Racism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Racism - Term Paper Example One time in history, when the Portuguese discovered the sophisticated African tribes, they were impressed as well as threatened by their complex societies. These same tribe were later transferred to America as slaves. From the civil war to the 1920's there was very little racial uprising. Lynchings were a common practice but the Blacks kept to themselves. In Tulsa Oklahoma, in 1921, the Black responded to a white mob, this was the first riot to be noted in a newspaper. When oil was discovered both whites and blacks became prosperous. As there was much migration from other cities, crime and poverty were rampant. The "poor white" felt that the colored people did not have the right to be wealthy as they were inferior. Individual harassment or everyday racism started well before a young colored man was wrongly accused of having touched a white girl in an elevator, the impetuous for a group of white men to join together with a common idea. Each generation uses the same principal of the us e of everyday racism transferred into group racism. Introduction Each decennia has had it's own personal face of racism. It has changed depending on the social, political, historical arena. What is important to note, there is always a weaker group and a dominant group which is determined by prejudice, financial differences or inequalities. The 1920's has been chosen as a starting point of this document as it is a turning point in the political arena of the 20th century in racial discrimination. The first significant riot occurred in the 1920's for the first time since the Civil War. This is a historical analysis of the many different faces of racism in the United States since the 1920's. One example will be taken from each generation to be analyzed and a conclusion will be drawn as to how it has been carried into the next generation. A final conclusion will be made showing by comparing examples of racism in over 100 years, one can conclude that it is as much a phenomena of society a s it is a human behavior to want to differentiate from the other and make yourself feel superior. Racism is as individualistic as is group orientated. Definition The initial definition of the word racism implied that each individual group showing a differentiation from the general population was divided into a separate group. The group could be based on geography, ethnic, origin, religion or any other specific criteria. The sociological definition of the word racism is the hatred of one person or group by another or the profound belief that the group you represent has an ethnic superiority over another group.(Ekhart 2007) Any factor can provoke another person or group into racism. The significance of racism in the United States has changed the political arena and helped change the Constitution.(Rubel) The turning points of the 1920's The 1920's newspapers reported that the Tulsa Race Riot was set off by a mob of 100% Americans on a wild rampage. Nothing was reported in the newspaper at the time as to the reasoning or what actually happened. It was only recently that the president of the National Association of Colored Peoples, Walter F White published The Eruption of Tulsa analysis giving the reasons for one of the first riots since the Civil War. The population of Tulsa changed from a sleepy western town to a vibrant rich oil town over night. From 18 000 people ,the population grew to 90 000. As a