Native Americans in the United States Essay

Today, race is seen less as culture and history and more as your intelligence, wealth, morals, and how you should act. Unfortunately, racism, stereotypes, and prejudice have been around so long it’s become some what subconscious of us to pair actions and personalities with a skin color. In Princess Oreo Speaks Out by Dwan Carter, people around her are shocked by how she acts and even go as far as calling her â€Å"white† or â€Å"not black enough. † Carter states, â€Å"It seems that, for a lot of people around me, being black is an attitude. † In society today, people, especially young teens, are pressured to act a certain way based on how they look to feel accepted and ‘normal. ’ A personality that may be perfectly fine if you were one race is found weird and strange in another. In reality, though, race is only skin deep and the color of your skin can not affect how you choose to act. Indian mascot controversies have been going on for years and years. Teams with mascots and names many consider offensive towards Indians exist from high school teams all the way up to professional leagues. Some examples include the Illini Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and Cleveland Indians. Redskins team owner Dan Snyder says, â€Å"After 81 years, the team name ‘Redskins’ continues to hold the memories and meaning of where we came from, who we are, and who we want to be in the years to come. † Even though the name has traditions, it nevertheless has a negative impact and should be retired. The term ‘Redskins is defined in dictionaries as an offensive racial slur. You shouldn’t be using a racial slur to sell a sports team to America and especially not for entertainment. The word is degrading and in a way dehumanizing because of the imagery that goes along with it. The name that claims to be honorable in fact actually leads to negative stereotypes of Native Americans. In arenas across the nation you will witness war chants, face paint, animal feathers, and savage like behavior in the stands. Theses images suggest that Native Americans act like they did 150 years ago. We are ignoring who Native people are today and we are treating them as objects of the past rather than people just like us. Racial integration in schools is very important for kids to be exposed to different races. In Why Are American Schools Still Segregated, studies are showing that schools seem to be falling back towards their segregated pasts. Racial integration in schools is not only important because of unfair educational opportunities and outcomes, but I believe it is also important for kids to be exposed to different races. The studies are showing that the minority races are slowly becoming the majority and that White population is getting smaller. This is even more reason for students to need to learn how to interact in a diverse environment. There are also advantages of having students work with others who are not of the same background. We live in a country founded on the principle of equality of all people regardless of race, but we still struggle to meet that ideal. Some people think we should be colorblind to peoples race, but on the other hand other people think you should pay attention to race because people of different races have encountered different things that need to be taken into account. Kids in highschool who are just starting to figure out who they are have lots of pressures to be someone that they might not necessarily be just because of how they happen to look. I think it’s important to know someone as an individual rather than a person of a specific race. It’s also important to recognize racism in life wherever you may encounter it like on tv, in books, and even things people say and then even start challenging it.