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Op-Ed: Stopping Racism?
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Racism is something that will never truly come to an end.
No matter how far we have come since the days of the Civil Rights Movement, and no matter how many Martin Luther King Days are celebrated, we will still always have children in schools who will make a remark about another's religion, ethnicity, or sexuality.
The year-old murder of Long Island resident Marcelo Lucero is one such crime which proves that, even in this day and age, racism and hatred still exist based on one's background.
Lucero is certainly not the only victim to ever be targeted in the United States based on race.
One problem of alleged hate crimes is the reluctance of the victim to speak about the crime. Much like a victim of rape, or molestation, hate crime is an extremely sensitive subject and issue.
Who wants to admit that they are at risk for discrimination based on their skin color, religion, or sexuality? Or that they are a victim to begin with?
Hate crimes can also be a prosecutor's worst nightmare, mostly since the prosecutors have the task of proving that a crime was motivated by of preexisting hatred. The first step comes with identifying the problem of someone having that hate.
Today, with the economy in its current state, competition for jobs with immigrants (always an issue) can be seen as more of a concern than ever before. Immigrants to the United States have always been willing to do the jobs which many Native-born-Americans would not usually be willing to do- but now, with unemployment a huge national concern, the overall willingness to do the "dirty jobs" is higher than before.
Hate crime legislation is one step in the right direction towards ending discrimination. However, freedom of expression is still always allowed in our country, allowing even hardened racists the rights to express ill will towards immigrants and people who are not "just like everyone else."
The real solution to stopping racism is to step in before it begins. Education is the best way to reach out to children in elementary schools who otherwise may never know anything about people who are not exactly like them.
Since children will spend the majority of their time in school, it should be up to the educators in today's schools to teach them about subjects of racism, sexual biases, and religious discrimination.
The laws can only go so far. It is not only up to parents to educate their children about what goes on in the world, but also up to the schools to reach them in any way they can.
Racism will never be completely eliminated in our society, but preventative measures should be taken to ensure that our society's youth does not grow up to be a group of unaccepting bigots.
