Race in America

Katherine Santangelo
Rough Draft Essay #3

"(Racism) is not about how you look, it is about how people assign meaning to how you look." -Robin D.G. Kelley, historian.

Race as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal office of Management and Budget, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are of Hispanic or Latino origin. The meaning of race has taking on a definition of its own and it has almost become offensive to most causing feelings of resentment, anger, hate, all the way up to and including acceptance and understanding. Race has not always been present in American lives and it is a fairly
recent invention and is only a couple hundred years old. Race is ingrained in just about all aspects of American lives and it is built into our laws, traditions and institutions. "The differences in looks between humans have been a source of strength, community and personal identity and they have been the basis for discrimination and depression".

No matter what we are all tied to race in one way or another, consisting of various views on the subject throughout Americans. A prime example of how we are all tied to race would be the Presidential election with democratic rivals Sen. Hillary Clinton and Senator Barrack Obama. Senator Barrack Obama is calling for a new, and more frank review of the "complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked our way through." " Senator Obama presented his speech in such a way that a
lot of people, including those on opposites sides of the fence with their views and beliefs, heard something in it that spoke to them emotionally or spiritually. This is a historical election because it will have an exceptional change in all Americans lives, Americas first African American Presidential candidate or Americas first female Presidential candidate. This election has proven to be a historic event with voters coming out who have chosen not to vote in the past but have strong views
of the results that they want for this election.
The findings of the Harris poll show where America stands on change:

White Americans
Change- 43%
Experience- 45%

African Americans-
Change- 72%
Experience- 18%

Hispanics
Change- 51%
Experience- 37 %

Elderly (63+)
Change- 52%
Experience- 40%

Echo Boomers (18-31)
Change- 54%
Experience- 35%

This poll has shown that the majority of people want to see major changes in the way American government conducts business in regards to the war, economics, health care, immigration, education, taxes, employment, and the environment. It is evident that change is a necessity at this point and something must be done in order to sustain our quality of life in this country and protect what we have all worked so hard to
achieve.

Works cited

Science Musuem of Minnesota. "Race - Are we so different"
www.smm.org/race/about/

Associated Press. "Poll: Change more important than experience."
Cape Cod Times. www.capecodonline.com

Goshgarian, Gary. What Matters in America.
New York: Pearson Education, Inc. 2007.