Can Racism Be Converted Into Tolerance and Respect?

To first be able to understand how someone can go from being an extreme racist to one with tolerance and respect we first have to understand what is racism. Racism is the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics, which determine their cultures, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule, or dominate others. Offensive or aggressive behavior to members of another race can come from such a belief.

Many events can cause a person to become a racist. Stereotypes (when someone grows up in a life that has stereotypes against other races), unfamiliarity (not coming in contact with other races which causes them to be racist against that other group), selfishness (not respecting others and only caring about yourself), environmental factors (where you come from and how the people of your community treat other races), fear (when someone encounters someone they don't know and start imagining terrible things about them), superiority or inferiority (feeling their race is "superior" to others) are just some of the most common causes that cause a person to become a racist.  

As mentioned before people generally turn to be racists due to ignorance and lack of “contact” with the other race. In the film, American History X, Derek served his time in prison where he had to work with Lamont (an African American) and in the beginning he didn’t want anything to do with a black guy. There was this gang of Neo-Nazis like him so he went straight to them because they believed the same things and were of the same race.  Still maintaining contact with Lamont he realized that not all black people are bad or any less than white people.  He recognized that Lamont shared many similar ideas as him. Maintaining contact with him, the Neo-Nazi gang he used to hang out with didn’t really approve of what he was doing so as revenge they gang-raped him in the shower. With all of these events occurring, Derek’s mind was already forming some-what to realize that it isn’t right to hate another race when they are not all that bad, and if they are than they aren’t very different than your own race. The thing that really got Derek to his senses was when Mr. Sweeny came over to the jail right after Derek got raped. He told Derek many important things but the main question was “has anything you've done made your life better?” Has killing those two black men in front of his house done anything that would help him in life? Has anything that any racist done made their life better? Do they feel like they won? Also the environment they live in can affect racism. If one parent is always talking about how one race is so lazy or isn't good enough, then that will influence the children as they look up to their parents as role models. 

So how can someone move from a position of hate and racism to a position of tolerance and respect?  Coming in contact with the other race can allow the person to realize that they aren’t so different after all. Just a little conversation can allow the one person to acknowledge that there is no reason to discriminate someone (a race) if it is only based on one incident that may have cause that anger to rise.  Another reason that can change their minds was if another racist put them down. It could be something not so extreme as a name-calling or it could go all the way to be physically attacked, as was Derek.  


Racism as it can be created over time can also be destroyed. With that the person has to realize that his actions against another race aren't correct and how to grow out of it. With help from others, even if it means the other race, any racist will be able to get out of his/her narrow mind and treat everyone as equal. 

"No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them"
-Ellie Wiesel

This article shows that racism can stop for one race but rasicts will always find another one to blame. 

In this short little article the author states that racism may never disappear but we have to make sure it decreases rather than flow. 

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