Crayons | Teen Ink

Crayons

March 25, 2014
By Anonymous

I guarantee that the next time you look at a box of crayons, you will not think about it like you do right now. A box of crayons has many different colors, red, white, blue, green, black, purple etc. All of them are different and very special. A good picture is not as interesting or entertaining when done in one color. However, when you introduce more color to the picture, it then becomes more interesting and entertaining. Only using one color would be dull and boring. However, when all of these colors come together, they can make extraordinary things. In our world, some people think that one color is better than others. This is the problem with people in our world. When younger generations are not educated enough about different races and that they are equal, the problem of racism exists.

Racism is one of the biggest problems in our society today and always has been. Even though we have come far, we still have a ways to go. In 2012, a study was done and concluded that non-white students in school will get worse punishments than white kids. Why should the color matter? Kids should be punished based on the crime not the color of their skin. Color is not a crime, a crime is a crime. However, racism is not a problem that has recently been introduced, it has been around for a long time. Probably since the beginning of life racism has been around. Here in America we had slaves for a long time, then we fought a civil war to free them and in the end they were freed. Even though slavery was abolished in America, racism lived on, and it is still around. Today people of other races are discriminated against and have a hard time in life. According to CNN, since 2008 racism has increased, and in 2012, 51% of Americans express racist attitudes. It has risen since the 48% in 2008. Racism should be getting weaker, not stronger! One of the biggest causes of racist acts are hate groups such as the Klu Klux Klan and Neo Nazis. The KKK have been around since 1866 and committing violent acts such as lynching and murder to not just African-Americans, but other minority races too. Unfortunately these hate groups exist all over the country today. But they teach hatred and still show hostility towards asians, muslims, and other races. Today they do not murder, rob,or mug on a daily basis. They hardly ever do any crimes. They march in parades, have their meetings, and go about their business. But they hate non-white races. They do not believe that the other races should be allowed to do things, and that they have no place among us. Plus they all teach hate! But these hate groups are wrong, everyone deserves a fair chance at anything they want to do, and can do it just as good than the white race can. They believe only whites should be in control when everyone has an equal chance.

But not only adults are in danger from hate crimes, children are too. There was once a boy named Emmett Till. He was murdered because he looked at a white woman. He was then killed and mutilated when some white men found out about what he did. This young boy, this child, was brutally murdered. He had his whole life ahead of him, but it was cut short when it never should have.

However, there are people who we look up to like Ellen DeGeneres and Mike Myers who stand up against racism and are part of Artists Against Racism, an organization that stands up to racism and helps others. They teach young kids that the color of ones skin or nationality does not matter, and that everyone is equal and not to become prejudice towards people of different colors. Martin Luther King Jr. was another great man who stood up to racism and unequal rights. He had a dream that one day his four kids would be in a nation where they would be judged on their character, not the color of their skin. MLK’s dream is what we need to accomplish in our world. Only when we do this will racism start to die.Today hate groups such as the KKK would disagree with my claim. They do not believe that any other race than the one they belong to are as good as them. The KKK believes that blacks should not be allowed in this country. The Black Separatists believe that they are the better race. These groups are all wrong. No race is superior or inferior to one another! All races are just the same. The problem is that younger generations are not educated enough about these things. This needs to stop now.

There is a simple solution to solving the problem of racism: educate. If we teach our children that racism is bad then racism will suffer a major blow. People are not racists from the time they enter this world, they become them growing up. So the people that we look up to influence us. So when Timmy’s dad is a racist, Timmy will grow up thinking that other races are bad, and believe that he is the superior race. If we do not teach children about how different races are all equal, they could become racists. Then today’s toddler is tomorrow's KKK leader. Artists Against Racism is already doing just that, and they have helped a lot. However they can not do it alone. They need our help to accomplish it. Parents need to teach their children that racism is bad and people should never be judged on their skin color, but who they are. We can tell them about great people like Martin Luther King Jr; He thought about equal rights for everyone! Then those children will teach their children, and the chain will keep on going. Once people know how big this problem is, then we will work even harder to destroy racism for good.

In conclusion, racism is bad and it needs to stop now. We can do this by educating our children to be accepting of other races, not to be intolerant toward them. People have done great things in history to defeat racism, and we can too. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and we can make that dream come true. To accomplish this we need everyone to do their part. Do not discriminate, do not hate, and do not become a racist. This is how racism is created. The more hate there is, the stronger racism gets. We need to accept, we need to love, and we need to be knowledgeable. We need to be together like a box of crayons. Once everyone does this, racism will finally die off.



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