Youth and Racism

Newer generations wish racism was a thing of the past, but it's our reality. What can we do?

By Sophia GenoPublished 4 years ago • 4 min read

"It's a privilege to learn about racism instead of experiencing it your whole life"

Growing up in an area such as Atlanta gives you the opportunity to grow up surrounded by different races and cultures, as now much of the world’s cities do. Only when I grew older would I realize that the small fact that coexisting would be so hard for a large portion of the population.

My parents never gave me special instructions on how to treat other races of people, and as I made more friends who were Latino, Black, Asian, etc. they showed me a side of life I was totally oblivious to. Now as an adult when I hear "It's a privilege to learn about racism instead of experiencing it your whole life", I cannot argue.

History and racism

In America, our society and history are deeply intertwined with racial inequality since the start of colonization. We grow up seeing smiling pilgrims and Indians being friendly every year around Thanksgiving, only to learn in High school that "American" settlers were far from friendly to the native people. Later down the line "American" settlers bought African people as slaves for their expanding country. After owning Black slaves became illegal "Americans" opened immigration for Asians to do hard labor alongside "freed" Blacks. In other parts of America, after the annexation of former Mexican territory, the first Mexican Americans were given citizenship. Although they would also face discrimination for years to come.

"-I see now racism is not just a section in a history book."

Youth and Racism

In America because I am white, I have experienced practically no racism. However, my friends of different races still encounter awkward situations of modern racism. It is awkward indeed, and infuriating. Most younger generations view racism this way now because we think it is embarrassing for the oppressor to do so in 2020. But one thing we had to realize is that racism was not as far away in history as we hoped. Although it has gotten better in some aspects, it is still largely ignored by people in power. Sadly, racism is a thing of deep-rooted origin and shows itself at unexpected times on all levels of society.

Subtle racism

Some kids don't get to spend time at the home of another friend because one parent might deem the other's neighborhood as "dangerous" since it's full of another race.

Some employees are treated with "justifiable" differences from their superiors, even to the extent of being fired.

Two criminal defendants with the same crime, but different races, are treated with extreme difference in punishment. From longer sentences to death without trial.

I honestly never thought I would see such inequality or racial violence in my lifetime, but I was not fully educated. Racism is still one of the most ignored modern problems. We cannot progress as humans until we are all treated equally and fairly. We should not have to express our opposition to un-fair treatment based on race, and then be met with hostility.

Thing to remember when fighting racism

As young people, we realize again how important it is to be anti-racist, pro-equality, and have healthy non-violent statements of our opinion.

We should not expect other races to educate us, we must learn ourselves.

We should call out racism when we see it, we cannot ignore injustice.

We should not compare our struggles with race as an attempt at empathy, it makes you the center of attention instead of the real problem.

I have heard enough from my international friends to realize that racism is not only an American problem, which we can forget sometimes. Overall, I see now racism is not just a section in a history book. It is also a part of our reality.

Racism is upsetting, but if you feel annoyed, guilty, or want to oppose support for BLM or any other racial equality movement, you are only defending your own pride.
We must understand each other and work together for an equal future.