We live in a world where racism happens every day. Now of course over the years, racism has gotten better but there will never be a day when there no racial discrimination. Sixty-four percent of Americans still say there are major problems of racism in this world today. In the movie “Running Brave”, the main character Billy Mills experiences racism the entire movie. He is a runner wanting to achieve his goals and make his dreams come true, no matter what race he is or no matter what people think about him or his people.
Everyone has a different mindset and his mindset was getting out and running in the Olympics. The running coach from Kansas went to look at him run, not knowing he is an Indian. Back then they had already established what Indians were, they knew they were quitters. But he proved them wrong in the end, he was no quitter, he was a fighter.
Billy does end up leaving his reservation to make something of himself.
In my whole life I have never experienced racism the way Billy has. But I do know my brother-in-law has, he is half-Black and half-Mexican. He had stopped by the corner store that is close to where he lives, and once he got into the store the worker there had him followed wherever he went. The worker was racially discriminating against him, thinking he was going to steal stuff from the store but he wasn’t. Certain people have their mindset on that all African-Americans are the same, just criminals, which is not entirely true.
Living in a “white world”, happens everyday with colored people.
They hold a number of advantages and immunities that have been a direct result of the maltreatment of people of color in the United States and all around the world. White people that have helped maintain white supremacy, is what white privilege really looks like. The scene where Billy was kicked out of the frat meeting because he was Indian shows you that he lived in a white world back then. Indians couldn’t be around them because certain white people didn’t want them involved with them because they weren’t like them. There are certain areas, people are like that but nowadays its not as bad as it was in the past. Having respect for everyone no matter what race they are will get you to a successful place in life.
Respect is demonstrating high regard for or special attention to something or someone. Having respect from people means a lot to certain people than it does to others. Billy started gaining respect when he won all his races. That’s when he started hanging out with his white friends from college more often. Now they didn’t see him as an Indian man who might quit during the school year, they saw him as a person wanting to achieve his goals just like everybody else in this world. So when they looked at him, they looked at him with respect. This world can be a cruel place but it can also be a beautiful place. We all got to look past this and keep moving forward no matter what the issues are. We got to make ourselves feel powerful like we can do whatever we want, to be able to achieve in life.
Respect For All Regardless of Race. (2022, Dec 13). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/respect-for-all-regardless-of-race/