A big problem with racism is many live in racist conditions and don't even see it. It flies right over their heads. Schools, the workplace, our community, our friend's house, even our homes. We hear a racial slur, oh well, it's just a joke. Hardly. If you think racist joke are harmless than you should take a reality check. Racist jokes are just the start of it. Many people think the jokes are funny. Maybe they are, but they still hurt the people the jokes are about. Some of the worst racists are the ones who think that they are not racist, and they really are. They really have to come to grips with reality. Why are they some the worst racists? They are, because they can't comprehend what is happening. They don't realize what they are saying and doing are racist. Until they come to grips with it, there is no problem. No problem, in their minds. They say that they aren't racist, even when they don't hire the East Indian employee who was the most qualified of the candidates. Even when the basketball team that they coach is all white. And even the time when they moved from their seat at the movie theater because of the black person next to them. Well, gee, they could have been a criminal. A robber from "the hood." After all, isn't that what most of "them" are. No one deserves to be prejudged like that. The prejudice of people in the world is disgusting. The worst part of it all is that they don't even know that they are doing it. They think it's normal behavior, it doesn't even phase them when they do it. Born of the civil rights movement three decades ago, affirmative action calls for minorities and women to be given special consideration in employment, education and contracting decisions. In its modern form, affirmative action can call for an admission's officer faced with two similarly qualified applicants to choose the minority over the white, or for a manager to recruit and hire a qualified woman for a job instead of a man.
