How is racism related to self-esteem? Interesting question, and I am assuming this has nothing to do with those who feel the effects of racism. Clearly, if someone was using slurs towards you, or discriminating against you and your family simply for the color of your skin, or the origin of your family, you would be having some self-esteem issues. However, what about the people who are using racism to climb above those who they act out against supposedly because they are different?
I don’t think anyone really looked at someone who was black and thought they should be enslaved simply because they were black. However, it is pretty easy to make it an issue if you want to deflect some of the issues that you are having in life onto them. Hey, you might be poor, and uneducated, but at least your not as bad as that other guy who is different than everyone else.
It is easy to blame other people simply because they might not have the power to stand up for themselves, or simply because you can create enough hype to do so. Think about the Holocaust, and how Hitler convinced Germany that they were poor because the Jews were holding all the money. What about the Salem Witch Trials, where people were just randomly accused of witchcraft because they might not have liked that person.
When it comes to racism in this country, it is easy for kids who don’t fit in, or others who don’t fit in to find solidarity in something so vile. They think that no one else thinks of them as anything special, and so they can hate others together. Unfortunately that hate results in racism, and the blaming of others for their problems. Anything from not getting a spot in a school, to getting a job can be blamed on some group if you try hard enough.
If you are a racist, you are merely a bully who hasn’t grown up. Most bullies bully people because they had issues in their own right, and needed a way to make themselves feel good. Same thing with racists, they are so scared of not getting what they want that they will fight hard for no one else to have it either.
Racism is pretty much putting the blame for your own problems on someone else because you don’t know how to act. Maybe your life was changed because a black person got a job that you wanted, but maybe they were also qualified for the job as well? Life isn’t fair, and you don’t always get what you want. However, what you don’t do is blame others, you just get back to chasing your dream.
