Racism: Are We Better Off Colour Blind? :: essays papers

Racism: Are We Better Off Colour Blind? My background is Italian, so that makes me Italian-Canadian. The only time I have personally experienced racism was when I was called a "wop." This is how it felt: hurtful, degrading, humiliating. This is what it made me feel like as a person: worthless, inferior, powerless. Is this what goes on in the world? Is it truly fair? That is what my experience made me wonder. People who taunt others, in my opinion, are actually insecure about themselves. It might be because they are uncomfortable with who they are as a person, or how they look, but whatever the reason is, they only put down others to build themselves up. These kind of people are often very brave in front of others, but lose much of their power when on their own. This goes to show, racism isn't just caused by just one person, but many people who have had ideas put into their heads. These leaders would be powerless without their followers. A famous example of this is Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a German dictator and soldier who vocalized his extreme racist veiws to the Mien Kampf. He was appointed chancellor in 1933, and clearly expressed his opinions, which led to the policy of the extermination of Jews. He was a great leader, and once even recieved a bravery award in WWI. Hitler started a Great massacre, known as The Holocaust, in particular, the complete extermination of European Jews and others by the Nazis in Germany (1933-45). Jews, as well as others considered racially inferior by the Nazis, were killed in concentration camps. Concentration camps were detention centres for people considered racially or socially undesirable and political opponants.What went on in these camps was truely horrible: gruesome medical experiments, slave labour, discusting and brutal torture methods. Total Jewish deaths estimated at more than 6 million. It is disturbing to even think that an evil character such as Hitler was admired and respected by so many people, when his veiws were so obviously distorted and cruel. What could drive someone to do something as terrible as that is beyond me. But, sadly, even though Holocaust is over, many people still believe Jews are dirty and don't deserve to live. And the discrimanation doesn't end with Jewish people, people also discriminate against: African Americans, Asians, Caucasions, Hispanics, and Oriental people. Organizations such as the KKK or the Black Panthers are strictly black against white. They kill each other and promote extreme hate towards