Prejudice and Racial Discrimination in America Essay examples -- Socio

     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has been over 500 years since Columbus sailed the ocean blue and yet the vast majority of that time has been filled with the woes, hatred and oppression of the American white man for his darker skinned brethren. If we take as our assumption that such racially motivated injustice can not be justified and should not persist then we must first understand how such an obvious imbalance came to be and what can and should be done to avert it in the future. Historically hatred was born out of fear and misunderstanding of cultural, religious and physical differences, and the economic necessities of the time. It persisted because of the even greater fear of admitting ones mistakes and the divestiture of power From African Americans when they most needed it. Even today it is diminished but not vanquished as linguistic and educational challenges combine with disagreements amongst those calling for integration to further stall our ability to achieve racial harmony . Hatred is an ancient evil that may yet be conquered through understanding. The place to begin is of course at the beginning, when first the white man came dominate and slander the African man. For our purposes this begins back in the colonial period of America when first the African people were brought across the ocean. Back then it is not unlikely that these people were treated much like any white compelled into indentured servitude (Takaki 53-4). However it seems clear to me that these black men most certainly would have been immediate outsiders, strangers from an "uncivilized" land lacking both English and Christian customs. These men were brought here expecting to be slaves or worse, and in all probability were not prepared for even the slim... ... Allen, Vicki. "Democrats Push Congress to Condemn Bob Jones Univ." Reuters. 29 Feb. 2000: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000229/pl/congress_bobjones_3.html. Asante, Molefi Kete. "Luncheon Keynote Address." Greenberg 17-21. Fafwuna, A. Babs. "Education in the Mother Tongue." Greenberg 22-29. Greenberg, James, ed. "International and Multicultural Perspectives". Beltsville, MD: BelJean Printing, 2000. Orlando Taylor Speech. Videotape. Dir. James Greenberg. Narr. Orlando Taylor. Greenberg Class Video Set, 1990. Steele, Shelby. "Beyond Ebonics." Greenberg 30-31. Sutter, Rita. "When Yesterday's Tradition's are Thankfully Past." Greenberg 38-39. Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror : A History of Multi-Cultural America. New York: Bay Back Books, 1993. Weil, Danny. "Towards a Critical Multicultural Literacy" Greenberg 1-9.