Reverse Racism

For hundreds of years, it's been a common American belief that African-Americans (and other minorities in the United States) have been segregated against and many people are "racist." I mean I guess we could say that is true, considering we enslaved African-Americans for many years, made laws against them before the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's, and did anything we could to bring them to have fair circumstances. We could also say there still is still some racism in the United States considering many people who were born before the Civil Rights Movement are still alive today and were brought up to "hate" or look down upon African-Americans. Even people born after this time are racist or think that they are superior to black people. But can't racism be towards white people, too? Can't black people be racist? Can't other races be racist? Just because the Caucasian race is the majority or the predominant race in the United States, doesn't mean that they can't be segregated against by other races.

For example, for years and years and years, every president we have had has been a white male. Ever since 2008, that changed, as everyone knows, and we've had a black president. Not only was he president for four years, but has since been re-elected to have a second term in office. During the election time, I was home at one point, driving in my car listening to the radio. Of course, during campaigning and such, there were all kinds of advertisements on the radio about who to vote for, bashing the opposite candidate.  One commercial really sparked my

http://ramblinshang.blogspot.com/2009/07/will-real-racists-please-stand-up.html

interest when I heard something along the lines of "Hey Toledo, voting day is coming up and we really all need to stick together and vote for Barack Obama! Go to black man vote online for more information and stick together to vote. BLACK MAN VOTE." If this isn't racist, I don't know what is. If this situation were reversed, I can almost guarantee that this advertisement wouldn't even be played on the radio. If a white man came on the radio and said, "Hey we need to all stick together and vote for Romney. White people need to stick together." What makes this okay just because this advertisement was supporting the minority instead of the majority? Minorities are constantly complaining that "white people are racist" and "they don't have the same opportunities," yet, it's ok for them to turn around and do it to white citizens? Like payback?

Another example: affirmative action. Going through the long, tedious, tiring process of applying to colleges not only requires hard work, but also is a very stressful process. It's enough pressure on a 17 or 18 year old kid trying to get into a college he or she wants, having to have the right grades, extra curricular, etc. But to feel like you have to be a minority to get into a college you want is just absolutely ridiculous. No one wants to feel like they can't be good enough, no matter what. Besides, when was it ever considered "fair" or "equal" to have standards that no matter how good your GPA is, or how much better it is than someone else's to not be accepted because of the color of your skin, your religion, culture, etc? When was it ever considered fair to go throughout high school doing all of the extra curricular activities you can, just to get rejected from the school of your dreams because that school needs to meet a specific quota of "underprivileged" minorities? These students could quite possibly be not as qualified as a white student, and just be accepted for all of the wrong reasons. Schools like Stanford University, Cal Berkeley, and even our very own, University of Michigan have had many issues with the law and students protesting because affirmative action just IS NOT FAIR. It isn't "equal." It's not constitutional, and it is RACIST.

http://changefromwithin.org/2012/06/06/are-white-students-being-disadvantaged-by-affirmative-action/

Malcolm X talks a lot about how he doesn't consider himself an "American." He discusses the Civil Rights Movement, and even goes as far to say, "The common enemy is the white man." My point being, this country is never going to see equality if it's a huge blame game. Malcolm X sure isn't the only racist one in this country. He's not the first, and won't be the last. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me where all this anger and hatred towards other races is going to get us. I grew up in an integrated school, an integrated town, and learning that segregation was not ok. I wasn't part of enslaving African-Americans nor did I live when segregation was considered constitutional. So why should I, along with many others, live with the angry aftermath? Our president is a black man! This country isn't necessarily racist against minorities anymore. The war of the races needs to end.

http://www.tnstate.edu/eeoaa/