Race in America

Raising children can definitely be a hard task, especially raising them with the proper values and beliefs. This issue is explored in the article “Trying Not to Raise Racist Kids,” as it is described how parents face the tough task of explaining racism to their children in hopes of instilling the proper ideals in their lives. The first step to introducing children to diversity is the place that they live. Some people live in racially diverse neighborhoods, while other people live in very secluded and protected neighborhoods. Even when living in a racially diverse neighborhood, there is never a guarantee that there will actually be compliance or harmony amongst the citizens. The problem with talking to children and trying to get them to understand race and how society works can be a very difficult task because parents do not want to say the wrong thing or be culturally incorrect in the way that they address the topic with their children. In addition, many parents try to teach their children things that they wish were actually true, but in reality are not. For example, saying that “everyone is equal” may be something that we have been frequently told, but society has showed that this is not actually true and that it is just a fact of life that not everybody is treated equally. The article stated that although many people say that children are innocent and have no idea about racial discriminations, this is actually not true. Children are able to see the differences in races and can form their own conclusions and assumptions as little as the age of three. This made me think of Tim Wise’s article and the way in which he said that whites are often given the benefit of the doubt and receive too much lenience for doing the wrong thing. In Tim Wise’s article, there was a lot of commentary that whites are often given too much credit and are never closely looked at in the ways in which black people are. It is very common that a black person be instantly accused for something while a white person would have easily gotten away with it. This is similar to the way in which children function. Many people believe that children are innocent and that they have no ability to think for themselves and form their own conclusions. This is something that I think people are very unaware of and give too much credit to children. While children may not have as much life experience and knowledge as an adult does, children are usually still intelligent enough to form their own conclusions and to observe and fit in with the rest of society. Societal norms are that children have no say within the community and are usually just an afterthought, but children are actually much smarter than they are given credit for, something that I think could definitely be compared to Tim Wise’s article. 

In addition, I thought that the story of Chris Shurn was very similar to the excerpt that I read by Andrew Hacker about the way that blacks are treated in America. Chris Shurn is a black man who served 4 years in jail for crack cocaine. As a child, Chris had a very hard upbringing. His father left their family and his mother was a very big crack addict, which led to Chris’s drug use. After serving his time in jail, Chris realized that he needed to get his life back on track and became very determined to succeed. All that he wanted was to have a normal life with his family and to get a job that would allow him to support his family. This has become very difficult for Chris, as he feels that it is hard for him to find a good paying job with a good paycheck. I think that this is a very tough situation because I understand both sides of the argument. First off, I think that it is important to recognize that it is very hard for anyone to find a job, so with his background and his history, it makes sense that he has having an even harder time finding a job. In addition, his history of drug use and his arrest are a huge deterrent for potential employers, as many employers do not want convicted felons to be working for their companies. With that said, I feel bad for Chris because of the fact that he isn’t being given a chance to make up for his mistake and prove himself to the rest of society. While his actions were clearly bad and should be addressed, he has faced his consequence of jail time and could be a better person now. He had a very hard upbringing, and I think that this is something that shouldn’t be held against him. Andrew Hacker highlighted the fact that blacks are often not given the benefit of the doubt and are looked at poorly, and I feel that being black, Chris Shurn’s chance of being accepted by society and getting a good job are even worse. Many people probably think that since he is black, he didn’t actually learn from his first mistake and that it is going to happen again, regardless of whether or not this is actually a true statement. Andrew Hacker spoke about how these types of actions are often considered to be actions by the entire race and not an individual, and I think that this is true. People are most likely very discriminatory against blacks because they feel like all black people act in the way that Chris Shurn did, making it very hard for him to make up for his mistake and get a good paying job to support his family.