Racism is the most common form of discrimination. It occurs when a group of people or a person dislikes, judges, or overlooks a person because of the color of his/her skin or cultural background. In the late 1940's racism against blacks by white people was very prominent and active. Almost twenty years later, with equality laws passed we still have racism as a major issue in America. One reason why racism is so painful for me is because it sets barriers and closes doors of advancement. As it relates to me, I've had a few doors closed to my personal advancement due to racism.
Working in a professional environment for four years, I was lead to believe that I was an excellent, qualified employee. During my years working with the same company, I received pay raises, awards, and completed numerous hours of overtime. So when my supervisor informed me of an advanced level position opening, there was not a doubt in my mind that I would be the one to receive my so desired promotion.
After a few days of suspense around the office, I was devastated to find that I had not even been considered for the position. On top of being hurt, I became furious when I found out who the promotion had been given to. What bothered me about my supervisor's selection was that this person always comes to work tardy, has trouble completing daily tasks, and is not at all familiar with working on the company computer system. By his poor decision, I was lead to believe that she was given the promotion on the basis of the color of her skin being the same as my bosses. Then again, I said to myself, maybe I"m overreacting. So I did the most professional thing I thought was possible in that situation, which was to arrange a meeting with my supervisor to question him about why I was not selected. During my evaluation, my superior could not give me one legitimate reason as to why I was overlooked. He fumbled with his words for about thirty minutes, but still came up with nothing.