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... Florida. He gives us some statistical figures that shed light on the extent of racial discrimination in this university. It appeared that 67 % of respondents had experienced it in one way or another: On a general level, 74 % of Whites and 85 % of Blacks believed in the existence of racial hostility (Albany, p. 37). Such hostility is a fact, but the worst way to deal with it to is denying it altogether. As practice shows, every attempt to restructure society, according to some utopia principles, had failed.
The same is going to happen with multicultural utopia. We can only talk of minimising the harmful effects of racial hostility in American college campuses. As a matter of fact, it would benefit students of every cultural background to have ethnic competitiveness, as it would encourage them to improve their grades. Part 2. Until 1968 the term of Racism was rarely found in encyclopedia, then all of a sudden it begins to constitute the biggest problem of modern American society. It is a commonly accepted fact these days that different cultures have different values, these values depend on how people percept surrounding reality and this, in its turn, depends on specifics of their neurological system.
There might be a painting, considered as great by Caucasians, but Blacks or Chinese wouldnt be quite as thrilled and vice versa. The same happens when we try to apply some political idea, namely Multiculturalism and E racism, equally to the people of all backgrounds. The truth is, itll simply never work, because different cultures will have their own ideas of what to consider as racism and what is not. For example, the N-word is a taboo to say by any educated white person, because its considered to be offensive towards the Blacks. Yet Blacks themselves use it to call each other, without being visibly hurt. The important is not what is said but how it is said whether there is respect or nor.
The idea of Affirmative Action was designed by Whites to help racial minorities to stand up for their rights when it comes to dealing with Whites. So, in its core, its racist because it is based on the assertion that colored minorities are not capable to match wits with Whites, so they need to be helped up. Yet as soon as underprivileged minority acquires some real self-respect, it rejects these White mans notions and begins to act in its own interests. Thats why non-Whites subconsciously consider Affirmative Action as another example of White peoples arrogance. Racial prejudices exist, but its very unlikely that they can be rooted out, since their causes sit deep in subconsciousness. Racial mistrust can only be weakened by ones personal positive experience of dealing with people from different cultures.
Universal love and tolerance cannot be just imposed on people, because building utopias had never succeeded throughout the history As long as every particular culture respects itself, itll learn to respect others. The behavioral patterns of every racial minority, as group of people are very irrational. A lot depends on emotionalism. But throughout history, only naked force was decisive factor in gaining respect. Different cultures that share the same country, are like young kids its easy to set them off to a fight, but once they realize that their strength matches and there is no way to take an advantage of each other because of that, they will become best friends It is a bad mistake to try regulating racial relations by the means of laws. Such approach will inevitably lead to excesses like Affirmative Action or theory of Afro Centrism, in another words to reversed racism.
Afro Centrists are enjoying ever increasing popularity, even though their theory is outrageously racist, not to mention that its also a gross distortion of historical evidence. Lerone Bennett Jr. in its book Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America simply says: Negroes, or people who would be considered Negroes today were among the first people to use tools, paint pictures, plant seeds and worship gods Ethiopians conceived themselves to be of greater antiquity than any other nation; and it is probable that, born under the sun's path, its warmth may have ripened them earlier than other men (Bennet, p. 75 - 76) What is really sad, is that views like this claim the right to be academically recognized. Some of the Black historians suggest that worlds civilization is exclusively the result of Black peoples creative mind. Apart from cheer absurdity of such claims they represent great danger, as they try to make Black students to feel equal by distorting history. What we are talking about here is no less than transforming the University into a center of multicultural learning: anything less continues a system of education that ultimately reproduces racism and racists" this pearl belongs to professor Paul Berman and expressed in his book Debating P.
C. : The Controversy Over Political Correctness on College Campuses (Berman, p. 42). Itd be very interesting to see what professor would do if he himself gets accused of racism by some of his students, who simply cant keep up with process of study. The trick is that there is no legal mean of defense against such labeling According to recent surveys, it is possible to obtain bachelors degree, without taking history course in 30 % of American colleges. In 38 % of all colleges it is not necessary to study English literature, in order to get a degree. The lowering of educational standards in American colleges and universities is a direct result of e racism. In my opinion, those who are strongly in favor in dropping the classical standards for how people are to be educated cannot foresee what such changes might lead us to in the long run.
Formally, they are in favor of allowing more freedom, as an integral part of academic research, yet there are questions, that in their opinion, should not be addressed such as: What is justice? What is beauty? What is man? What is right and what is wrong... ? Such questions might result in getting controversial answers, but this is exactly what education is all about the greater truth comes out of argument. There is no doubt in my mind that the problem of racism on college campuses is greatly exaggerated.
The 45 % of all reported hate crimes in American colleges in 2003 consisted of acts that are commonly described as subtle racism. In another words, about a half of racism outbreaks had actually never happened. White students unwillingness to socialize with Blacks might be the ultimate act of arrogance, but its not racism and there is nothing illegal about it. In my opinion, those who come up with racism accusations need to be held accountable for what they say. Im sure that itd greatly reduce the number of reported crimes. There are a lot of people who just like to whine and it doesnt matter to them what they white about, as long as there is a good excuse for doing that.
The solution of this problem can be largely accomplished by using psychological methods, rather then bringing the matter to the court. Statistic shows that close to 60 % of all racism reports come from the people who pursue their own personal agenda, rather than being seriously concerned of what they whine about. Students and professors need to be protected from irresponsible people, who instigate racism paranoia in the places of learning. It is important to understand that racial minority students have exactly the same rights as Whites. Theyre actually being given advantages over Whites. As Thomas Jackson notes: Filipinos and El Salvadorans are doubtless astonished to discover that simply by setting foot in the United States they are entitled to affirmative action preferences over native-born whites, but can they be blamed for accepting them? (Jackson) If any non-White student complains about racism and his accusations are groundless, its better to offer such student to simply go back to study in country of his origin, where is no racism Along with absence of running water and other things, which American students take for granted.
The problem will have all the chances to simply disappear in this case. One of the greatest Black writers Booker T. Washington once said: The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race. (Washington, p. 99). When he was getting education in 19 th century, Washington went through a real racism, not the imaginary one. Yet, he always used to stress out that it served him a lot of good by strengthening his character. Colored students would be better off if they applied as much effort into studies as they do in discovering the slightest signs of racism To conclude this we will have to come up with following statement: 1) The issue of racism in college campuses is grossly exaggerated 2) Those whore in favor of introducing speech codes in places of studying have only one real objective to make even more students discontent with cheer stupidity of e racism, so they can scream about dangers of racism more.
This will enable them to pursue their own agendas 3) All the efforts to reduce racial prejudices will either have an opposite effect or they will result in lowering of educational standards both are intolerable. In my opinion, people of all backgrounds, need to just stop scratching racial issue and get on with their lives. They need to understand that the issue of racism is very much artificially designed. Its meant to conceal what really divides people their social status Bibliography: Attach, Peter The racial dilemma in American higher education. State University of New York Press. New York. 1991 Berman, Paul Debating P.
C. : The Controversy Over Political Correctness on College Campuses. Dell Publishing, New York. 1992 Bennett, Lerone Jr. , Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America. Johnson Publishing Company: Chicago, 1962 Fagin, James The continuing significance of racism: Discrimination against Black students in White colleges. Journal of Black Studies, 1992. 22, 546 - 578 Fisher, B.
J. , & Hartmann, D. J. The Impact of Race on the Social Experience of College Students at a Predominantly White university. Journal of Black Studies, 26, 117 - 133. 1995 Herrstein, R.
and Murray, C. Bell Curve New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. , 1994 Jackson, Thomas What is Racism? Stormfront. Racialist Library. 2 May 2001. 13 Dec. 2004 web Washington, Booker Up From Slavery Airport Edition. New York. 1967.
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Research essay sample on College Campuses Affirmative Action
