Racism is one of the world’s major issues today.

 Many people believe that racism does not exist

and is something that affects millions of people every day in our schools, workforces, and
anywhere else where social lives are occurring. Racism was a problem in the past but is still is
today. WHAT IS RACISM? Everywhere we go, and everywhere we look, there is always
someone different. Imagine walking down the street and having people stare at you or call you
names, or talk behind your back, just because your skin is a different color, or you’re of a
different religion. We all seem to ask ourselves the same question over and over, why do people
do this? This is because of racism. There is always will be someone who will thinks that their
race is better than others. Racism is not knowing anything about someone when you look at
them, but disliking them anyway, not because of who they are, but because of what they are.
The term racism can be defined as many ways: Some refer to racism as white supremacism, the
belief that the Caucasian race is superior to all other races. Others define racism as
discrimination against a particular race’s culture, beliefs or traditions. Racism might refer to the
idea that a single race is somehow purer than other races, or that one race genetically exhibits
dominance over others. There are three basic forms of racism, open racism, violent racism, and
covert racism. Open racism expresses racial thoughts through thoughts and speech. Calling
people rude names, making fun of way they dress are some of the common examples of open
racism; violent racism promotes racism through violence and fear. Covert racism expresses
ideas of racism in disguised forms; sometimes the covert racist is not even aware of the fact that
he is racist. Avoiding minorities on the street and denying benefits to a minority is an example of
covert racism. As I said before, Racism was a problem in the past but is still is today. But why
racism exists? A baby cannot be born a racist but only learn to become one as they grow from
childhood to adulthood. What are the factors that cause racism? Racism is often based on
ignorance and fear of anything unfamiliar. Instead of finding out about other cultures, racists
choose to hate or despise anyone who is different. Frustration is also one of the common of
racism. If someone is having some sort of a social problem, they will get very angry with people
who are not even concerned with their problem. For examples, when a person is having a tough
time economically, they find it easy to blame immigrants for taking away their jobs or creating
fewer opportunities. So frustration might lead someone to hate towards any minority group or
people. Another common cause of racism is social and economic status. People are often judged
by where they live, how much money they make, how well they dress and what type of car they
drive and so on. According to CNN, in 2004 the percentage of Americans living under the
poverty level was 12.5%. In this same year the percentage of African Americans living under
the poverty level was 24.4%, almost twice the national level. This tends to cause a feeling of
superiority amongst some people over the African Americans. This also may cause people to
generalize all African Americans as “poor” since the number is so high. Personal experience or
fear is one reason for racism. When we are afraid of something or someone we often express this
in terms of anger or hatred toward them. Or if we are assaulted by anyone from another race. We
might feel hatred toward that race where it can lead to racism. Some racism is caused by desire
to gain or maintain advantages over others. And finally, most common causes of racism are
family, friends, peers, and media and so on. As young children grow up, they learn about people
around the from their parents, teachers, friends and also books, comics, television and
newspapers. For ex: someone becomes a racist when they are misinformed by parents about
another race or. Effects of racism on people. Racism can affects people in many ways. Most
commonly, racism involves distressing comments, jokes and stereotypes. Racism also causes
people of color meaning the minority group have a variety of disadvantages, including lack of
access to care, lower income, less insurance. At its most extreme, racism can lead to violence,
murder and entire countries and regions to live apart. Not only is that racism harmful to our
health. Racism creates intense and constant stress, which increases the risk of depression, anxiety
and anger. These factors can lead to heart disease. A British study of 4,800 people finds that
those who felt victimized by discrimination and forms of racism were twice as likely to develop
psychotic episodes in the next three years. Some research also suggests racism can also manifest
itself in respiratory and other physical problems. Also, a group of Harvard researchers states that
1% increase in incidences of racial disrespect translates to an increase in 350 deaths per 100,000
African Americans. Racism killed thousands of people many decades ago and still its killing
them. Racism today in schools. Racism in schools has damaging effects both on individuals and
the learning and working environment. Racist bullying are one of the popular incidents in
schools. Racist bullying in schools can be a problem in two ways. Children who express racist
bulling in school have their education disrupted. They may be unable to concentrate on lessons
because of feelings of fear or anger. Their self-confidence may be damaged and, as a result, they
may not fulfil their potential. Schools that ignore it, or deny its existence, give the wrong
message to young people. The success of our multi-cultural society depends upon the children of
today growing up to be adults who respect difference and are prepared to speak out against
racism. Not only had this racist bullying in school caused 14 year girl to suicide. The victim who
abused her was mixed white English and black African. He abused that 14 year old girl for four
month before she committed suicide. He asked her to go back to her own country and called her
racism names and made her life miserable. Girl feared reporting the abuse would make him
become violent and instead suffered in silence. But she revealed her abuse after she killed
herself with a mixture of stress pills and painkillers in January 2009. She wrote a note telling her
family that she did not want a 'sad funeral'. She added: 'I wanted to die because of everything that
was happening at school. 'I thought, "Do I want to do this?" And then I thought, "Yes, I don't
want to be here". Not only that when her mother informed the school about this incidence they as
good as called me a liar. Her mother went through a long battle convincing the police to take this
seriously. And finally the victim was sentence to the jail on august last year. Racism in
workforces. Racism affects people’s chances of getting jobs. In Canada aboriginal people are
twice likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population. In Australia is also the same but in
Australia aboriginal people are more than 3 times to be unemployed than the rest of the
population. And in the united stated black people are twice likely to be unemployed than the
white.