9781422281390

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What Is Racism?

E rrol, a seventeen-year-old black American, experi- enced racism while living in several parts of the United States. “I always remember name-calling and monkey signs made at me and the other black kids out of class,” he said. “My mother told me not to let it get to me. ‘To react back makes you as low as they,’ she told me and I tried, but it still made me feel bad about myself, like I wasn’t as good as them. “When we moved west, I went from being one of many black kids to the only one in the neighborhood. People, parents, kids, old people—they all used to stare at me. Several times, folks told me stores were closed even when I could see others inside buying things. When I went into stores, I was followed

Errol, an African-American teenager, experienced racism while living in a rural part of the United States. As one of the relatively few black people living in the area, he was made to feel different from other people.

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