Racism. The word that has caused crime and chaos in our country. It started wars and ended lives. More modern racism began as the incorrect belief that whites were better than blacks, and continues to grow even today as something that needs to be stopped.

We must create a world where racism is simply a bad idea, and not a reality. This will be achieved by informing the public that racism is wrong, and that we won't tolerate it in our society.

America was made by immigrants. They were German, Norwegian, Irish, Polish, Asian, African, Czechoslovakian(now known as Czech Republic), as well as many others. To call someone truly American would mean that they are a direct descendant of the Native Americans. Although our country is made up of all of these ethnic groups, we still choose to discriminate towards immigrants today, and other races and religions for that matter. Some of us assume that all Mexicans are illegal, or that all black people are from the ghetto and own a gun. When immigrants first came to America, they had issues with the Indians, or Native Americans. They fought wars over land and supplies. The whites didn't understand how the Indians lived. They thought the land was theirs, and didn't communicate with the Indians well enough to come to an agreement. There is still racial discrimination towards Indians today. Had we communicated, we would have been able to avoid all that. That is why we should learn to cooperate with anybody we come across, without bias or stereotypes.

A lot of racism against African Americans was happening before the Civil War. Slaves were brought over from Africa, and forced to work without pay. They were told from day one that they were worthless, and not even human. White slave owners mostly from the south beat, whipped, and abused their slaves without law or humanity. They did this because of one thing. They were not attacked or threatened by Africans, no. They treated them this way because they had a different skin color. They had never seen someone with dark skin. This was not familiar to them, and what they didn't know, they feared. They only way to control that fear was to enslave them, or so they thought. Had they gotten to know them, they would realize that they are human, and should be treated as such.

There are many students who are racist or uninformed of how racism can affect others. They will make jokes but not be aware of how much it can hurt others. If they sat down with a person of a different ethnic background, whom they were making jokes about, they would come to realize that those stereotypes aren't true. They have feelings and lives, just like the rest of us, and they are not made up of stereotypes.

Racism is a problem. But it is a problem that can be solved. We, as a nation, can work to stop it and make sure that everyone is treated equal, regardless of of skin color or ethnicity.