Racism In Goldfish

Imagine living life as a goldfish. From the very moment it’s life begins, the tiny, innocent specimen is engulfed in water. Given the ability to communicate with the goldfish, one might mention the presence of water. The response would be something along the lines of: “Water? What is that?”. Even though the goldfish relies on water for survival, it would not be aware of it’s surroundings. When confronted with this observation, the goldfish might become defensive or taken aback. “Water isn’t helping me live, water has nothing to do with this!” it might retort. It’s not the goldfish’s fault that it lives in water, and they can’t be blamed for not seeing something so transparent that has never been pointed out to them. This is not an issue. An …show more content…
There has been a lot of controversy over the existence of white privilege, as well as an overabundance of misinformation. Ignorance, willful or otherwise, only worsens the problem. Now is this time to let all goldfish, living and dying, know about white privilege and what it really is. Most people consider racism to be a thing of the past. In the Western world, citizens are taught from a young age that prejudice and inequality plagued our history. However, it fails to acknowledge that these problems are relevant in modern time. Racism is raging in all corners of the earth, but the primary focus of this essay is the United States. Before any social analysis is made, the structure of racism must first be clarified. Racism is far more than stereotypes and slaves; racism is the systematic oppression of a marginalized group due to a racial hierarchy. This means that there are varying degrees of prejudice that are ingrained in various aspects of society. Keep in mind that while the oppressing group might experience the less severe, superficial levels of prejudice, marginalized groups are affected by all of them, to the highest extent. For example, the lowest degree of racism is composed of subtle acts of bias, such as insensitive remarks, rumors, and stereotypes. White folks may hear sarcastic jeers and comments now and them, but that’s as bad as it gets for them in terms of racial oppression. The next stage, acts of bigotry, involves scapegoating, slurs, and de-humanization. …show more content…
How many lives need to end in order for this to be considered a problem? In the grand scheme of things, fighting against racism is not about one person. It is about the lives of an entire group. The struggle is not whether or not someone“deserved” to die, it is fearing for one’s life when they walk down the street because they might come across as a threat. It is about being labeled a ghetto thug for not looking or behaving “white enough”. White people will never understand this concept, no matter how hard they try. This isn’t to say that none of them care about minority rights, but it is impossible to wrap one’s head round this concept without experiencing it. Privilege is invisible to those who have it, but that is no excuse. People are hurting. They are screaming from the top of their lungs that they are suffering. People of color (PoC) do not need whites to understand. They need whites to accept the privilege they have and lend a helping hand. Unfortunately, the reaction is quite the opposite.
One of the most pressing concerns in the fight against modern racism (sometimes referred to as the Second Wave Civil Rights Movement) ignorance, followed by stubbornness. Society is extremely eurocentric, and the media often criminalizes people of color while idolizing whites. Reversing internalized racism is something that most PoC struggle with. There are countless examples of eurocentric