Response Journal - Odin

For Angela – Response Journal

By Odin Callahan Swidzinski – September 28^th, 2011
Edited by Odin Callahan Swidzinski

       In my sad opinion, the two reasons why the people did not try and stop the racism are the following reasons. First, the people may have thought unless if a friend is being discriminated at, that they do not need to get involved because it is none of their business. Racism, however sadly affects not only the victims but in extreme cases, the entire ethnic group, especially if the government deliberately uses systematic racism to prevent a certain ethnic group from participating. If that was the case, the oppressors of the ethnic group will simply ignore them, giving the “silent treatment,” thus ensuring that they will be ignored. Secondly, the people may want to help those discriminated but fear breaking the law, or being harassed, and thus would be a bystander, standing on the side, watching them, and wanting to help but fearing a certain thing that makes them prevent themselves from doing so.

            It shows within our own society, it symbolizes that if everyone is racist to a minority, they will eventually tolerate it, and ignore the discrimination, or if a couple people discriminate one person, to scare the person into not reporting, it can easily be ignored, expunged (like it never even happened). With that, it can possibly mean that in South Africa, for example, from 1948 to 1994, apartheid was supported by the Afrikaner (White South African) population, but not the African populace, and even recognized the Bantustans as sovereign, or Nazi Germany’s anti-Zionism, which meant until 1945, the Holocaust occurred, affecting the Jews, Poles, Romani, Slavs, and a plethora of various ethnic groups in German-occupied Europe, especially between 1939 and 1945, and many Germans tolerated it, some being extremely loyal to the Nazis, and reporting Jews. In that form, it is why that is racism is so common, you will eventually ignore it.

            In conclusion, I thank you all for reading this response journal and I really hope that you can read it, mark it, comment on it, et cetera.

Yours truly,