Injustice and Discrimination

Throughout the course history, discrimination and racial barriers have always existed in different countries and cultures. Although racism has been fading due to the self-conscience that humans have attained for the past years, there are still many who remain ignorant. That dark side that persists in human minds has cut deeply into the hearts of many innocent victims.

On February 26, 2012, an African-American teenager from Florida(Trayvon Martin)was shot dead by a self-appointed watchman in the neighborhood in which he lived in, when he was out buying snacks. The patrolman—by the name of George Zimmerman—defended his crime by arguing that it was an act of self-defense, and that Martin looked “suspicious” wearing a dark hoodie when he was walking on the streets.

        Prejudice affects many people, and causes catastrophes; even nowadays. The incident with Travyon Martin is a clear example. The excuse, in which George Zimmerman gave to the police body— that he looked “suspicious”, wearing that hoodie—didn’t make sense. Why do you have to be a delinquent to be a black person wearing a hoodie?

 Prejudicial opinions come from stereotype of someone’s gender, religion, or race. It is unfair to those who are judged by the color of their skin, and not by their inner beauty. The ignorant people who judge that way have no idea of how it is like to be the one that’s judged upon, and don’t have the ability to put themselves in others’ shoes; due to that, they are the major cause of injustice that makes our world a darker place than it’s supposed to be.

        As individuals, there are a lot of things that we can achieve if we act as a group. Many people don’t take notice of the injustice happening all around the world, and even more are afraid to act; nevertheless, it is everyone’s responsibility to protect the weak and innocent, in order to make this world a better place.

        In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee , Scout’s father, Atticus, is a clear model that all individuals should follow. He defended a black man who was accused of something he didn’t do; Atticus did something that everyone knew was right, but something that no one dared to do.

 Some might ask, “Why do we have to get involved in problems that we didn’t take part in?” Well, the answer is that problems don’t get solved until someone comes out and solves them; if no one in the community had any intention whatsoever in helping, then the problem would remain dangling in thin air forever; which is it’s crucial for individuals to act together in order to create a much stronger force that can end the painful situation we’re in.

        People often fear what they don’t understand; there are people who are afraid of the unknown creatures out in the universe, there are people who are afraid of change, and there are people that are scared of those they haven’t interacted with before. In the case of the shooting in Florida, George Zimmerman didn’t understand anything about blacks, and automatically assumed that an African-American with a hoodie is dangerous.

        When people fear what they do not understand, they normally act defensively. George Zimmerman shot Martin because of his not understanding that blacks are just the same as whites. I think that part of him, was a little afraid of him because he didn’t know what Martin could do; his racist opinions caused him think stereotypically about blacks and he might’ve been afraid of what Martin would’ve done if he was really a delinquent.

        There are many different kinds of stereotypes, and gender is one of them. Just like racism, there are ignorant people who underestimate the power of women as well as blacks. This affects peoples’ behaviors, because by holding prejudice against someone, it is imminent that it’s going to cause a response from the victims. Gender stereotype is as bad as any other kind of discrimination, and the peoples’ behaviors certainly reflect directly upon it.

        Racism has been around for decades—centuries, even. It is our responsibility to raise awareness and notify the whole world so that it could be stopped; the death of Travyon Martin should awaken our self-conscience even more—to finally stop the discriminating and racist activities all across the globe. It is our responsibility to make our world a better place for every single living being in existence.

The Problem We All Live With

The Problem We All Live With

The painting The Problem We All live with was painted by Norman Rockwell in November 14, 1960. It is shown with a 6-year-old African-American girl on the way to school, surrounded by four bodyguards. This is most likely taking place in the Deep South, as there are various details that represent the racism going on in the scene.

 On the top left side corner, KKK, the initials of a racist group Ku Klux Klan was written in a medium-sized font; and capital letters “nigger” written in a way that calls major attention, in the center of the wall. And a big stain of tomato juice is displayed beside the discriminating words; which explains why the African-American girl needs escorts on the way to school, to prevent racists to cause any harm to her.  

     This gives the viewer the impression of the segregation in the Deep South. It gives the viewer an idea of how prejudicial the society was against African-Americans. When I saw this painting at first, I didn’t notice the little details, and regarded it as a normal painting of Ruby Bridges walking to school with normal pedestrians walking with her. But after looking at it with a magnifying glass, I realized the effort that the artist put in it; the stains and the words on the walls were derogatory remarks that I couldn’t picture really happening. Imagining someone being treated like that since birth is unimaginable.

Norman Rockwell was an artist that paints the events that happen in everyday life in the United States. He painted this, aware of the situation that’s happening. I think that his painting focused on the African-American girl, because he wanted to show that she was the main character in this whole situation, and he by not showing a smile on her face, he wants to express how differently blacks felt during that time. Judging by the fact that Normal Rockwell cropped Ruby Bridges’ bodyguards faces of, I think it is because he wants people to concentrate on her, instead of the bodyguards; they are more like of an unimportant character, but he still draws them, and show the stripe they wear on their arms, so viewers could figure out that the racism was so bad that the federal government had to send bodyguards to protect her safety.

The faint color he used for the words “nigger” and the “KKK” also made me think that he did not draw it in a strong color, because although the Deep South was full of racist people, the world was beginning to change for the African-Americans. The government allowed blacks to do things they weren’t permitted to do before; the government was starting to desegregate the laws.