Interview on the Race Issues

The interviewee's name is Patel Smith and is 21 years old. Patel is my both my friend and a classmate. We are in the same sociology class this semester, and this is how I met him. Patel's mother is Indian, and his father is from the states. They recently moved to the United States from India where they had lived for ten years. Indians are considered one of the minorities in the US, and this is why I chose him to be my respondent due to his multi-race origins. Being in one sociology class means we get to study about culture and races making it easier to broach the subject with him. The interview was conducted on the lawn outside the students center in the school at 11.00 AM on Monday 6th November 2017. The data collection methods used were observation and using an audio recorder.

Start of the Interview

The Consent Statement: Hi Patel. I am doing some homework research, and I would like to ask you a few questions, if you do not mind, regarding race and to get your views on some common aspects of race. It will only take approximately 15-20 minutes, and with your consent, I would like to record this interview. Your confidentiality is of the utmost importance, and your name will not be part of the research without your permission.

Interviewer: What are the primary races in the US?

Interviewee: I know of white Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hawaiians.

Interviewer: How are these races different from each other?

Interviewee: Races are classified according to color, social circles, and their historical backgrounds. For example, our ancestral slaves whether white or not were deemed black which happens to be the largest minority group in the United States presently.

Interviewer: You talked about slavery and minorities. What are some of the most common misconceptions about people of different races?

Interviewee: For a start, white Americans can live in any state or city they want. Take for example places like Harlem. The majority are black people. The region is highly crime infested, and police brutality is on the rise. The Asian minority is considered very poor. Asians live in castes even in India and some in the United States are living in abject poverty.

Interviewer: You seem so passionate about racial discrimination. Have you been discriminated due to your ethnic background?

Interviewee: Yes I have. On some occasions but the most notable one is when I first came here, everyone assumed I was on a scholarship because there is no way an Indian could afford Western education. These are a few issues surrounding races in the West.

Interviewer: What abilities do you associate with members of different races and how can you tell the racial group a person belongs to if you met them on the street?

Interviewee: People have different abilities across the board, and it would be wrong to associate with a particular race. All I can say is that there should be no discrimination. About knowing the racial group, someone belongs to, well just like anyone else, the skin color and language accent are the most common indicators.

Analysis of the Most Common Misconceptions Regarding Race

Crime in minority areas: there is a racial classification for all the races in the States, and most of these groups live in specific parts of the state (Gravlee and Clarence 49, 50). It is true that there are higher crime rates in areas with minority races. It is also true that the system is not fair to people in these places at all. These areas are marred by police brutality, the heavy presence of police and excessive use of force. When black teenagers are shot in the States, the excuse is that they looked violent or had a weapon. Some of these victims have guns planted on them since it is not a surprise that a black kid has a gun on him. People in some of the white neighborhoods call the police when they see a black kid walking on their street or clutch to their bags tighter when they see a black person approach. Research shows that the police origins date back to the slavery days when a section of strong men was sent to hunt runaway slaves (56). Police credibility is questionable in these areas, and they sometimes do not even bother with crime in these areas and if the recent shootings of black teenage boys are anything to go by. A white policeman can shoot a black kid and get away with it.

The Hispanic minorities are associated with drugs are guns. A Latino family will bear the brunt of the misconception that people of that group sell drugs and run cartels.

Low education levels: western education is considered far more superior than education in third world countries. Looking for opportunities in the States is not that easy. People will wonder what you have to offer their companies with total disregard of how well you did in school due to the color of your skin or your last name.

White supremacy: white people can settle wherever they choose and fit in. Blacks and other minorities cannot do that (Bogin 11). Asian Americans are considered poor and poorly educated such that they cannot get jobs. White dolls are considered prettier than black dolls such that kids do not want to buy a black doll at a toy store. Sometimes black dolls are even unavailable because no one wants a black doll. They all want the prettiest whitest doll they can see from a mile away. Before the current president of the United States, Donald Trump came into power; his campaign was all about deporting minorities back to their own countries. He pushed for the building of the Mexico border wall to keep Mexicans out. Deportation started when he got into power, and so far many people whom the US was home to were taken back to their countries. The Americans who voted for the current president are also to blame for the bias meted against these races.

Most of these misconceptions are wrong, and people should be judged not by what they look like but through humane and fair hearings and consideration by the superior races (Gravlee and Clarence 57).

Works Cited

Gravlee, Clarence C. "How race becomes biology: an embodiment of social inequality." American journal of physical anthropology 139.1 (2009): 47-57.Bogin, Barry. Patterns of human growth. Vol. 23. Cambridge University Press, 1999.