The belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Racial prejudice or discrimination. Those are the two definitions of racism from Merriam Webster online dictionary. Racism is a major issue in the United States and has been since the dawn of the nation. The United States has abolished slavery, created equal rights for all, and thus made all men equal; or so we all wish to think. We all see racism still today. It is time for us to acknowledge racism as a national and international issue, and then act on it.

Racism is morally wrong and should be thought of as such in society. Why is it cool to be making fun of people, let alone making fun of certain people because of things they cannot control? They do not choose what family they are born into or what ethnicity. Why should they even be treated differently because of this ethnicity? Why do we associate certain things to certain ethnicities or family origins? None of this is fair, and that is why our mental prejudices and discrimination should be broken and thrown out.

Racial discrimination is a problem that takes a toll on tens of thousands of Americans every year. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2011, over 35% of the U.S. population identified themselves as ‘non-white’ or ‘Hispanic’ in descent. These people may not be the majority, but why should they be treated any differently? Many people think that certain races have different mental capacities or physical abilities/disabilities, but this has been repeatedly proven false. It may be more prominent in certain races; however, it cannot be stated about entire races because for every one supporting the statement, there is at least one refuting example. Why do we need to think any specific race is better or is completely different to another?

There has been enough talk about racism and how horrible it is, but it really is time for us to solve the issue. Personally, we can make a promise to ourselves to be a better person and be above racial discrimination. We also can start or join a local anti-racism organization to help raise awareness, and show our devotion toward a better, non-racist world. Racism and hatred toward race is accepted in society right now. This obviously should not be socially accepted, and we need to change it. To end the issues in society, we can just change public opinion or acceptance. If we create society wide racism intolerance, nobody would be pressured into doing this. Many people who commit such racism simply do it to follow the crowd, but if the crowd frowns upon such actions, why would these people do such things? The simple way to put it is that I think we can solve issues of racism by alienating it and frowning upon it. Racism is something we want to rid ourselves, our communities, and society of, so now we need to reflect that and show what is right.

Racism is a problem, we all know it and have heard it a thousand times, but now we need to try to stop it. All we need to do is join as a society and alienate racism, make it the 'wrong thing to do' and no longer the 'cool thing to do'. Racist stereotypes and discrimination do not need to be an issue in the United States any longer. We just need people to realize that it is not fun and it is horrible. We need to make racism socially unacceptable. It is about time we change society for the better.

Works Cited
"Racism Definition." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.
"Racism." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Aug. 2011. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.
"USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." USA QuickFacts. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
Shah, Anup. "Racism." Global Issues. N.p., 08 Aug. 2010. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.
Tanner F. "Racism and Discrimination." Teen Ink. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.
"What Is Racism? Why Is It Bad?" Web log post. Majority Rights. N.p., 15 Jan. 2009. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.