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Race in America

In: English and Literature

Submitted By VayshaJ
Words 608
Pages 3
Raivaysha Johnson
4/15/2014
Racist For many years racism has been a problem for Americans since slavery. People like Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white person paved the way for many of us today. Also, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched for our equal rights he felt that everyone should have the same opportunities. In Tatum’s article, she defines racism as someone who has misinformation about others racially, religiously, or different from ourselves. A racist can be defined as someone who discriminates against others, is judgmental, and ill mannered. African-American’s have been discriminated against ever since slavery began. In most places they were not allowed to live in the same neighborhoods with whites, nor were they allowed going to the same school, restaurant’s, or drink from the same water fountain. African-Americans were made to sit in the back of buses, if a white person wanted there seat, they would have to move. African-American men were not allowed to date or marry white women, but white men were allowed to have black women if they chose to. As an African-American they were not able to go to certain schools, so there education was not as well as a white person unless they taught themselves how to read and write. If they disobeyed there master’s a slave could be beaten half to death or even lynched.
In addition, the world today judges you by what you look like or how you act. For instance, if you see someone screaming or yelling in a store you are going to expect them to be “ghetto”. For Martin Luther King Jr. he was judged for many reasons, fighting for equal rights and trying to help Caucasians and African-Americans come together as one. As an African-American they were not allowed in certain places because there skin color was different from most people. In Johan’s article, “Why Do They Judge Us”, he says “People will never

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