Race In My Community

Race in My Community

Karen Gaines

Axia College

In my community there are several minority ethnic groups that get along quite well. Since being in my neighborhood, I have not had an opportunity to see any racism, discrimination or prejudice when it comes to race or nationality. However, there is some prejudice in areas of lifestyle.

I remember moving into my community in the spring of 1999 and the entire block was tree lined. Most of the people in my neighborhood are African Americans, home owners and are elderly; however, there are some couples with children and grandchildren that live with them. There are a few Europeans and Jamaicans that live in the neighborhood. I visited the 7-Eleven in my community and was introduced to a minority group from Nepal, which is “a small country between India and China” as told from Budsan.

I have very limited interaction with the community due to my schedule; however, at the home owner’s association meetings from earlier years, I have met various home owners in the community. There were African Americans and Whites only at this meeting and everyone was treated fairly and appeared to be happy. The owners of the cleaners, that is next to the community building, is Chinese and they seem to be happy about their location.

The people in my community treat everyone basically the same. Unfortunately, there are a lot of young men that do not work or go to school that stand on some of the corners and this behavior has caused the community to withdraw early on; however, within the last 2-3 years, the community has been cleaned up. There are still some young men that sell drugs and that loiter, but the neighbors are taking back the community. As far as I can see, everyone is treated the same. There is an African American woman that is married to a White man up the street from me and my dog plays with his dog sometimes. We all get along very well.

During my time in this class I have found more information on African Americans than I thought that I knew. The topic of the chapter was “The Making of African Americans in White America” which is already a stereotypical topic. Through reading this information, I have learned more about slavery, civil rights, and how racism still exists in the United States. I am proud to be a neighbor in my neighborhood because there is no opinions of race, sexual identify, or culture. There are some positive things that has happened in the United States concerning African Americans, for example, there are African American politicians, there is an African American running for President of the United States, and there are African American lawyers, doctors, CEO’s, homeowners, etc.

The media always has something on the television about African Americans. Most of the time it is something negative, like murder or a drug bust; however, within the last few years there has been positive