Race Through My Eyes

By: Mana Moshkforoush, Gr.8

What is race? Look it up in the dictionary and you will find something like: “physical divisions among humans that are hereditary”.

This means humans can be separated into groups according to their physical differences, for example their, skin color. The most popular racial groups are Africans, known as Blacks, Americans and Europeans, known as Whites, and Asians who are known as, well, Asians.

            In my personal life, I have been exposed to many racial events. I was born in Iran. My parents are Iranian, as are my aunts, uncles, and cousins. When I was three years old, my parents and I moved to Ghana, a country in West Africa. I spent the next eight years of my childhood in this beautiful country. My parents, being typical Persian parents, are big on school and academic knowledge, and so they decided to send me to an International Montgomery school.

In school, I did not fit in. I was different, all because I was white. This wasn't always a bad thing, I got lots of attention from all the kids, teachers and parents. In fact, the whole school knew me. But there were times when it wasn't so fun.

As time passed I started understanding that being different is not always about being unique or special. In grade five, we studied the history of Ghana and the Ghanaian Revolution. Ghana was colonized by Britain for centuries and the people were enslaved, tortured and traded into Europe. In general, Ghanaians had very bad memories from those times. As we studied these things in school, there would be times when the British would be named as “white people” in the text books or by the teachers. When this happened, my classmates would turn to look at me, because, after all, I was the white girl. As much as it can be fun being different and known for it, there comes a time when you wish you could just blend in and not have a title. In situations where a person is known as different in a negative way, I’m sure that person wouldn’t mind being treated fairly and with equality.

                 In Ghana there was no such thing as “racism”. Don’t get me wrong, there was racism, but wasn’t a name for it. It wasn’t right or wrong. In fact the first time I heard of the word “racism” was when I moved to Canada, two years ago. Imyself, have never been faced with racism in Canada, although I do know people who have, because of their religion and the the way they live their lives. Everyone will face racism, either directly or indirectly. The funny thing though, is that racist people have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. If someone asks you the question: “What is race?” chances are your answer will be: “skin color”, however, that’s not very accurate, as there’s actually more genetic difference between a black Kenyan and a black Ugandan, than there is between a black Kenyan and a white Norwegian. We all stem from Africa, and so in Africa, there’s been more time to create genetic diversity. In other words, race has no basis in biological and scientific fact. It is clear that even though race does not have a biological meaning, it does have a social meaning that has been legally constructed.

What if someone asks you what racism is? We should all know the answer to this question. Racism is the unfair treatment and hate towards someone for something they had no choice in. Racism mainly stems from ignorance of another person's culture and ignorance promotes distrust and dislike of something a person doesn't understand.

                 Racism can have a lot of effects. It can make people angry, bitter or violent. It can destroy self esteem and create a horrifying defeatist nature. Judgments prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearance. The next time you’re about to make a thoughtless  horrible comment about someone, think for a minute and try to understand that if you judge people, you have no time to love them.

“Racism is a learned

affliction and anything that is learned

can be unlearned.”