful how two different peoples from a different culture can come together and make a beautiful family. And I admire that because, you have the courage to look outside race and accept each other as individuals and not skin colors.

Answer 5

Racism is getting much better in the U.S.A. It isn't in many other countries. Remember last year when Vicente Fox, president of Mexico said that Hispanics in the USA were doing jobs that "Not even the blacks want to do"? And what about the cartoon of Condoleeza Rice pregnant with a monkey that was put out in the Middle East? The Brits hate the Pakistanis (they call them Pakis). The Germans hate the Turks, the French hate the Algerians, the Belgians hate the Moroccans and the Tunisians. The Japanese consider the Koreans as inferior etc..
Note: Everybody hates the French.

Answer 6

I think racism is the same, but the times have changed. When you turn on the TV, you can tell that people try to hide racism from the public eye. You have your black weather man or an occasional black reporter, but when most people go into their homes and are around their own kind is when the racism starts.It's just not cool to be a racist, but it really does still exist. When it boils down to it people would rather hate then love. They would rather be apart of their own race then the human race.

Answer 7

To me both races receives the same amount of racism. I see no shifting or insights of it ever getting better. Racism still in mixed marriages today. I believe this will be a problem to the end of our days. Now here comes the good part, It is no longer a issue of
racism with blacks and whites, it now involves all other races as
well. Of course all races seems to have racism attacks against the whites only. I hope you would consider my answer as best rated cause it is centered on the truth. I deserve 10 points for this answer.

Answer 8

I think it is the same. The blacks are still held back in some states. In the South they try to keep us back in so many States. Lets look at when Katrina and Rita came through Louisiana. Do you think things would have been done different if there were more white people in the lower 9th ward than black? So many things was done wrong. No everyone sits back and says "What if we would have done this different?" Or they are pointing the finger at someone else "If you would have?" That is not going to bring back all of the people that we lost. It is no excuse for what happened. It wasn't all about the money, I feel, but about the color of the people's skin. Sometimes we lose sight on what is on the inside and look at what's on the outside. We are all made up of the same things God just made some of us lighter than others.

Answer 9

Racism is worse in Blacks NOW.. .. so many are racist.
YES.. read on... and think about it
They have the United ***** College Fund.
> They have Martin Luther King Day.
> They have Black History Month.
> they have Cesar Chavez Day.
> they h ave Yom Hashoah
> they have Ma'uled Al-Nabi
> they have the NAACP.
> they have BET.
>
> If we had WET(White Entertainment Television) we'd be racists.
>
> If we had a White Pride Day you would call us racists.
>
> If we had white history month, we'd be racists.
>
> If we had an organization for only whites to "advance" our lives,
we'd be
> racists.
> If we had a college fund that only gave white students
scholarships, you
> know we'd be racists.
> There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US, yet
if there
> were "White colleges" that would be a racist college.
> In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for
your race
> and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call
us
> racists.
> You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not
afraid
> to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us
racists
> You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police
officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug-dealer running
from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.
> I am proud. But, you call me a racist.
> Why is it that black people think only whites can be racists?

Answer 10

I would say that racism has changed over the years. There are no Jim Crow laws today but there is stll racial profiling. People of different backrounds still segregate themselves. Race is something that still lingers in people's minds. If you hear about somebody you just gotta know there backround so you can have them "all figured out". People love to generalize, categorize and stick to the image they made in their minds, even if it's not true.