Word: racism
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Rodney Gullatte Jr., 17, an African-American student in Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Ga., was still in middle school when he got his first lesson in racism. It was then that a group of white kids, whom he describes as part of a growing "skinhead" element in his school, began to harass him. "Hey, Rodney, how does it feel to be a nigger?" they would taunt. "How does it feel to know you'll always be a nigger? Is your mother a nigger too?" After a time Gullatte punched one of the white kids in the face. That earned...
...have moved beyond their parents' views of race. These kids say race is less important to them, both on a personal level and as a social divide, than it is for adults. It must be noted that more than half of both white kids and black still consider racism "a big problem" in America--however, more than a third classify it as "a small problem." Asked about the impact of racism in their own lives, a startling 89% of black teens call it "a small problem" or "not a problem at all." In fact, white adults and white teens...
Furthermore, black teens are more reluctant than others to blame racism for problems. Indeed, nearly twice as many black kids as white believe "failure to take advantage of available opportunities" is more of a problem for blacks than discrimination. That's especially extraordinary given the fact that 40% of the black teens surveyed believe SATs are loaded against them, and that blacks have to be better qualified than whites to get a job. These responses seem to indicate that black teens believe color barriers exist, but, despite that, they retain an admirably dogged belief in self-determination...
...question the existence of racism. Yet many Americans of color do extraordinarily well. I do not, in addition, question affirmative action in principle--if it aims at giving all those of socio-economically deprived, underprivileged, or educationally less rigorous backgrounds the equal opportunity to succeed. That goes for poor African-Americans from Watts or Brownsville; but it should also apply to destitute whites from bankrupt mining communties in rural West Virginia; Vietnamese boat people; inner-city Koreans; Chinese political refugees and any other group whose social and economic backgrounds deprive them of the same opportunities as the sons and daughters...
Whenever I encounter debates on affirmative action, as I did on Nov. 3, I always ask myself the same question: why doesn't anyone discuss the minorities who are doing very well without it? Certainly there exists racism against Asians, probably of as strong a variety as any prejudice toward Hispanics or Native Americans (two minority groups who, with African-Americans, benefit most often from affirmative-action policies). Many Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants arrive in America from societies just as violent, environments just as depressed, as any Hispanic or African-American does. Surely, it is harder to learn English...