By Laura Jean Null
Staff Writer
We cannot push it aside anymore. We cannot continue to act as if there is not an issue. We need to address this underlining problem society has.
We cannot continue to try to ignore this, we need to talk about racism.
It’s no longer the white elephant in the room.
It’s blunt, obvious and obnoxious.
It is the reality everyone needs to talk about.
We cannot sit here any longer and act as though, “it doesn’t affect me because I don’t see it.”
Well you’re wrong because it does.
Racism directly and indirectly affects everyone in some way or another.
Whether you’re black, white, yellow, red, any color that exists because you have a certain color to your pigment.
Sadly society has labeled you.
So, let’s talk about it.
The problem with society is no one is willing to just sit down and have an honest open conversation about racism in America.
The problem is we create stereotypes, labels and hatred of each other because someone has a different skin-type.
The problem is America must label everything.
The questionnaire you took for a survey, the paper you filled out for that job, even your application to this very institution asked you to check-off in a square box your race / ethnicity identification.
We, as a society are so prone to identify ourselves as so-and-so and to be proud to have ancestors from this place and that place.
Even so, why can’t we sit down and just talk about why we all just can’t seem to get along?
The U.S. Census Bureau reports the race statistics for America.
The race statistics are: 76.9% are white, 13.3% are black or African American, 17.8% Hispanic or Latino, 5.7% Asian, 1.3 % are American Indian and Alaska Native, etc.
With America being the melting pot of all these cultures, religions, races and ethnicities, it is evident by facts to see that those who are white hold the majority and the rest of the races hold the minority.
However, instead of looking at the melting pot as having one ingredient more than another, let’s take a moment to recognize, without every single diverse ingredient within the receipt, the dish would not be up to its full potential if even the smallest ingredient was missing from it.
The same goes with America, we need each other.
We need to be honest with each other, about everything.
We need to talk about these issues of hate and equality openly, without fear.
We need to address topics more about science and facts and less about religion and beliefs.
We need to be able to say as a society, “I know you are different from me and believe in different aspects of all areas of life, but at the end of the day, we are still people and are equals.”
We, me, you, whoever is reading this, we may not be able to solve racism, but we can start by openly talking about it.
Email Laura at:
lnull@live.esu.edu
