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The Controversial Impact of Segregation & Racism: How

has this affected the nation?

Kailey Espada; Laurean Roseman: Historical Paper

Total Number of Words:
Senior Division

Introduction

In the beginning of the 20th century, Racism started to play a part in how people are viewed,

valued, and most of all, respected. In all manors, Racism has affected society globally and has

taken effect on people with colored skin, and even today, Racism and Segregation still create

controversy between whites and blacks. A valid historical argument that many people will make

is, “Does Racism really affect individuals of color?”

The concept of Racism encourages white supremacy while bringing down the rights of

colored people. Segregation can come into play with this due to the separation and division of

colored civilians and White Americans, for example: Education, Work, where to sit on the bus.

Take Rosa Parks for instance: Due to her refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person, it led

to her arrest, having to pay a fine in advance. Racism can create a society where trust is out of

the question. It can decrease self-esteem in others as well as finalizing a place where there is no

safety. This can have a very negative impact on colored people, especially because of the

disrespect and unfairness that can even lead to people questioning themselves.

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As racism starts to dive into our society deeper and deeper, everyday life starts to change. People

with color experience prejudice and discriminatory behaviors because of the color of their skin,

which sparks major controversy between the two. Absurd policies against colored people begin

to increase more and more to the point that Segregation (the act of setting someone or something

apart) begins to become normalized in our society. Psychologically, this can heavily affect

colored people due to isolation from other social groups, as well as having boundaries to the

point where it gets difficult to experience normal things in life. Everything that colored people do

seems to be controlled and operated by white Americans who desire to have superiority over

everyone else. All of these ties up to how segregation can hurt and cause discord and distrust

between civils everywhere.

Psychological Health/Well Being

Racism, like segregation, can easily cause daily stressors on colored people, as well as affecting

their daily life. Being devalued by who you are can cause a major mental health burden and can

cause trauma, which is a serious mental health issue. Racism can create cruelty and unfairness,

like being avoided in public, banks/companies not lending colored people money, racial

profiling, etc. These causes can trigger depression, a risk for BIPOC, and a risk for PTSD.

Seeking help for mental disorders is also troubling for colored people. Distrust, language

barriers, lack of insurance, and mental illness stigma are some of the common factors that keep

them from getting access to getting help.

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Racism can affect people emotionally, and can easily chip away at your self-confidence and self-

love. Over time, it can lead to anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. People will start

believing what others say to them in a racial manner, which can tie with internalized racism.

Internalized racism can destroy someone's life completely, and can lead to exhaustion and loss of

motivation. All of these can bring an outcome of racial trauma (the intensity of racial trauma can

vary depending on the person or their personal experiences with racism.) Racial trauma can

bleed into daily lives if it isn’t treated, and can affect people's abilities to concentrate at

work/school, maintain relationships, and can overall ruin the ability to function correctly.

Racism in Daily lives

The way that racism can affect daily lives is very simple. Racism has taken into multiple forms

where it almost seems normalized in today's society. Racism teasing is a common form of racism

that seems quite lighthearted, but can be taken into great offense. Being teased about hair, skin

tone, and accents is cited as a frequent way people can be teased racially. Racial teasing can be

linked to an increase in depressive symptoms, and leads back to how mental health plays a huge

part in racism.

Now, let's talk about racism in schools. Racism taking place in school is a major factor

when it comes to this topic, especially because many children can easily get bullied racially

during the school day. Schools can easily lessen racism if they really looked into it and changed

their policies. Openly talking about racism and how school policies can affect the equality and

environment of students. The importance of bringing up racism in schools should be heavily

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normalized, and if nothing is done about it, it can lead to many racial problems between students,

which can cause a controversial environment when students are trying to learn.

Internalized racism in individuals

If racism can make it to a horrific extent, it can start to lead into internalized racism. Internalized

racism is a form of internalized oppression that can develop ideas, beliefs, actions, and behaviors

that collude with racism. Internalized racism can have its own negative impacts on individuals

who face it, and can destroy their self-confidence and appreciation for their own race, wanting to

be someone who they aren’t racial wise. Internalized racism can have systemic oppression with a

life of its own, and can make people vulnerable and damage their mental health. Internalized

racism can be divided into four elements: Decision making, resources, standards, and naming the

problem.

Decision making can be a very big problem to people with internalized racism, keeping

them from making decisions on their own that relate to their daily lives and resources. This can

give people the idea that white people have more control over what they’re supposed to do with

their lives, therefore letting them overpower their thoughts in an unhealthy manner. People who

let white people take over their minds can lead to an unhealthy mindset, destroying their

confidence and ability to think for themselves.

Resources. Resources is the second element that makes up internalized racism.

Internalized racism can disable people from getting resources for themselves, or their own

communities. There can often be a self-imposed barrier that can make it difficult to access the

resources that colored people need.

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Standards. Standards can be a huge thing in internalized racism. For example: society can set the

standards for what should be classified as “normal” or “not normal.” Seeing as how internalized

racism can make up beliefs that relate back to racism, it can set a standard that colored people

will follow in order for society to classify them as a normal citizen, therefore, causing major

stress and pressure that they have to be someone that they aren’t to fit in with the crowd. Setting

a specific standard to follow can drift people away from their own culture, and can make their

lives more stressful.

Finally, naming the problem. Naming the problem can be conflicting to people who face

internalized racism. Problems that are faced in society are very commonly blamed on people of

color. This can cause civilians to believe that they are more violent than they seem due to having

the idea that everything that goes wrong in society is their fault, which can be very damaging

internally.

All of these factors and causes of internalized racism creates the image on how badly this can

affect a person's mental and physical health. Internalized racism is very important to look into to

find more about how people are heavily affected by it, showing that racism isn’t just being

discriminated against by someone else, but can be discriminated against by their own self.

Internalized racism should be something that many other people should start understanding and

grasping in a way that can be understood by everyone and deserves to be a topic that isn't strange

to bring up.

Conclusion
Racism is an important topic that can be agreed and disagreed upon by many people. Some

people will think that white supremacy can be overpowering. Others will think that everyone

should be equal and have an equal society. Coming into a serious topic like this should definitely

be more normalized in today's society, as well as changing school policies and looking into

internalized racism and mental health relating to racism. With all of these factors in racism, it is

obvious that it is racism that affects people and their daily lives as well as causing conflict in

mental health. Talking about this topic can get other people to understand the causes and effects

of racism as well as getting people to start looking into the topic to spread awareness of racism

and what we should do to prevent it from happening even more. Our society deserves to have a

safe environment with a peaceful society, and although it may take a while to bring racism to its

very end, the importance is to bring it up to attention and keep it from becoming a bigger

problem than it already is.