Racism has been practised and experienced by people of mixed colours living in different regions where their place of origin is perceived as insignificant. Black, Indians, Chinese and other races that are not White have always been subjected to racist prejudices. These discriminations are practised openly whereby the government take part in them; the perpetrators do not even get punished since the victims of their actions are not Whites. Canada, which is comprised of several races, has been, for the longest time, demeaned and subjected these people to racist critics and lowered their value and dignity as human beings. If a white does something wrong to other races, it is the victim who gets punished during the criminal white walk as a free person. The trend has been going despite several criticisms from humanitarian groups in the form of written articles to verbal admonishing these behaviours. We will discuss the significance of Alice Elliot and Zach Stafford as they talk about their experience of being subject to racist comments and how they relate to racist practices.
Some people will indeed want to pretend to be fair and antiracist by acting like they do not see nor recognize your race. Saying I have never noticed that you are black is like saying ‘I just noticed that you are black”. This is because the individual has always been black, and they have always seen them as a black person. The perception that people hold against other races determines how they treat them. Being a racist does involve not only vision but also mentality, a blind person who does not see the colour of the other person can still know that the individual doe not belong to their race. Therefore, racism is in the minds of its proponents, not their eyes.
The ideology of discriminating against others has been put into the minds for the longest time. After reading the two articles, it is clear that racism might never end since Whites believe they are more deserving and other races do not deserve to be treated with dignity. Murdering and subjecting them to all forms of torture is all they deserve. Young children are taught to hate and disrespect other races from a young age. For example, Zach talks of the White girl who went to smell her black nanny after her mother said that black people smell. Since then, she has lived to associate bad smells with black people (Stafford, 2022); if her mother had taught her otherwise like black people have nice scents, the girl would have grown up with a positive mentality towards blacks. Therefore, what is fed into the minds of young children is what they grow up with. The scenario shows that racism might never end since it is passed to new generations.
In the past, racism was only on what was visible, like skin colour, hair texture and accent; today, people have gone further to relate an individual’s race with their intellectual knowledge. Today’s racists already have a negative perception even before meeting a person from the other race; however, unlike before, they try to hide it, but still, their notion can be read from the attitude they carry with them. Racism cannot be fought physically but by trying to change people’s attitudes and the negative mindset about minority races. An individual’s physical appearance is not enough grounds to discriminate against a person; this is because the person could possess more ability beyond the prejudiced race.
Elliot’s title, “Dark Matter”, is relevant to the story though it takes a third eye to see its hidden meaning. The title is significant for it brings in the way people view dark people and other minorities as a residue while they are an important part of society. The way people of minority races get punished for the wrongs committed by the Whites and the Whites get rewarded for harming others brings out the title’s significance. The title is also symbolic of the way racists think that other races never existed and are insignificant. For example, while Ostriker and Peebles were studying the motion of a star in Andromeda galaxy, they only measured the velocity of hydrogen gas within the galaxy and the clouds. They ignored the ones at the edge but later realized that despite being unable to see the dark matter, it was x their and affected the motion 7and that meant they existed (“Dark Matters” p.6). This is the same way the importance and contributions of the minority races are ignored in favour of the White, who are perceived to be more important in the running of global issues.
Elliot and Zach’s narrations give the first-hand experience of people from the targeted races. Their experiences make racism seem more real, for it has been experienced by people we can relate with and is no longer a myth. The articles are also more authentic and easily believed, for they have been written by those who went through the said experiences.
Works Cited
Stafford, Zach. “When You Say You “Don’t See Race”, You’re Ignoring Racism, Not Helping to Solve It.” Https://Empathyeducates.org, 26 Jan. 2015, empathyeducates.org/when-you-say-you-don’t-see-race-you’re-ignoring-racism-not-helping-to-solve-it/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2022.
“Dark Matters.” Hazlitt, 27 Mar. 2018, hazlitt.net/longreads/dark-matters.
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