Natori Cousin

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-034
10 February 2015

Racism is defined as when ethnic group or historical collectivity dominates, excludes, or

seeks to eliminate another on the basis of differences that it believes are hereditary and
unalterable. (Fredrickson). We have all experienced or seen some form of racism in our
lifetimes, but where did it come from? Where or how did racism start? I am interested in
researching and finding out where one of the most negative traits of humans originated from and
why it continues to be factor in todays society.
While reading The Book Thief, there was a part where the character Rudy was basically
being taught by his dad to have a racist mentality. Rudy was young and his dad told him that
Black people and Jewish people were inferior to them. Rudy did not understand why his dad told
him this and racism was something that did not ever cross his mind. This incident made me
realize that racism is not something that you are born with. Racism is in fact a state of mind that
is taught, but where did it all come from?
The racist mentality dates back hundreds of years in the worlds history. The thirteenth
and fourteenth century during the Middle Ages when Jewish people were identified as being with
the devil is the first clear sign of racism. Years later, there was the incident when Europeans
began to judge Africans and people of darker skin and turn them into slaves. Slavery went on for

hundreds of years and made its way to America. America was supposed to be a place where
people who were originally from all different countries came to be free. In other words, America
should have been a country where no racism existed, but that was not the case. Racism in
America caused wars and many other instances where many people have been killed because of
their race and it still is a factor today. In Germany, with the leadership of Hitler came one of the
heaviest forms of racism. Hitler tried to create a genocide and kill off all of the Jewish people.
What made Hitler influence the people of Germany to think that they were above Jewish people?
After seeing how racism can kill off people and make people think that they are inferior
to another group of people just because they are different why does racism still exist today?
There have been recent events in America where people are being killed because of their skin
color. Worldwide, the incident with ISIS is being taken place and it does not really make sense
that we are still in that mentality after seeing all the negative outcomes of racism.
I plan on researching further into the beginnings of racism and relate it to events that are
going on today worldwide and in America. I hope that the outcome of my inquiry will be finding
out why racism started and why it still exists today. Everyone has experienced some form of
racism and it is always in a negative way, so why not put an end to it?