Racism and anti-Semitism as persistent problems in the United States

Racism and Anti-Semitism

Is Racism and Anti-Semitism still a Problem in the United States?

The world has penetrated into the twenty first century, where the entire human race is surging ahead due to their magnificent and outstanding capabilities that have made the world a much better place to live. Even though people from all over the globe have immensely contributed to the development and growth on a broad spectrum, yet numerous social issues have continued since time immemorial. Discrimination and hatred particularly based on race, culture and religion is widespread issues that are commonly found amongst huge amount of people.

In fact, one cannot ignore the fact that the levels of hatred and discrimination for others have given rise to several fights, warfare and conflicts. With respect to the aspect of hatred and discrimination that has continued and is still ongoing, the thesis statement is "Racism and Anti-Semitism is still a Problem in the United States?"

Part II -- Arguments

Racism and anti-Semitism is one of the grave and severe subjects of the today's revolutionary time that have evolved in many parts of the world. While taking the United States into account, one can notice that it is a huge multicultural state with a big diverse population belonging to different race, culture, community and religions. Therefore, due to different sets of beliefs, values and ways of life, the issue of racism and anti-Semitism have principally observed in the United States since a very long time that has continued till date as a persistent concern. Indeed, the number of incidents of racism and anti-Semitism has elevated in the United States since couple of years (Adams, 2000).

Events and unpleasant incidents or crimes with reference to racism and anti-Semitism still occur in the United States and this has been proved by the statistical records from various agencies and statistical records. From one of the audit report, it has come to notice that more than 1,200 incidents that included physical assaults, harassment and vandalism were reported crimes concerning the anti-Semitism in the latter years of the decade 2000 (Hallowell, 2011). Besides, the history of the United States also provides evidence that acts related to racism and anti-Semitism had continued throughout the past.

Racism has been derived from a principal idea that an individual's inherited characteristics such as skin color, race, religion or ethnicity makes him or her inferior to others (specifically the ones who are dominating). This means that racism is normally associated with the feeling of superiority, distinctiveness and power. Unfortunately, it is a world where an individual grows up with these sets of values and perceptions with respect to the racial discrimination and anti-Semitism. Parental and family values and mental development plays an integral role in the development of racism and snit-Semitism (Adams, 2000).

Discrimination and anti-Semitism has evolved and occurred throughout the history because of lack of respect and value for other people's race, religion, color, ethnicity and other related factors.

The problem of racism and anti-Semitism is massive predominantly in the economic sector of the country. One can notice that the corporate world of the United States is also segregated and rules of equal employment opportunity is usually breached or violated, as the White people are preferred to be hired by the employers in comparison to the Black people. Moreover, most of the organizations are owned by the White community, which also creates a profound impact on their level of education (Martinez, 2010).

According to this perception, the Black people normally belong to the poor states due to which they receive poor quality education. In contrast to the Black students, White students are privileged with not only better quality of education but also have more options of gaining knowledge with a much better standard of living. This indicates that the problem of racism and anti-Semitism is initiated from the basic levels of education, where the White young children are trained (by peers and family) to only form a relationship with certain groups (Martinez, 2010).

The above facts and arguments noticeably reflect the idea that racism and anti-Semitism has been and still is a big problem in the United States that is practiced by significant proportion of the population. In addition, the issue is not curtailed to any one segment but almost all the sectors of the country encounter the problem ranging from political to economic to education to business.

Part IV -- Response to Counter-Argument

Despite the fact that racism and anti-Semitism is an old subject matter, yet it has come under numerous debates and arguments with controversial statements. Even though some experts and specialist believe that racism and anti-Semitism is not longer a problem in the United States, but quite a few imperative reasons and findings in favor of the thesis statement have been addressed, which evidently proves the fact of racism and anti-Semitism as a widespread issue in the U.S. This reveals that hatred and discrimination against Jews and other minority groups such as Black people have always existed in the United States, which is still an ongoing phenomenon.

It is the inherent perceptions, values, belief system and even the education of the general population of the country that makes them practice racism and anti-Semitism in almost every sector, and principally the economic segment or business community. Therefore, to put it succinctly, it can be well stated that racism and anti-Semitism still a gargantuan problem in the United States.