Racism is a term that is scarier when you see it in action. It causes too harm in those people who are the catch basin of it. It causes pain to people, the community that they are part of, and the society in general.

Numerous studies would even show that there is an extreme effect on one’s welfare and health when they experience racism. Some of the glaring effects are but not limited to anger, sadness, and worse comes to worst, it can also lead to anxiety and even depression. Any act of racism is a nuisance and problem for a person experiencing it to quit school or work and even affect the quality of life in general.

Every day, I have seen instances of racism subtly or obviously displayed. I have seen different cases in the news to prove how rampant racism is in the United States. One of which is the untimely death of George Floyd. It caused outrage and, perhaps, opened the eyes of people that, regardless of how far we have become a civilization, racism is still etched. This is caused by a lack of empathy, parental influence, ignorance, and bias. These serve as the pillars as to why racism has stood the test of time. And it is quite far from reality to see these pillars crumbling down for good.

Lack Of Empathy

Empathy, or the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, could be why racism cannot go any further. But with the lack or absence of it, I am sure that we are going into a dead end to talk about how to stop it in the first place.

I no longer live in a civilization like it was 50 years ago. But I cannot do away with the reality that while racism is not as blatant as it was, it is still present.

Recent studies are quick to point out that people can minimize unconscious biases by merely practicing empathy. Instead, it will provide people with much-needed interaction and respect, especially from people who look different from us.

Parental Influence

No children are indeed born as racist. They do not know any concept of racism, not unless their parents allow them to see how racist they are and make them one. There are quite a lot of biases that are happening in society. However, it all starts in the four walls of the home that children learn the concept of racism.

Ignorance

Of all the root causes of racism, perhaps ignorance is the leading cause of it as people are uneducated for the most part. Many people who are caught red-handed doing racisms usually use ignorance as a shield for them to get away with it. They often would provide alibis that they are not aware that what they did is insensitive or offensive.

Bias

According to a study undertaken by the justice department, Latino and black people have a higher chance (2-3 times more) of being stopped on the road by police and subjected to drug searches compared to their white counterparts. The irony lies in the fact that the whites are actually found to be 4 times found to be caught to have drugs.

What’s more surprising is that racism is not just emanating from white cops. Unfortunately, it is also common among cops of color. In fact, 1 out of 3 of black cops is found to have biases towards black people.

More so, bias is even more rampant in the office setting. Today, companies are already taking steps in incorporating diversity and inclusion policies to combat “unconscious bias.” Unconscious bias is defined as “learned social stereotypes that are automatic, unintentional, deeply engrained, universal, and able to influence behavior.”

So what do you think about this topic? Write your thoughts down below in the comments section.