IanMifsud

Mrs.Gardner
English/Period6
5December2015
Racism:ATyrannicalInferno
Race.Itsapartofallofus,yetitstilldividesus.Racismhasbeenthemostdamagingmatter
ofconcernthatmankindhaseverfaced.Fromthemomentthatindividualsoftwodifferent
colorsfirstcrossedpaths,alonghistoryofhatred,abuse,andmurderhastragicallyunfolded.
Timetoast.comstatesthattheearliestknowndocumentationofracismwasin330BCE,when
thephilosopherAristotledescribedallnonGreeksasbarbariansthatareslavesbynature.
Furthermore,theBabylonianTalmud,whichdivideshumanitythreewaysbetweenthethreesons
ofNoah,containsmoredisturbingracism.TheTalmudstatesthatthedescendantsofNoah'sson,
Ham,arecursedbybeingblackanditdepictsHamasadevilishandsinfulman
(Timetoast.com).Thesecausticstatementsbegantospreadswiftlyandwouldsoonleadtoevents
muchmoredamagingthanmerewrittenthoughts.Fromthesixteenthcenturytothenineteenth
century,theAtlanticSlaveTraderavagedthepeopleofAfrica.Fromcommonnomadtotribal
leader,Africanswereenslavedwithoutdiscrimination.Twelvemillionmen,women,and
childrenwerekidnappedandbroughttotheNewWorld.Theywouldbesoldtothehighest
bidder,separatedfromtheirlovedones,beatenmercilessly,andsubjectedtoendless
backbreakinglaborwithnohopesoffreedom.TheabolitionofslaveryintheUnitedStateswas
directlyfollowedbytheJimCrowLaws,whichresultedinracialsegregationfornearlyone
hundredyears,whichIllelaborateonlater.

ArecentdreadfultragedyofracismwastheheartbreakingJewishHolocaust.WhenWorld
WarIIbrokeoutin1939,GermandictatorAdolfHitlersNaziregimeandhisGestapopolice
beganloadingthousandsofJewsatatimeintocattletrainstobeshippedtoconcentrationcamps.
Intheseconcentrationcamps,horrorstoodisturbingtobespokenoftookplaceandsixmillion
Jewsperishedoverjustsixyears(UnitedStatesHolocaustMemorialMuseum).Hitleris
responsibleforanotherfivemilliondeathsofwarprisonersandciviliansashisarmyswept
throughEurope,pillagingcountryaftercountry.Racismandtyrannyalonemurderedeleven
million.
AfterthebombingofPearlHarbor,theUnitedStatesgovernmentbecameparanoidand
orderedforallJapaneseAmericanstobeplacedintoconcentrationcamps.Soundfamiliar?In
fact,TanforanRacetrackontheSanFranciscoPeninsulawasusedasaconcentrationcampfor
JapaneseAmericans.NoItalianAmericansnorBulgarianAmericansnorRomanianAmericans
norHungarianAmericansnorevenGermanAmericanswouldbeincarcerateddespitebeingthe
primaryenemy.IsthisbecausetheywerewhiteandnotAsian,thereforenotathreat?The
UnitedStateshadtakenpartintheexactthingtheyweretryingtodestroy,andtryingtodestroy
theexactthingtheyhadtakenpartin.In1964,MartinLutherKingsactionsagainsttheJim
CrowLawscausedthemtobeabolishedafteralmostonehundredyearsineffect.Racial
segregationineducationwasover.Racialsegregationintheworkforcewasover.Racial
segregationinAmericanlawwasover.Butstill,racismravagedAmericancitizensregularly.
Asyoucansee,racismhasalongandextremelytragichistory.You'dthinkthatwe'dhave
learnedourlessonbynow,butracismstilloccurstoday,everyday,ineverypartoftheworld
wherepeoplewithdifferentskincolorsencounteroneanother.Ihavebeenavictimofracismon

severaloccasionsandseenitfirsthandcountlesstimes.Itisaninfinitefirefueledbythe
insecuritiesofmankind.Itbeginsasanemberwithinasinglehumansmind,andgrowstoa
wildfireifstokedbyenvironmentalinfluences.Racism,inevitably,willalwaysbehumannature,
butpromotingthepositivesofallracesineverywaywillseverelydimtheinfernothathas
engulfedoursociety.Jointheinfinitebattleagainstracism,wemustuniteasaspeciestochange
ourhatefulculture.Somewillopposebutmostwillunitetoextinguishtheseflames.Ileaveyou
allwithapowerfulquotefromrapperandhumanitarianImmortalTechniqueaddressingthis
burningissue:Thedevilgrowsinsideoftheheartsoftheselfishandwicked,white,brown,
yellow,andblack,colorisnotrestricted,youhaveaselfdestructivedestinywhenyou're
inflicted,andyoullbeoneofGodschildrenwhofellfromthetop,theresnodiversitybecause
wereallburninginthemeltingpot.

WorksCited
"IntroductiontotheHolocaust."UnitedStatesHolocaustMemorialMuseum.UnitedStates
HolocaustMemorialCouncil,18Aug.2015.Web.11Nov.2015.

"RacismTimeline."Timetoast.Timetoast,15Oct.2006.Web.11Nov.2015.