Racism and Racial Profiling On The Rise Since Start of Trumps Presidency?

Maria Arciniega

5/31/18

With Racial discrimination at an all-time high, Green River students question whether or not they are safe from racism on campus.

In the current political climate, we have seen a rise in blatant racism towards people of color. Racism is something that has existed for a while but the level it has gotten to in recent years is startling.

On a global perspective, we have seen it in Charlottesville with the Charlottesville riots, we have seen it in New York where a man berated employees and customers for speaking in Spanish and threatening to call Ice. We have seen it in a Philadelphia Starbucks where two black men were arrested for simply sitting and waiting for someone. We have seen it at Yale University when the police were called on a black student for falling asleep while doing homework.

These attacks are not only done by everyday people but also by celebrities and people of power such as Roseanne Barr, Hulk Hogan, Mel Gibson, Paula Deen. Authority figures like the President of the United States have racially attacked people of color, and yet for some reason, we have yet to do anything about it. Shockingly enough, we have also seen racism on the Green River College main campus.

In a recent incident reported on last issue, two protesters came on campus and began an anti-Muslim protest, with one of the protesters wearing an ICE uniform. This blatant attack on not only our Muslim students but our international and immigrant students caused fear and anger.

The question is, why did our administration not do anything? For a school that claims to be for and accepting of diversity to allow this to happen on our campus where 32% of our schools demographic are students of color is appalling and concerning. If we are not safe from racism in our schools, where are we safe?

I spoke with fellow Green River and Black Student Union (BSU) student members Abdi Ibrahim and Mohamed Abdullahi about the incident.

Ibrahim said, “We tried to get the board involved and tell the school about the issue, we had a little forum and they just kind of deflected all of our questions.”

This was not the only racial incident Ibrahim and Abdullahi have witnessed. They have also been victims of racism. “We deal with day-to-day microaggressions from other white people and covert racism,” Ibrahim said.

It may not always be blatant racism but it is there, that false mindset of who a person is based on how they look is a big factor as to why people act in a discriminatory way.

“I have been called the n-word in the [GRC] parking lot,”  Abdullahi said. He continued, saying, “people say we are a post-racial society and we’re going backwards, the time that we live in right now, the president that we have, police brutality and immigration… the way we’re moving is not forward.”

When it comes to racism and racial discrimination in our society today, we don’t realize how much people of color are still suffering and being victimized by it.  We are all so afraid to talk about race and not to offend anyone that we don’t even want to bring up the topic of race.

We do not realize that with our silence we are condoning the behavior. If we do not speak up about racism in this country then we are letting it happen. We choose to not bring attention towards the topic of race because it is believed that if it is brought up, someone is calling someone else a racist, but that is not the case.

We must address injustices, police brutality, stereotyping, environmental racism, microaggressions, and more. People of color deal with racism on a daily basis. How can change be expected if no one is willing to put effort toward that change?

If you stay silent, if you choose not to listen or take this seriously, then you are part of the problem.

“You can’t stop talking race and racism because it is so relevant to what is happening to in our lives today,” Abdullahi said.

Racism has to be brought up and addressed because it is something people of color deal with on a daily basis. These incidents of racial discrimination and attacks towards people of color are only a few of the hundreds of thousands of incidents that go unnoticed and unaddressed every day. Being a person of color myself, I can tell you first hand that not a day goes by without someone telling me to “go back home” or calling me alien.

Many people of color have had to deal with racism in silence and enough is enough. It gets to a point where something has to be done and racism is something that we should all be concerned about, whether you are a person of color or not. We are all human beings and that is what matters. We have to hold people accountable no matter who it is and set the standards for generations to come. We are the generation of change and the only way change can happen is if we all move forward together.

I want to be able to go to school and walk this campus without feeling a sense of fear, a fear that because of the color of my skin I am profiled, stereotyped, and attacked. I know it is going to be hard, no one said it would be easy but it will be worth it. I want my fellow classmates to feel safe no matter their ethnicity or where they come from. We have to talk to one another and make ourselves aware of racial injustices.

Racism comes in many forms, not only as blatant racism but in microaggressions as well. Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. Be aware and speak out.

Don’t be afraid to seek help. Ibrahim’s advice? “Be vocal, and if you’re not a vocal person be confident with yourself and most importantly be unapologetic.”

Abdullahi agreed, adding his own advice for people facing racism. “Don’t just let it go and move on, get to the bottom of the situation and get it resolved, do what you can to get that person in trouble.”

“You should make whoever is responsible for it [racial discrimination] as uncomfortable as possible,” Ibrahim said. He emphasized that it is important to speak out because it is beneficial to the system if people facing racism stay quiet. Both agreed the best thing anyone could do was to have an ongoing discussion about racism even if it is uncomfortable because it’s more dangerous to ignore it.