12/21/11
FD#5- Final paper
Since ancient years, the world was diverse. There were many different races, beliefs, and cultures, but they were not always favorable amongst each other. Today, even with laws pressed, hate crime still exist in our every day lives. It is human nature to judge and make opinions of others outside of our beliefs, but its this kind of character that reflects a major flaw in us.[THESIS]Knowing that the media has major control over us, maybe billboards, radio stations, and television should inform the public why hate crime is bad [THESIS].
Its nearly impossible to change a society that has been surrounded by hate. Our history has much of an effect on individuals today. There are many times where many of us feel uncomfortable because of past events. The story of Rosa Parks, a speech from Martin Luther King Jr., Pearl Harbor, and most recently the 9/11 attack, all are events that we hold a grudge of. Society is so stubborn to leave the past behind that they still hold the belief of what was in our past before laws were established."By far the most reports of hate crimes based on religion involved Jews, with 927 incidents in 2003, about the same as in 2002" (Curt). This traces back to Adolf Eichmann who enforced to eliminate all Jews. If this event never happened, I believe Jews would not be tortured by hate crime. The media can be responsible to enforce the past and make people realize that the world today doesn't need to be what the world was before. All of these things might impact us to leave it in the back of our minds and move forward. " What was the past belongs in the past" literally takes into account that we need to change for the better and not still practice it.
“We’re in a mode where we feel like we have to protect ourselves, where we feel that everyone who is clearly not ‘us’ needs to be scrutinized" (Staub). It is in our conscious that we want to protect ourselves from harm and discrimination. However, in order to do so, we need to accept others too. Clearly, not everyone is "us", but it is rude to think highly of our kind and beliefs and not others. We all need to keep reminding ourselves that the world is not only "one" belief and race. There is nothing wrong with trusting our instincts, but that is why we limit ourselves with others until we believe we can trust them. It is how relationships build, by personality and trust.By promoting our fears that we most have in common may lessen our fear that the world can be a safe environment for everyone. The media con focus on our flaws and push solutions to better our self esteem. Methods such as learning to accept others of a different race or status is one example the media can focus on.
In middle school, I attended a different school where I wanted to be friends with someone. I eventually made a few friends, but also a enemy. Her name was Aleisha and she was in the same grade as me. We weren't in any of the same classes, but every morning and lunch recess, she would always pass by to tease me of my race. I don't know what her ethnicity was, but her skin was white and I was more of a brown color. I didn't understand why she only picked on me knowing that I wasn't the only brown person on campus, but she did. All of it was verbal, but her rude remarks caught up to me. What made it worse was I was very shy, so speaking up for myself was hard to do. Week after week, I let her criticize me without saying a word, but quickly passing by. It lasted a few months until she changed schools. I was happy to never see her again until more then five years later she recognized me in a convenient store. She caught my attention when she said hi and asked how I was doing. Automatically, I remembered her and responded kindly. Although the conversation lasted no more then three minutes, she was the nicest person. It was awkward because I thought of her as my enemy, but I guess people change over time and sometimes they change for the better.
Enforcing the media into teaching society that hate crime is wrong can be influential into their lives. We already are suckered into our wants from the media, but now we need to concentrate on the needs of others. I believe it will make a big impact if everyone will take the time to tune into the wrong of hate crime. The more it is exposed to all of us, the more we can become aware and learn that hate crime is crucial to be rid of.
Works Cited
Anderson, Curt. “FBI Reports More Than 7,400 Hate Crimes.” Charlotte.com 22 Nov. 2004. 9 Dec. 2004 [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/10246350.htm].
DeAngelis, Tori. “Understanding and Preventing Hate Crimes.” Monitor on Psychology 32.10 10 Nov. 2001. 9 Dec. 2004
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