Racism: Black People and New York Times Essay

I think everybody has heard about segregation. We all know about how everybody used to say separate but equal is okay. I think that racism is still going on today, even though it isn’t as obvious. It’s a disease that a lot of people have, which we must find a cure for. It’s a little harder to cure than the common cold though, but I think that it’s just as bad as it used to be. The first example of racism is when they are going to the trial in the book, To Kill A Mockingbird when Scout, Jem, and Dill are going to the trial and trying to find a seat in the balcony it says, † . . . and steered us gently through the black people in the balcony. Four Negroes rose and gave us their front-row seats. † (Lee 164) This is a good example of racism because it shows that blacks had to stand if whites wanted to sit down. So it shows segregation. Another quote is, â€Å"The colored balcony ran along three walls of the courtroom. Like a second veranda†Ã‚ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lee 164) This says that there was still a lot of segregation because it was just a â€Å"colored balcony†. That’s the only place blacks were allowed to sit or they could stand in the back. One more quote that I have from the book that says racism was, and still is a problem is, â€Å"But around here once you have a drop of Negro blood, that makes you all black. † (Lee, 162) I really think that this is a strong quote, because I think that it’s true. If someone doesn’t like one group of people and then they find out that your slightly one of them. They automatically push you away. My reasoning for them doing this is because they are either scared or jealous of them. It also says that people don’t try to get to know people very well. Lots of people did and still do make judgements based on outward appearance. In this paragraph, I’m going to prove to you that racism still exists, just as bad as it did in the 1930’s. Even though there isn’t segregation anymore racism is still a problem. People are racist mainly against blacks. Like this article says, † . . . 88 black men have been executed for killing whites, while only two white men have been executed for killing blacks. † (New York Times, February 24, 1995. A Long History. Laws once gave penalties by race.) It shouldn’t matter what your skin color is depending on how severe your punishment is. Another article says, † . . . when blacks committed crimes against each other without involving whites, the legal consequences wee lower than when whites were harmed. † (New York Times, February 24, 1995. A Long History. Laws Once Gave Penalties by Race. ) This one shows that once whites were involved the crime suddenly got a lot worse than they were making it. I think that with some proof from the book that shows how it used to be. Then some proof of how it has been in the last few years, I think that anyone can clearly see that racism is just as bad as it used to be. My solution to the problem of racism is very hard to do. It is known as a disease, but this isn’t one we can take some medicine for and cure it. This is one we have to teach. Racism is not caught, but taught. We have to teach each other that it doesn’t matter what we look like on the outside, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts. How do we teach this? We can go to schools all around the country. Do a lot of different public speaking sessions. That is how I would cure racism. So in conclusion, I hope that I have convinced some of you that racism is just as bad as it was in the 1930’s. You can plainly see that Harper Lee, even as a little child could see that racism was going on. Then it was a little more obvious, but we still need to realize it. Just because racism is just as bad as it was before doesn’t mean that we can’t change that.