Racism: What would you do if the Constitution said you were just as good as everyone else but some people still acted as if you were something they had just scraped off their shoe?

Essay by weasel23University, Bachelor's February 2006

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What would you do if the Constitution said you were just as good as everyone else but some people still acted as if you were something they had just scraped off their shoe? This sort of thing happens to millions of people on a regular basis. Americans of African, Asian, or Mexican descent are all subject to this kind of treatment. Caucasians are as well, but it is not as publicly notarized as the aforementioned. Most of these feelings towards another of a different skin color are deeply rooted in our minds from previous generations. Many, many years ago, African Americans were used as slaves. The slave owners treated them badly. The owner's own children then grew up with the same ideals and passed them on to the new generation. Through the years, people have spoke out about these ill conceived ideas making the ominous threat of racism more discreet than ever before.

While in a search online, I discovered a numbered list of Klu Klux Klan, Aryan, Skinhead, and many other white supremacist groups. I was shocked when I saw how many this one list had. It listed over 800 different groups. I know that number is not nearly accurate because there are many smaller groups that have not yet made themselves known publicly. Even people that do not belong in these racially biased groups perform some acts of racism. Racial profiling the discriminatory practice by police of treating blackness (or brown ness) as an indication of possible criminality. "Driving While Black (or brown)" is a campaign started by the American Civil Liberties Union because a study showed that minorities only make up 16% of all drivers, yet they are 74% of all drivers stopped and searched. Generally, only 12 to 13 percent of the U.S. citizens are African...