Race is an undeniable factor that seems to involve nearly everything we do.
Delta College is a diverse campus with a reputation for welcoming people from all ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Are there problems regarding racism or discrimination on campus? It depends on who you ask.
There’s no denying the answer to this question will be affected by one’s own race. Many of us can say that we’ve experienced a very inviting environment for not only ourselves, but our diverse peers as well.
Others, including those who protested in the quad two weeks ago, will tell you some professors have racist motivations.
When does a confrontation go from a mere teacher-student problem to a racial problem?
Pulling the race card can be a tricky topic to speak upon. Yes, there are some racist people out there and some actions are backed by racist motivations. This, however, doesn’t mean every confrontation between two people of a different race is related to race.
We come to a point where we need to realize most of us treat people as people, not as different races. This isn’t ignoring the fact there’s racial tension on the national stage.
This is keeping an open mind towards people who don’t want to be labeled as racist, much as you don’t want to be discriminated against.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen often. People have stopped talking about interpersonal racial problems because we see no resolutions. When someone pulls the race card, it’s over. The other person now has no credibility or grounds for argument because they have been labeled racist.
As students of journalism, we keep seeing the same things in the news: racial tension, accusations of discriminatory acts, both peaceful and violent protests against racism, conversations about the problems with race in America. This has become routine.
These events and stories keep surfacing because there are no resolutions. In addition to this, media provides a warped view of reality when it comes to these types of events.
When Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri there was no doubt in people’s minds that this was an issue of race. No one considered Brown didn’t comply with police orders and would have been shot no matter what race he happened to be. There was no ‘innocent until proven guilty’ – for either party involved – due to the media’s response.
This event, along with many others, has led to a discrimination against the police. Because the media had shed light on a few questionable instances between people of different races, the people have rallied against the police force.
Every day in America, people of the same race shoot one another. We are often disregarding these incidents, because such focus is being placed on race-related disputes.
There’s racism out there, but at the same time we shouldn’t label every event as racially motivated.
That is ignorance.
