"KKK"

I found this picture under a Google search for racism in America and chose it because it is a strong depiction of what some believe America is all about in the past and today.

This picture describes what some believe America represents. Being that the KKK represents black hatred, some feel that blacks do not belong in America whatsoever. The picture represents a sense of hatred against African Americans and their ways of life, merely because of the color of their skin. The fact that the man in uniform is holding an American flag put an even stronger meaning behind the picture. It is as if he is saying that because he is holding an American flag, he believes that all of America should follow his values and beliefs pertaining to detesting all minority groups.

This picture strongly ties in with the discussions we have had in class so far this semester. For example, it relates to the topics discussed in Marvin Harris’s “How Our Skins Got Their Color.” This picture actually contradicts what Harris states that, “White was beautiful because white was healthy.” This contradicts the intentions and thoughts of the KKK and the reasons they hate whites. They are ignorant to the fact that in the past white was only preferred because of its apparent signs of good health in humans compared to black skin. This picture also relates to the article, “A People’s History of the United States,” that explains how slavery came about and how the government drove the force behind the idea of slavery. Such practices then drove forth the actions of such hate groups as the KKK represented in this picture.

I think that this picture is disgusting and incredibly wrong that anyone could stand for the ideas that it represents. The hatred of a group of people with the only reason being that they do not like the color of their skin is horrible. It is scary to think that despite all of the changes that have been made since the past and the days of slavery, people still believe this way. Who knows what a person could do to defend their beliefs in a hate group. Many incidents have already occurred, such as the Jena-6, that are repercussions of such violent thoughts.