Issue Of The Week XXII: A New Form Of Discrimination Social Media Racism On College Campuses

I think that discrimination occurs anywhere world-wide. College campuses have tried to improve any type of discrimination on campus grounds. But it’s nearly impossible to eliminate all types of discrimination that occurs through online social networks. I understand that the college campus are worried about certain races being discriminated upon and schools don’t want to be known as racist or what not, but you can only go to a certain extent to stop racial discrimination. Racism has never been over it still occurs to this day, yes it’s hard to believe after everything that has happen in America’s history, but some individuals will always have some type of racial comments to say about one another. I don’t think that cyber racism really been an issue on campus, didn’t know individuals still cyber chat. Overall I do believe there is discrimination being done on college campuses.

I agree that discrimination should be fought against and society should do whatever it takes to eliminate this as much as possible, but cyber racism is not the area that needs to be focused on. Yes people are going to make racial slurs, comments and so forth on the internet, facebook and other chat rooms, but the real danger comes from when those racial slurs are being brought person to person and dangerous acts are more apt to happen. It is ridiculous that our country still deals with racial issues such as these, but we need to focus on the more dangerous areas rather than something that can be typed over the internet. In my opinion, words are a lot more hurtful when heard in person rather over the internet in a chat room or on face book.

It is an area that won’t stop on the internet. America itself is filled with people in higher positions controlling people with discrimination and racism. I think people talk behind chat rooms to say what they really feel. In the world today things are going to get worse because people are hurting by the way economy is going. It is sad the internet is being used to start racist groups. I still think there is a tug a war between whites feeling of minority faces coming up. I don’t think this will ever end. I totally agree with being at peace and loving your fellow man, but this nation is falling apart. One nation under God is not what we stand by. The internet should have safety prevention. I think that people are going to say what they want to say according to the first amendment. Yes words hurt very much. I think they way this nation is going people better focus on them becoming better human beings in order to get through heavens gates.

Of course racism is not over and it probably never will be. I do however, absolutely believe that "Facebook" outlawing racism is of good moral standing and is not a violation of the 1st amendment since "Facebook" is not a public forum. But, let us not forget that Americans should have a very free form of freedom of speech, that's why it should not be illegal. Therefore it is up to the schools to have it written in there laws to prevent opportunities of enrichment for people who wish to express themselves in such a way, that promote fear and racism. This however should include both sides of racism not just those towards African-Americans, but also whites, Hispanics, Asians and exedra.
Since this is most likely the last article I want to make the point I have been trying desperately to convey through this forum. The key to overcoming racism is “time and pressure”, as said by Morgan Freedom in Shawshank Redemption about another issue. It takes time to overcome an issue of this magnitude and most like none of us here on Earth today will likely live to see racism disappear, if it actually does occur. As for pressure, we are the pressure. Through our actions and our voices we put pressure on the situation. We must be careful in the way we do so. I recently wrote about an article on the Recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom, in this article I mentioned that how the article lifted up people of all different races and backgrounds, recognizing them for their amazing achievements. Its actions like this that will bring about the end of racism, if they only took place on a daily basis. If one race is continually the spot light of anything than conflict is born between races and conflict is the bare roots of racism. Thank You.

Racism is everywhere even today. I think that yes discrimination happens online very much and it's not a good thing. I liked when the blog stated that the constitution did not think about Facebook when they protected freedom of speech. I think this issue effects a lot of people on my college campus and even though I want it to I don't think it will ever go away. There will always be discrimination of some kind that people have to overcome. I have experienced social discrimination and I have friends that have as well. Its a part of life. I think that Love had a great point when he said that people from prestigious colleges, like Harvard, never have to assess their views because they surround themselves in a bubble of people thinking just like them. I think that's sad. We need to be challenged and I think to have healthy points of view we need o think about our views and change them when needed.

In my opinion, it is very clear that racism still exists and still poses a big problem to achieving unity amongst people in the United States. It is not entirely surprising to me that there is an issue of racism occurring on the social media sites because these sites allow people to stay anonymous. They are not being held accountable for the words they write which gives them the power to be as racist as they want. People are able to hide behind a computer which gives them the courage to say anything, however ignorant it may be. It is extremely difficult to eradicate all forms of racism because there are always going to be ignorant people, not just on college campuses. There is no way that racism can be completely eliminated from social networking sites because it would be impossible to police that. Also, it is important to remember the 1st Amendment of free speech. Even though I do not agree or like what people say at times, they are still allowed to have the privilege of free speech. It is very sad that people have taken the privilege of free speech and abused it in such a manner. Although our founding fathers did not think of Facebook when writing the Constitution, free speech does still apply to the internet. However, since Facebook has rules about negative speech, people need to adhere to these rules in order to use the site. If they want to spout racist terms than they can do it on a site that does not have specific rules against it. Also, I feel that cyber-racism and racism is general is a big problem everywhere, not only college campuses. However, I do agree with the point that the author makes about college students being surrounded by people of the same mindset. At college, it is convenient for students to befriend other people who have the same views as themselves. While walking around campus, I do tend to see people of the same ethnic group surrounded by other people of that same group all the time. I think it is important for all people, but especially college students, to branch out and befriend someone who does not think the same way that they do. This would help unite society because people would learn other people's viewpoints and the reasoning behind the way that they think. Once people are exposed to people of other ethnic groups, then they will be able to actually get to know them and learn about them. Racism stems from ignorance and if people start exposing themselves to the unfamiliar, than hopefully people would learn to respect each other.

In a perfect world racism would be eliminated, however, I don’t think it’s possible for every single person in the world to get over their prejudices, which is really sad. But what’s worse it that instead of striving to eliminate racism, our generation has found a new way to express racism. I think that Social Media outlets need to crack down on language that expresses racist ideas and hurtful comments. Ideas are spreading faster than they ever have due to these social media outlets and while this can be a wonderful thing, it can also be a curse. But it’s not only the social media’s responsibility to fight racism; it’s everyone’s individual responsibility to speak out against hate and prejudice, whether on the internet or elsewhere.

Question how many people does it take to change the world? The answer is one. If we want racism to stop it has to start with us (you). As cheeky as it sounds, it’s very true. If you can be a positive role model for those around you, you may be able to influence others directly or indirectly; the same effect happens if you go the other way. Sadly we know that we can’t eliminate racism or discrimination from this world to a 100%, lets not kid ourselves but what we can do is lower it to a certain extent. The Internet and online networking is not helping us control this situation. I believe there is little that we can do online. I think when a problem is found this has to be issued in “real life” with this person; they have to be made aware of what they are doing on a 1 to 1.

I believe that cyber racism and cyber bullying is not only a problem on college campuses, but everywhere. I have read racist things on the internet written by anyone from high school age up to older people in their 40s and 50s. Cyber bullying and racism is a big problem in today’s time. As was previously said, the Constitution wasn’t written with Facebook in mind. However, many people try to use the First Amendment as an excuse for their cyber racism or whatever else they might put on the internet. Free speech does apply to the internet, but that doesn’t give people a right to say derogatory things about a specific race or person; there is a fine line between free speech and being openly racist. Facebook, Twitter and other sites such as these have personal conduct policies that should be followed by all users; however, the rules are rarely enforced fully. I think that if social media sites, as well as college campuses, did a better job of enforcing these rules and policies, there would be a significant decline in racism and bullying online. However, it is impossible to control everything someone puts on the internet, so we must enforce what we see, so that we can cut down on cyber racism.

I believe that Cyber racism still exists. Not just in college but everywhere, and I do not think that it is going to stop anytime soon. Racism has been around since mankind has been around and there are certain people that are afriad of the unknown, and where taught growing up to judge people because of their skin color. Even though the internet was not around in the 50's and 60's there was still racism, but know since racism is frowned upon in most places people have to express their hatred in other ways and the only other way for people to see it legally is through the internet. And it is hard to track someone through a computer if your a teacher or something who see's this on the internet. So therefore more people discriminate through the web than into other peoples faces.

The cyber world is a virtual world and not reality. The world of social media allows people to interact with others they ordinarily would not. The ambiguity and lack of accountability the internet provides gives individuals the opportunity to act in ways they ordinarily would not. I have also learned that any casual discussion in print can be easily taken out of context. I feel like the real question is whether these racist remarks are of a person actually expressing themselves, if it is a person merely venting, speaking in sarcasm or even intentionally behaving contrary. I find much more people within my social media circle discussing religious issues and prejudices but not on race. Racism is just a sliver into prejudice; I don’t believe prejudice can ever be removed but it certainly loses its merit if the intention is not met with results.

Discrimination in the public eyes has always been around. We now have the opportunity to racially bully those we choose to in the privacy of our homes, workplace and yes, all across College Campuses. This form of Social Media; Facebook, MySpace, and Social Chat Rooms are a convenient way to connect to outside sources. Yet, we have also figured out that we can racially cyber bully anonymously with very little implications of get caught. Setting aside TOS agreements, First Amendment Rights, and the right to live freely without discrimination; racism is a part of our history as it is a part of our lives today. We can change the source of transmission, but, racism will continue to exist as long as we continue to be indifference toward those that are different from us.

Racism is an issue that needs to be focused on and fought against. However, I believe that it is a battle that will never be completely won. We are nowhere near getting rid of racism and having everyone be fully accepted by other people. Just as if they were handling an issue in the real world, people may post and discuss their opinions on the internet, some of which are racist and are extremely offensive to others. A website, such as Facebook, can prohibit damaging language, but people have their freedom of speech on the internet as well as in the real world. They have the freedom to express themselves. People being racist on the internet is not just a problem on college campuses, but is also a problem on the internet in any area of the world.

Why people think that racism will never end? I don't know why, but it can change. Everyone has to work together to make that happen. It seems to me it gets worse and worse every second wit this cyberbullying and cyber-racism. As I see, it is affecting the younger generation, with them gettting bullied because they are fat or not pretty. Than the younger child commits suicide because they don't know waht to do and they are afraid to even talk to anyone. I particulary hate walking around campus hearing other call another person a derogatory term. And I really really hate it when someone calls me that too. I just don't think it's right to even use derogatory language towards anyone of color. I think that if everyone comes together or even if one person steps up to make a change, then all this cyberbullying and cyber-racism will be controlled or stopped completely.

I think that racism is still here and right in our faces, we have just chosen to not see (or ignore) it. We think that if we ignore racism, it will somehow go away or eventually fade out. But, that's not true. There will always be a form of racism in our society. The only way that racism can be contained is to confront it head on or to "call out" the person or event that's exhibiting racism. If we acknowledge it, we can do something about it. In my early college years, I was unaware of any racism going on at my school. Now, that I'm a senior and have taken more awareness classes in reference to racism, I have noticed that there is a degree of racism emanating from the people around me. One thing I would like to point out is that the racism is not coming from the institution (school) itself, but rather the people that are affiliated with the institution (students). I have heard stories from both sides and feel that I can look at it with an open mind. Sometimes, the racism is originated from a simple misunderstanding of people just being raised differently. Sometimes, it's from a text or message that was not read with the intended intonation.
I think if the college campuses all started groups with the one goal in mind --to improve race relations-- that would be the first step to ensuring the campuses are more open to the idea of having a diverse population. Educating people on racism and making it authentic to them, would also be a great help.

Racism is still, and will most likely always be around. We can try to make movements to prevent this, but it's always going to be around. I am from Abilene, where I attended a very diverse high school. Coming to ACU, I did notice a big difference in the way people were treated. ACU is one of the most racist places in Abilene. Regardless of what ACU tells the media, they don't show people what goes on inside the campus. ACU is proud to be an international friendly school, but some staff (not all) and students are not necessarily friendly to them. I personally have not seen any cyber racism, but I'm sure it exist. We all have our own thoughts, but to announce racism over the internet is just a little too much. People can think what they want, but they must keep it to themselves.

Racism has been around for a very long time. And it will take an equally long time for it to go away, if it ever does. However, it will not go away if individual people do not make a concious effort to make it do so. As we become more technologically advanced, it is inevitable that ideas, both good and bad, will spread. This just means that we should be more vigilant in our efforts to reduce racism. I personally have not noticed any racial comments on the internet surrounding my campus, but I am not on the internet that often. I'm sure it does exist as a problem on other campuses. Just as all ideas are not limited to one medium, neither is racism. However, if we are being completely honest, there are at least a few racists in every group. It does not matter if the settign is college campuses, work, or play. We can be thankful that for the most part people see racism as a bad thing and do not participate in it actively. But perhaps that is just one person looking for good in others.
P.S. Acu-27, I agree with your sentiment that racism over the internet is too much, but your last sentence is also perhaps a bit much. Unless you meant to direct it towards people who make racist comments.

Charla Hammond

A New Form of Discrimination: Social Media Racism on College Campuses
Posted 4/18/11
My posting 4/25/11

I think that racism will only change when we come to true grips with our own beliefs and perspectives. When we are true to ourselves and become leaders and not followers, we will lead in a way that is proper.
I think some may put on a front. Some fronts are for those that some students hang around. Some fronts come from the social impact of our own generations. Becoming true to ourselves is the beginning step to thinking and acting on our own. To care from the heart and not from hearing or doing as others, merely for acceptance of a specific social status.
I disagree that this type of world allows people to act in ways that they normally would not. I think it allows peoples true colors to come out. I personally do not think it is healthy to announce my life secrets or personal life on Facebook. It is then open for the whole world to read. I am more of a private person. Not for any particular reason, except that I was taught that the more you open up to the world of yourself, the more opportunity you have to be hurt.

Personally, I have not witnessed racism in social networking, but it makes perfect sense that it would exist. No matter how much we progress as people, sadly there will always be some measure of racism or discrimination in the world. There is a human instinct to think that someone else must loose in order for us to win. I believe this instinct, right or wrong, is the reason racism and discrimination stays alive. Since social networking is still a moderately new concept it is rational that this problem would be surfacing. Social networking is a very strong form of communication for all ages in these times; racism and discrimination are going to be displayed through all forms of communication, if social networking had been around earlier, this would have been a problem earlier. It is great that the colleges and universities are catching this and putting policies in to place to protect those that are being harassed and bullied.

Facebook is a new world that has been opened up, and with anything new there are unforeseen complications.Internet bullying has been an ongoing problem, and it is not surprise to me that Facebook is now included in this category. Racism is a problem that, because of new technology, will keep developing new faces. New problems relating to racism have taken many different forms over the years, with each new gadget or big web phenomenon opportunities arise for people to anonymously say whatever they want.This, in my opinion, is the biggest problem. People are not being held accountable for the things they say, which gives them the "freedom" to post racist, sexist, or any other kind of discriminatory comments. I personally have no ideas on how to fix this problem. Society keeps developing more ways to avoid person to person interaction, which is a key ingredient to reducing racist behavior. On the internet you don't get to know individuals, their thoughts, feelings, needs, wants, sorrows, or beliefs. If you take all this away, it is much easier to say nasty things, because you can't see the reaction of the pain you are causing.

This does not really shock me in the slightest because we all know racism is everywhere and that includes “Facebook” or whatever other social online site you are on. Racism is still prevalent in our society and to think that it would not find its way to the Internet is a bit naïve if you ask me. Don’t get me wrong prejudice is wrong and the way it is constantly growing and rampaging over the Internet is not helping the problem in the slightest but the best you can do is roll with the punches. And to be completely honest I have yet to encounter cyber racism but I know it is out there and until we come to grips that we are all different and learn to respect each other for our differences cyber racism isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

I have heard of cyber bullying through avenues like the news or newspapers and I think it’s a scary thing. The internet is open and free for anyone to say anything without the threat of immediate or serious consequences. It’s so easy for people to get away with cyber bullying and I can see how it would go hand in hand with racial discrimination. I have a serious problem with students on college campuses doing this though. If you’re going to college I am going to assume you are there to better yourself so you can make a positive impact on the world. And I’m going to assume you’re smart enough to know that racial discrimination is wrong regardless of whether it’s face to face or from behind a computer screen. Freedom of speech comes with the responsibility of making sure your words are proactive and meaningful rather than hurtful and ignorant.

It is distressing to read about topics such as cyber-racism and bullying, however it should not be entirely unforeseen. Whenever new avenues of self expression and creativity are forced into a society on such as wide scale as facebook has been you can expect to gather a plethora of opinions on every page, even opinions that may be offensive and controversial. The only real solution is to screen those to desire to join online social networking websites and discussion boards or to moniter daily the content posted on those websites with swiff action for those who stray from the rules. Otherwise you are inviting comments from people how do not have to look you in the face. Often these comments will border on the obscene if not completely offensive. Don't get mad at the college campus for allowing students to speak to each other in such with such offensive language, blame the creators who allowed those students to post to the world every prejudice and discriminatory thought that has even popped into their head with near to total privacy. Then blame the constitution for allowing everyone who wears the banner of American citizenship to speak in crass, crude, possibly even rude terms for the world to hear.

It is no surprise to me that this racism issue is happening within social media sites such as Facebook. This is in now way a new epidemic. As a previous user of Myspace and now Facebook, I have seen many instances of racism happening in the view of all who access Facebook. This is a huge issue for not only administrators on campus, but the owners of the social media as well. The thing that has truly surprised me is that since being on a christian campus, I have only seen minor differences in racism. The only main difference I have seen is that racism generally only happens on social media sights, but not as much in public. This does not make racism any less important or disgusting, only in a different place.

Racism is never completely going to go away. As long as there are different kinds of people on this earth it is always going to exist. Since social networking sites are still fairly new, it is a new way for people to express opinions and ideas. As it happens though, some of those ideas involve racism. It is not going to go away anytime soon and it is very hard to control. Anybody can log onto the internet and basically post anything they want to. This continues to contribute to racism and cyber-bullying alike. It is going to offend people and make people very uncomfortable. I can see that it will be very hard for college campus to fight this new problem on the internet. I myself, have yet to experience this new form of racism first hand. But I do imagine in the near future that I probably will witness this new and going problem.

I am mixed on this topic. I do feel that social networking makes it much easier to communicate racist and discriminatory ideas. At the same time, social networking makes it easier to connect with people of other races. I even have some friends on facebook that are not like me at all. The fact is, social networks are tools. They can be used to build relationships or discourage them. That is all up to the user.

It is easy to speak ones mind when the thought of being held accountable is put aside because there is a computer screen in front of a person instead of an actual personal interaction. This is why this topic is so prevalent in our society. This article follows many more about Cyber Bulling and the growing deterioration of the respect for our right to freedom of speech. It is interesting that this article talks about when the laws of this country, including freedom of speech, were instilled none of our fore fathers knew about Facebook, MySpace, or twitter. However, the first thing that anyone does when they are asked to face up and have consequences for the things that they say and post they ultimately return to their right of freedom of speech. The internet is providing a shelter for people to spread and share their ignorance without being held to a standard. It is scary to think about what our children will face later if people are not forced to answer the racial injustice that they post.

I found this article to be very accurate in that it finally brings up how social media is affecting racism. Especially on college campuses. As a current college student I constantly see different people on facebook and myspace that openly express their views on race and ethnicity. And it might not come as a shock, but few are positive. It seems that these social networks give people a false barrier for people to voice their inner most feelings about people. With total disregard for the weight their words carry with them. When it comes to bullying and these media sources I cannot personally say that I’ve witnessed a single person being addressed by someones opinions, but I know I have seen statements that address groups as a whole. And being that it’s through a social network people are less likely to call someone out when they are out of line. I feel that it is much easier to tell someone to their face that what they’re doing or saying has greater consequences on the people they might be talking about. I agree with Dave Love saying that many students of higher education are not really forced to interact with people they hold prejudices against. It might catch them off guard to be forced to interact with the people they have such negative opinions about.

I am honestly surprised that this issue has not been thrust into the public eye before now. I have witnessed this new type of racism on Facebook before, not directed towards me or anyone I know but posted by one of my "Facebook friends". I feel like students think that because it is online and not being said aloud or to someone directly that it makes it acceptable. It also seems that students feel like they can get away with whatever they want to say simply because it is online. The problem with this is that these media platforms claim they will punish those who choose to participate in this yet hardly anyone ever gets punished. I think that this is something that needs to be addressed and quickly because while it might not be a major outlet for racism at this time, if unchecked, it could quickly escalate into a monster.

A New Form of Discrimination Social Media Racism on College Campuses: As despicable as the thought of racist cyber bullying is I am not sure how to stop it. Is blocking facebook usage an answer to a wicked problem? I feel like seeking individual punishment would be an effective way to resolve this issue. I don’t think that stopping facebook is an appropriate solution. Please understand that I hate racism, I believe it to be disgusting. I regret that online usage has come to such tragedy.