This can also be said for the media except when it comes to crimes.
I have always noticed that the media provides lots of racism for its viewers, cloaked in the public's right to know.
This was much more obvious when I was younger. I noticed at one point in life that the media would always describe suspects, whether or not in custody, as Black or Hispanic but when speaking of White suspects they simply called them suspects.
I know now that such practices feed into a racist society willing to believe that there are more African-American and Hispanics committing crimes than white people. Our hearing has been told that over and over again with the media referring to suspect race only when it is not a White person who is wanted.
The people who are in leadership roles in my community have several things in common with me and others like me. The first thing they have in common is the desire to rid the area of racism. To that end they encourage minorities to apply for positions within the city. In addition they support programs that assist minority equalization including funding opportunities and other programs that are aimed at this cause.
One of the more significant differences between me and some of the city leaders is the obvious interest groups that they support. While I do understand the importance of appeasing interest groups in a general sense, it has become obvious in the case of some local politicians that they have to appease the groups even when it goes against the common good for the entire city.
One instance that comes to mind is the time a Riverside Human Resource Director was accused in an open meeting of racism. He was accused of showing favoritism to white employees when it came to promotions and salary increases (County official accused of racism during board meeting (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/04/14/news/californian/22_43_114_13_04.txt).
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Reading from her statement, Commissioner Freeman said: "This county official has used his position and influence to discriminate against African-Americans in the areas of hiring, promotional opportunities and disciplinary actions (County official accused of racism during board meeting (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/04/14/news/californian/22_43_114_13_04.txt).
This county official has either condoned or personally used racially charged statements in the Human Resources Department, such as "lynching party," "Why are all these black applicants here?" And "Black women speak too loudly and need to lower their voices (County official accused of racism during board meeting (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/04/14/news/californian/22_43_114_13_04.txt)."
Though this was a bad situation both for the government reputation and for the African-Americans who had been discriminated against by this director, for the most part, the community does fairly represent the needs of minorities.
The police and fire department heads make an effort to attract, recruit and hire minority applicants.
In addition, the city of Riverside has used an affirmative action attitude for years when it comes to hiring for various department positions.
If I could resolve any inequalities within the community of Riverside I would develop programs that addressed the African-American community which currently is not treated with the same respect as other cultures are treated.
References
County official accused of racism during board meeting (accessed 6-24-07) http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/04/14/news/californian/22_43_114_13_04.txt
Riverside Demographics (Accessed 6-24-07)
http://www.helloriverside.com/Census.Cfm
Riverside Police Accused of Racism (Accessed 6-24-07) (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_25_95/ai_54757750).
