Race and Ethnicity: The Worst They Have Led by Brenda

Race and Ethnicity: The Worst They Have Led by Brenda - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

                I have always been interested in learning about the history of people around the world and how they interact with one anohter. I have taken previous courses that relate to these topics such as world history and human geography. As a result, this summer I was intrigued to take Sociology. This course details human social behavior in every aspect of society as people interact with one another. It ranges in lessons from gender to politics to culture and other topics. I enjoyed every lesson in the class but what undisputably seem the most interesting and heart-felt was the lesson on race and ethnicity.  
 
      In this lesson, I learned the many problems that have led due to the words race and ethnicity. Since the beginning of human civilization, race and ethinicity have been factors in determing power in a soceity and thus loweirng those below their kind. We have seen through out the earths histroy acts of empowerment mainly from the white race especailly onto the black race as well as various ethnic groups showing empowerment towards others. This has led to many inhuman consequences such as discrimination, segregation, racism, genocide, hate groups, ethnic cleanising, and stereotypes to name a few. The thinking that one race or one ethnic group is better than the other has led to terrible events in the worlds histrory. As a result, many people have died and have been denied equal rights. Even though, today we are living in a modern era where we would not expect these events from happening they unfortunately still do. This lesson continues by defining the consequences from race and ethnicity still ingrained in our society that may not seem visible to some. Such examples in the United States include discrimination in the work place especially when deciding who to hire, the continuation of the Ku Klux Klan, more benefits towards white males within the govermental structure or not, segragation of schools, or less consumption marketing to minorities. Most importantly, this lesson mentions racial profiling in our present society. This subtile made the most impact in the class and on me for that fact that it predominately still continues with Martin v. Zimmerman the most recent case. Due to racial profiling, a young black guy walking down the street with a hood on was killed. I will not discuss my opinion about the veridict but it is unjust that this type of trajedy is relevant in our society because of the factors involved in race. Every race and every ethnicity should live with equal treament without considering the physical differences or other non-imporatnt facotrs, otherwise consequences such as the one involved in the Martin v. Zimmerman case or the ethnic group confronataions in Rwanda will continue to arise.
 
      All in all, the various aspects involved in this lesson made the lesson intersting for me since it details information I was unaware of. Moreover, it made me reflect on the society and world I live in. I did not understand why people sometimes think and act inhumanly. As a result, this lesson reinforces the fact people like myself need to be aware of the issues involved due to race and ethnicity. Acknowing the issues will alert individuals about the change that society calls.