Research Paper!

Sooo, I get to write a extensive paper for this class AND blog about it. How fun is that?!?! When I first set out to pick a topic I honestly had NO clue what I wanted to do it on. As I thought about it more and more, things just seemed to fall into place that I should do it on racism of some form. So here I am reading all these insightful books and trying to understand the cancer of racism in America. The book I'm reading right now is Who's Afraid of A Large Black Man? by Charles Barkley. It's pretty much intriguing... Throughout the book he refers to racism as being the biggest cancer of his lifetime. I love that comparison. Cancer is soooo hard to understand: why does it happen, what makes it spread so quickly? So many questions and not a single answer. Racism is parallel in so many ways. It spreads like wildfire and is not necessarily contained to a certain area. And, like cancer, racism will eat you alive. But it won't take your physical body like cancer will - it will eat your heart and your mind like nothing else will. What is racism? Is it a disease of the mind that makes people think and say horrible things based on the color of someone's skin? Or is it an environmental mindset brought about by the experiences we have, the way our parents view others and the way we see them presented in society? Is racism limited to whites vs. blacks? Or is there racism among blacks themselves? Is the label of acting white hurting African-Americans more than the N word? What does it mean to act white? Why is there something wrong with it? Are minorities so insecure that they are afraid to stand up for their own? What pushed them to insecurity? Can whites really say that they've experienced racism? Or are they just underestimating racism and what it means? Is race truly the issue? Or are economic factors becoming the downfall of society? Is it now rich vs. poor rather than white vs. black? How subtle can racism be and still be considered racism? What defines us? What do people see first, say first when describing us? Is America actually fueling the fires of racism? If we are brutally, and I mean brutally, honest with ourselves, how often do we judge someone based on the color of their skin or accuse them in our minds of "acting white" or "acting black"? Where is the line drawn of making a simple observation and entertaining critical thoughts of others? What is the answer? Is integration the key, or is it a stumbling block? What is integration? What is segregation? Are the schools today truly integrated? Is the workplace integrated? So as I read I hope to answer some of these questions. Obviously I'm a little scatterbrained right now:) But it's all part of the process. I need to rein in my topic!