Racism

by The Messiah (Anonymous Submission):

I want to talk about an issue that most of us would rather not talk about: racism. But first, let’s take a real good look at ourselves.

We live in one of the most liberal cities in America. All of us have been taught to be tolerable and the importance of accepting people of all different races and backgrounds. Our fair state, California, is so far left that it is almost a waste of time to head to the voting polls because we all know, no matter what, that a democrat will be the candidate of choice (although let’s not forget about California’s blunder in electing Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, twice in a row).

When I walk across our campus, or am just hanging out with my friends, I come across an unfathomable amount of racism. This is quite startling when you consider that most students at Samohi would eagerly jump to the occasion to declare themselves indifferent to race.

Sadly, we live in an age where stereotypes are definitive. Successful comedians such as Dave Chappelle, and George Lopez, mock their own races and they are rewarded. Fans crave this brand of humor, and comedians have been showered with money for their audacity. What most people do not understand is that the “black” jokes, and “beaner” jokes, commonly found across the internet and television spectrum, are actually directed towards the people who believe in common stereotypes. This form of satire is not to be taken literally, but too many of us do regardless.

At Samohi, your typical lunch involves socializing with a group of your closest, same-race friends. Obviously there are many exceptions, but the majority of Samohi tends to affiliate with kids of the same race. This makes sense though, because why would you be friends with someone of a different race? All of the African-American kids are “ghetto,” the Mexican kids are hoodlums, the Jews are cheap, and the Asians are nerds.

I am definitely not a perfect person. As a result of 9-11, and the history of terrorism in itself, I am very much suspicious of Arabs and Middle-Easterners, and I definitely agree with racial profiling. But that is not to say that we should hold our own convictions against our fellow classmates. Throughout my three years at Samohi I have seen many improvements involving racism on our campus. After the so-called “riots” in the 2004-2005 school year, our staff has tried extremely hard to develop programs for students to meet together, and “talk” out their differences. Fighting has decreased and racial relations have improved, but there is still great work to be done.

Not only do the students of Samohi need to come together and enjoy each other for their differences, but we all need to erase some of the disgusting stereotypes we have stored in our minds. Too many of us think of blacks and Latinos as dangerous and ignorant. Too many kids joke about Jews as being irregularly thrifty and sneaky. And too many people believe that because someone is white, that person is a “cracker.” All of you that bitch to The Kronik or complain about something so meaningless as prius drivers, on this very web site, are ironically, large contributors to the racism at Samohi. Those of us who spend our time writing to these liberal rags, are supposed to be intelligent and understanding. I do not know how many times I have heard a friend or classmate of mine, postulate that Barack Obama has a good shot at winning the Democratic primary, because he has every African-American voting for him. Just as Obama said himself on 60 Minutes, do you truly think that the black community is so primitive and ignorant that they would vote for a President based on the color of his skin? Too many of us are contributing to the very ideas and stereotypes that we should detest. Yes, black jokes can be funny, and it is true that there are a lot of Asian-owned laundromats (ha ha ha, not that funny, get over it), but it is time that we take a good look at each other, and establish whether or not, we are truly tolerable and not racists ourselves.