The research I have done on prejudice and racism has changed me in a way that I now see different ways on why people can be prejudiced or racist. I had always thought that maybe they had something to do with parental influence or stereotypes. However, I never thought of seeing them through psychology or sociology. I now see that there are many factors which can cause racism and prejudice. Racism and prejudice will always be defined by something that is already known; however, there will always be a new way of finding out why people are prejudiced and racists.
The things that surprised me the most were how the articles never seemed to be biased. I know there are a lot prejudiced writers and researchers out there who could have been biased when it came to racism and prejudice. However, I never actually saw any. I also was not looking for articles which could have been biased, so there could have been some, but I never saw them. Another thing that kind of surprised me was an article on how people of today are still prejudiced. I know there will always be prejudice in this world, but our generation is supposed to be the generation that does not see color. So, when I saw that article, it really piqued my interest. It made me look at the world and see that we still have an issue with race. In my annotated bibliography, I used the example of the President, Barack Obama. When he was elected, I thought our world had finally shifted from the idea that only a “white male” could be president. Boy was I wrong!! All it did was uncover the prejudice we as a nation still have. Prejudice is still very prevalent in the United States, and probably will be until we all die. The other thing that surprised me was the amount of articles on racial profiling. Racial profiling is a big thing going on in the United States currently, and most of the articles focused on why racial profiling happens. None of the articles I read focused on the effects, because we can obviously see outcomes. The article on racial profiling interested me the most which is why it will be the focal point of my research paper.
From all the research I have done, I have learned to not only look at things one way. I have learned that there are different reasons as to why things happen. I also learned to look at the United States a different way. I use to look at us as moving forward, and we still are to an extent. But, we are taking the tiniest baby steps when it comes to prejudice and racism. We need to look past color and start to see just people, not the color of their skin. I also learned that parental influence may not be a reason for prejudice and racism, but I am still researching that cause. This research has taught me a lot not only on racism and prejudice, but on how to look at things.
