Racism

New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.

The costs of prejudice and discrimination are great. There is the psychological pain and the physical suffering. There are the economic costs such as lost job opportunities. Individuals that are victims of prejudice are denied the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is not easy being treated differently because of something beyond ones control such as the color of ones skin. Much as one might like to believe otherwise, this is not a kind and gentle world. Prejudice and racial tensions have been running high in many places around this country. As evidenced by the riots in Los Angeles after the acquittal of the four White police on trial for the beating of the Black motorist, Rodney King. In 1998 there was the terrible murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming who was severely beaten and then tied to a fence post and left to die. This event created a national outcry over bigotry against gays. Gay rights groups descended upon the Capitol to call for more laws against hate crimes on both the state and federal levels.

In Laura Wexler's book "Fire in a Canebrake" she gives many examples of segregation and racism in the United States during the 1940's. She tells of the events leading to the brutal lynching of four Black people. A group of White men took the law into their own hands. They were judge and jury. It was not apparent what the crimes were of the three individuals. The community they lived in would not tell the authorities what they knew about the murders. Some were silenced by fear for their own safety; others because they believed no crime had been committed.

Wexler discusses the attitude of people living is the south towards the Black population. Black tenant farmers were often cheated and kept from leaving by the owners of the property.

"No law governed the relationship between landlord and tenant, and even if one had, a black tenant's word would have held little weight against his white landlord's in courtÐ'....When one black tenant and his wife tried to move off their white landlord's farm, he found them brought them back to the farm and beat themÐ'... because the tenants were essentially powerless against there landlords, there was no escape from "enslavement by the pencil." Ð'... It was customary for the black tenants to borrow money from the landlords for various expenses. When it became time to repay these loans or "furnish" after the harvest, they often discovered they owed the landlord as much as they'd earned." (Wexler 29).

Wexler reported about efforts to keep blacks from exercising their newly granted rights to vote. For example " The Eugene Talmadge campaign mailed out forms challenging their right to vote to black registrants, in an effort to revoke their right to vote." (Wexler 49). Racism also existed in the United States government. "FBI director Hoover's racism filtered down to agents, who thought little of disparaging the local Black people in their written reports." (Wexler 129). Blacks could not hold the same jobs, attend the same schools or churches, ride the same buses or even use the same restrooms as the white population. They were considered sub-citizens.

Today there are many Civil Rights laws in place to desegregate the population. It is illegal to discriminate against someone because of their race, creed, or color. White children attend schools with people of all denominations. Positive changes have occurred in our society in the direction of greater harmony and reduced prejudice. Today there are many elected officials from minority groups. Minority groups are represented in a broad array of professions. However, every year there are hundreds of vicious hate crimes, including killings of African Americans, gays, and other minorities.

Minority group members still live within a system of power and privilege that favors Whites. Minorities are exploited in the workplace, are the target of hate crimes, and are segregated in housing. A disproportionate percentage of minority group members live in poverty.

For example, discrimination in housing has been declared illegal, but subtle discrimination persists. Advertising to sell homes or rental units may be placed in media that target the racial groups already predominating in the advertised areas. Also, rental agents and