What Extent Can Racism Be Prevented in Society

To what extent do you think racism can be prevented in society? Racism has long been a critical issue in our society and while many measures have been taken to prevent racism, it is a controversial issue as to whether racism can really be eliminated. Many are confident that racism can be prevented, while others are not as convinced. Hence, my topic for this essay is to discuss the extent to which racism can be prevented. Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through our senses. It's a way of regarding, understanding and interpreting something.

However while perception is an unavoidable part of our life, it has also been said to encourage racism. It is said to encourage racism through two aspects; visual and auditory perception. Firstly, visual perception is our ability to see while auditory perception is our ability to hear. Both are natural abilities that we are born with and we use them on a daily basis but yet, it can be a dangerous tool. For example, when people see a “black” person, they may immediately respond by thinking that they are inferior, because society has influenced them to think that way.

Similarly, when people hear someone with an African accent, that person can be subjected to racism because we have been influenced to think that Africans are an inferior race. In both cases, visual and auditory perception has aided in us to be racist! Another issue is that to stop racism, we first must identify what is classified to be racist and what isn’t but how do we even begin to measure the severity of racist comments? For example, in the article, John Terry was accused for racist abuse against Ferdinand.

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While many believes that Terry is guilty of being racist, there also others that argues that Terry did not mean what he said as an insult but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him. The chief magistrate believed that Terry was only repeating the words that he believed Ferdinand had accused him of saying. How do we judge what is considered to be racist and what isn’t? How do we begin to measure what is a “severe” racist comment and what can be let off? If someone only said racist comments to defend themselves because another erson is attacking them verbally, should they be let off? Lastly, who has the “power” to decide whether something is classified as racist or not? However, on another note, there is a number of ways that racism can be eliminated in our society. A lot of measures have been taken to prevent racism and many campaigns and petitions have been set up to challenge racism. This has resulted in increased awareness on the important issue of racism and society has really opened their eyes and started to think before they speak.

Many people have become more careful when choosing their words to ensure that they do not offend anyone. Racist comments are so regarded with contempt that people who engage in racism are often criticized severely by society and these people can even be imprisoned. Thus, this measure has also resulted in a decrease in racist cases in our society. However, in my opinion, while racist cases have decreased dramatically, I do not think that racism can ever be eliminated completely in society.

Firstly, even though people who engage in racism can be imprisoned, this does not necessarily stop people from engaging in racism when they are alone or when they are with their close friends who share the same views as them. Furthermore, children who grow up in families that engage in racism will influence them to think that racism is okay and it is extremely difficult to change their way of thinking as its our word against their family’s. Due to the increased advancement of technology, it is also very easy for people to post racist comments anonymously, resulting in a whole new way of engaging in racism that is difficult to stop.

Thus, I do not believe that racism can be eliminated entirely, but I do believe that racism is a very serious issue and we should all play a part to try and decrease the number of racist cases in society. We should always do what we want others to do unto us, and I am sure that none of us would want to be judged based on our race. Most importantly, we should all play our individual role and to think twice before we speak and to understand that our tongue is a sharp tool, and what we say can affect someone’s life in ways that we do not understand.

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