Racism in the 21st century.

Posted byShivani GuptaPosted inUncategorizedTags:, , , , , , , , , ,

Someone once commented on one of my posts that “discrimination is human nature and it’s natural. It prevails in every part of the world in some way or the other.” So that person was actually trying to justify discrimination on the basis of some specific ground. But I believe that no one is born discriminating people. We learn from what is told to us, what we see and what we observe from our surroundings.

Racism is an issue everyone needs to think about as we’re in the 21st century but we still judge people on the basis of their skin colour. People have shaped their minds into believing that white is beautiful and supreme and black is ugly and inferior. The killing and lynching of black people haven’t stopped yet. They are tortured and their rights are snatched away from them just because of their skin colour.

Why is it so important to be fair? What is wrong if you’re not fair? I wonder about this and unsurprisingly no one wants to answer this question. Racism is an issue everyone needs to look into as we’re in the 21st century but people are still judged on the basis of their skin colour. People have shaped their minds into believing that white is beautiful and supreme and black is ugly and inferior. The killing and lynching of black people haven’t stopped yet. They are tortured and their rights are taken away just because of their skin colour.

Even in India, racism is a big issue. People here are obsessed with fair skin. They talk about equality but they want their sons to get married to a fair-skinned girl. People try millions of products to make their skin colour fair. Some people point out and mock black people. Some can only put on their status #alllivesmatteror #blacklivesmatter but at the end of the day, they are the ones who judge others on the basis of physical attributes. There are a lot of hypocrites in here.

Racial discrimination is faced by people all over the world. This is how the mindset of people has been shaped. Superiority and inferiority have been based on the colour of the skin. Black people are deemed to be poor and inferior and white people are seen as the privileged ones. So many atrocities happen against black people. Be it lynching, torturing or killing of black people. All of this is so heartbreaking.

No one would’ve forgotten about George Floyd yet or the protests that took place in the US. This was an awakening call for people which should’ve happened much before. But nothing really changed even after such a disheartening incident. Oppressing, suppressing and treating people differently because of their skin colour will never be justified. Let us educate the coming generations about equality, tell them that everyone is beautiful irrespective of the physical features and nurture them in a way that they don’t ever differentiate people on the basis of physical attributes or any other factor.

Equality is what everyone should strive for irrespective of colour, caste, class, creed, religion and sex. Let’s create a better world to live in by restoring peace and harmony.

Published by Shivani Gupta

Feeling. Writing. Healing.🌸❤

42 thoughts on “Racism in the 21st century.”

  10. The real root cause lies with us only, we protest and then we buy fairness creams for extra glow, fake status practising by celebrities etc shows the hypocracy of society. The end of such practice will start with every individual’s stand however these are stories with open ends that never end but you are writing on such issue is itself a start and worth applaud.
    Keep shinning!👍

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  11. We were barely done recovering from the news of great George Floyd when another black man was shot in the back in the US leaving him paralysed from the waist down. I’m in Africa and I honestly will never consider settling down on such countries that treat people of colour differently. Maybe a visit but nothing more. Racism should be abolished!

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  13. Great article! Racism is ugly! I agree wholeheartedly that racism is taught from our actions and words used agai6one another. Hatred and fear are the main reasons for racism. People need to learn of each other. We all share the same blood, we are all created from the same Creator. So were does fear and hatred come from? God’s enemy the devil. The Bible says that people who practice this behavior are the children of their father the devil.👣

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  17. Pingback: Racism in the 21st century. — The Eternal Words – Essential Women

  18. To begin, I’ve always believed in One Nation Under God. I believe all people are equal and deserved to be treated equal. And having been a target of racism in my youth, even as an adult, I understand honest discussions are necessary. I wrote this in another place: This is a difficult topic to raise awareness. “Why?” some will ask. Because once a person takes hold of an idea and makes it their own, it becomes part of their identity, and people, by and large, won’t admit their ideas are not their own. However, with enough evidence breaking through the miasma of disinformation and rhetoric, some begin to realize. And once a little light shines through, many follow the rabbit of reason, waking up more and more. That’s thinking for yourself. Everybody thinks, but many don’t think outside borrowed ideas, rhetoric, and propaganda once they’ve bought into it, because of the cliques and atmosphere of people around them, the people that brought them in. But the one who begins to observe, questioning, slowly or quickly losing their “supportive” friends, not getting certain opportunities that used to be so easy, even if just acceptance, are the ones that wake others up.
    Racism has always been a part of life, or soon after the beginning. When I was growing up, it was there, though I hadn’t as yet identified what it was. When I grew up, looking back, I realized I had experienced racism, but in my youth, just thought there were some not nice people. And among friends, we said every joke we heard. But thankfully, I associated with friends that said jokes but didn’t really believe those jokes. Just laughed. But the thing is, racism wasn’t a big thing. And throughout my life, thus far, I saw people from all walks of life succeeding. And I saw people of all color, race, ethnic backgrounds, and cultures succeeding.
    So, why in this age are many crying racism, that America is a horrible place, and that some people have to experience guilt and shame for what went on decades and centuries before? That’s a good question.
    The answer is there are some people, groups, special interests, and organizations that can only insert their agendas by getting the people to “believe” in their rhetoric and propaganda. There are some people, groups, special interests, and organizations that have a “purpose”, a way of life that they cannot live unless they convince every one of their purposes.
    In other words, they have to separate you from common sense, from what we see and know, employing pressure of many methods, use emotions, to get you to believe and thereby insert their anti-American agendas.
    We have come a long way from the beginning. America became because of those who believed in something beautiful. There was no way they could prevent all racism and slavery. Remember, or research, that when the country was early, and before, people came here with slaves. Slavery has been around forever, and still goes on in other countries. People came here from every walk of life, from different countries that had slaves, and so that was their reality. So, in the beginning, many, if not most, had lived lives where slavery was the norm, as bad as it was. So, when the founding fathers and others worked hard to begin a country with hope, they put words in the Constitution that set hope in the future. Slavery was already here, before America became, but those people would be the citizens of this new country, and the founding fathers had to bring all thirteen colonies together or we could not stand against other communist nations. And with time, we used the Constitution, discussions, and laws to eradicate that terrible practice. But people don’t change immediately. However, through many years, through people like Abraham Lincoln, through amendments, through tons of regulations, we supported all people. And by the time I was learning to walk, things were far better. And with time, even better. Not perfect. Better. And we would continue on to where I was while in college. We never even thought about it on campus. I never judged anyone based upon anything other than how they talked and acted.
    But today, it’s a huge topic. Why? To emotionalize. I often bring up this story. I was talking with a young man who told me he thinks he had confronted racism. So, I asked what happened. He explained that, at a store, the clerk was racist. So, I thought: “Hmmm….”. What did he say or do. He explained that when he asked for help, the clerk ignored him.
    Well, I thought, then saw a picture based upon what he said, his attitude, and the small time I knew him. I asked if when he asked for help, the clerk was helping someone else. He replied, “Yes.” Then I asked if he was polite when asking the question. He thought for a moment, then replied, “No.” I think I might have asked if he went into the conversation thinking the other might already be racist. You can imagine the answer. Then I asked, could it be the clerk didn’t appreciate being interrupted and the attitude. Could you have waited until after he helped the lady, then asked the question, politely? He nodded.
    We talked some more. I explained that we have to be careful about molding our opinions by others. If you don’t like the other person, don’t like the other person, but don’t judge them racist. Others are complaining about problems that don’t exist, or don’t exist to the degree they imagine, and just keep complaining, and we’re around that, could that affect our outlook? So we go into situation prejudging others as we would not want others to prejudge us? It gets complicated, for the media and other organizations have a vested interest in your emotions. For once people are emotionally connected to certain beliefs, whether they exist or not, their perceptions are skewed by those thoughts. So, the media and organizations use our perceptions for their own purposes. And they are very creative in creating a false narrative. They only get power through our reactions and emotions. For if we all thought for ourselves, researched for ourselves, and thought clearly, they would have no power. So they pull every conceivable tactic.
    One of my favorite line was from a friend: If we all remained calm and thought for ourselves, all the leaders would start a war and no one would show up. I have seen this all my life. I’ve seen people try to rile people up, but when they were met with blank looks, people going back to their lives, they left. You see, they need reactions. That’s the only way they manipulate a whole country. Which we see most of the media doing.
    There was a movie that was a real eye-opener, so much that I was amazed it ever was aired. An entertainment company wanted to raise viewership. Some of the staff had great ideas. Good ideas. But one person realized negativity was a better way. By using negativity, they would get more people watching. I wonder how many realize negativity, anger, and worry are used for programming. People are addicted to anger, fear, and worry. It’s a negative motivator.
    Like the lady I helped. She was having panic attacks, couldn’t sleep, and constantly worried, weeks after an Earthquake that left her home untouched. She explained she had never been in an Earthquake before. I had experienced many. So, I listened, sympathizing, then realized something. I told her I know what the problem is: stop listening to the news, the internet, and YouTube. She nodded. She said she was addicted to listening and watching, always having the negativity on. You see, negativity motivates, but in unhealthy ways. Then, we become puppets, our strings pulled, for others’ agendas.
    We live in a time when racism is not nearly as big a problem as decades before. In fact, things are far better, just that so many people have been convinced of the negative. We live in times when anything you or anyone else wants to do, we can, provided we do the hard work and find the opportunities. But there are road blocks. And those roadblocks have been placed by the people and organizations that want you to hate America, follow their beliefs, want your votes, and don’t want you to think for yourselves. They are people and organizations who cannot live peaceably, cannot create their own ideas, but can only live out of your anger anger and reactions. They live off of it.

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  19. As a dark skinned indian i had to face a lot of prejudice. I would be called names by relatives and the people that i grew up amongst. People would come up to me and give me unsolicited advices about skincare regimes. I absolutely can relate to this article, this is the saddening truth of our society.
    #MyWordsKraft

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    1. I too get advice about skincare regime now and then. Indians should accept it that being brown is not any kind of inferiority and if a person is comfortable with his or her skin colour then they should just shut the fuck up.

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  20. Some people basically suffer from ‘white skin syndrome’, we tend to believe that white is more beautiful and superior, as it is what we all have been told since we were kids. I feel sorry for the kind of superficial views that people have regarding similar issues.
    You can go through our blogs too! We also have dealt with articles on various social and economical issues.
    #MyWordsKraft

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