Final Post

Hi readers, welcome back to my blog. In last week's post, I talked about how Marc Aronson connected the multiple acts of prejudice in the 20th century. In today's post I will be reviewing the book Race as a whole and talking about one important question: is prejudice and racism a choice?

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As I said in my first post, Marc Aronson in his book Race describes the history of race and prejudice and why our society is so influenced by them. Reviewing this book is hard as I have mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I learned useful information on the origins of race and discrimination. But on the other hand, I was so bogged down with historical evidence that I lost the main argument of his book. He bombarded readers with historical information to accurately describe the history of race and why humans discriminate. But in doing so, lost his central point.

Despite my personal feelings towards Aronson's writing, Race brings to light critical issues in our society. For instance, a topic that Aronson often discusses throughout his book is why humans feel the need to discriminate. Even in this day and age with our modern thinking and technology, prejudice can still be seen. Minorities in America still feel the centuries-old hatred by white Americans. But do Americans discriminate on purpose? Is prejudice a choice? These questions were raised periodically throughout the book and have stuck with me as I read. Do we choose to act out towards a race or is it harvested over centuries from our ancestors?

"We know that racism is bad. Very few politicians speak in public about racial ranking. Even in private we watch our words. But that does not mean we have scrubbed race out of our minds and hearts.... We make sure to reject racism, then hold on to racist beliefs" (266). 

While a majority of the population knows that racism and prejudice are bad, we still grip to racist beliefs. But why? I believe it has to do with how a person is raised and the amount of media they are exposed to. Because of our country's history and historical actions involving racial thinking, people today might still be exposed to prejudice feelings of the past. In a way, prejudice is not a choice but a gene that is passed down through generations. Historically, the further south you travel the more racism you are exposed too. Slavery was a key component of the southern economy in the early to mid 19th century. Races were divided by color and strong feelings of prejudice could be seen. When the Civil War ended slavery, racism was still very much a part of southern culture. Discrimination based on race has always been seen in the south. Even after generations of equality movements. It has stayed like a bad disease and infected the minds of today's society. The same can be said for anyone, not just southern Americans.

I'm not declaring that everyone with slave-owning or southern ancestors is prejudice. What I'm saying is that while the "gene" of prejudice may be in a person's ancestry, they still have the choice whether to act on it or not. But, as Marc Aronson describes throughout his book, that choice is not easy.

"The impulse to hatred is imprinted in us, and we are deeply influenced by the time and place in which we live" (265).

Society today is very different than it was seventy years ago. Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent figure in the Civil Rights movement believed in equality for all. Many Americans that were alive during the Civil Rights movement were influenced by the hatred of others. While only a minority of Americans participated in violent acts towards African Americans in the 1960s, a majority were bystanders. Although they didn't take part in violent acts, they did nothing to stop them either. Americans were influenced by the time in which they lived and the country in which they lived in. Their thoughts and feelings were a result of prejudice feelings past down from generation to generation. Americans of the 20th century did have a choice in whether they acted on the current feelings of prejudice. Many choose to go along with the current feelings of discrimination at that time. But some choose to follow Martin Luther King Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders in the fight for equality". 

The impulse to hatred will always be a part of humans. In some ways, that's what makes us human. But those feelings, while deeply influenced by time, location, and surroundings are always our choice to display. The "gene" of prejudice may live in every American, but we have a choice in whether to defy the centuries-old feeling or be influnced by them. 

Race has brought out a lot of feelings within me. The ideas and issues that Marc Aronson raised throughout his book are both important in every day life and preventing future feelings of prejudice. 

"Those who do not learn about history are doomed to repeat it"

Thank you for reading my blog! I hoped you enjoyed this final post.