black and white. people say we are equal, are we really? Racism and discrimination has become so bad in NZ that each year more than 400 people complain to Human Rights Commissioner. ever pass a cheeky comment about the way asians drive? or see a dodgy looking black guy and expect him to be a law breaker. yes these are all jump to the conclusion racist thoughts and comments. I’m Freya Moore and I’d like to share with you my view on racism.

prejudice or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. As a young white female i believe that we have grown up in a world of discrimination against one another of different skin or religion. This has gotten to the point where it is hard to identify if what you have said is racist or not, because of how much we put down that guy wearing the turban or the asian in the car or the black guy with tattoos. Jennifer Richeson, a Yale University social psychologist said that “if parents don’t actively teach kids not to be racists, they will be. This is not the product of some deep-seated, evil heart that is cultivated. It comes from the environment, the air all around us.”

racism has been a big part of history from when the black men and women were slaves to the white, treated very poorly like they were curely cared for pets. they were beaten, killed, made to work, all because of there skin colour and that was “acceptable?” I think this is completely disgusting to treat these humans like this, and considering our ancestors and first humans to New Zealand were all black.

I can say, and I think that the majority of us have slipped a nasty racist comment without even thinking. We cannot blame our parents about for our own behaviour around racism. In some ways, it’s super simple. People learn to be whatever their society and culture teaches them. so how are we meant to put this burden to rest. The only way to fix one-sidedness is to change culture in general,You have to change what is passable in the population. Everything we’re exposed to gives us messages about who is good and bad so of course cultures are going to put down one another to make themselves look more superior.

by starting here today i hope everyone has come out of my speech feeling differently towards racism and it effects them as it did to me having to research this topic. its not really something that is much talked about in all seriousness as most racism is said as just joking around but it really isn’t something that should be joked about. racism can cause violence, people to hurt each other and cause riots and even hurt themselves. From September 20th to the 23rd 2016 there was a riot in America called the charlotte protests and riots, where there was a shooting in the death of a black man called Keith Lamont Scott a 43-year-old African-American man was shot by a police officer on the 20th of September and as night fell the protesters gathered, signs that had “stop killing us” and “black lives matter”  and chanted words like “no justice, no peace”  eventually tear gas was then used by police. on the 21st another black man was shot in the head by police and rushed to hospital but was unable to be saved and another shot fired by a citizen in the riot.

So racism, we all need to understand the effects that it can cause, putting others down even though they did not choose which race they were in, keep in mind that racism isn’t something to be joked about with and that yes it is still a big deal in society today because we are all have a beating heart, we are all equal, we all matter.