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Keara Tellis

Professor Pedrotti

English 1201

26 May 2019

Research Proposal

I am looking to research racism as a whole, but more importantly how racism manifests,

today and how racism affects diversity. I am half Caucasian and half African-American, so I am

considered to be “mixed race” or biracial. All my life I have been discriminated against due to

the color of my skin and the fact that my whole family is white, whereas I have brown skin and

kinky brow hair. Growing up I did not truly understand racism, I honestly thought people did not

care what color of skin everyone had. I learned quickly that this was not true, I would have

teachers, friends’ parents, and even extended family treat me poorly for just simply being brown.

Today, I pick and choose my fights with people who have racist tendencies. It is emotionally

draining and tiring to attempt to correct each and every racist comment or mannerism I hear/see.

I overall want to research this topic to understand why people believe the things they

believe based off of differences in skin tones. I do not understand how much hate someone can

have for someone else, simply because they have a different skin tone than them. Recently, in the

news and in the newspaper the story of the KKK who were traveling to Dayton to spread their

words of hate was covered. The whole week leading up to this rally, the community came

together in the most beautiful way! Local businesses, churches, and even our own Sinclair

Community College spoke out with messages that stated that “Hate is not welcome here in

Dayton”. Seeing this type of community gave me chills and so much pride for our city! I know
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that love will always beat hate, but I want to understand how racist like the KKK have even

become about.

I feel extremely passionate about this topic. The overall topic of racism lights of fire in

me and makes me want to speak out against it. I genuinely do not understand how people can

harbor so much hate in their hearts, just for someone being a different skin color than them. I

think racism is very alive today but is not as present as it was decades ago. I think one day;

racism will be a thing of the past. I do not think I will ever see it, but I hope my great-great

grandchildren will. I believe that racism stems for prejudices and a lack of understanding for

people different than ourselves. I know that racism starts when people do not understand

someone who is different than them, so they form opinions (usually poor ones) and bias towards

a certain group.

I am hoping to learn where the theory of racism started and how it became what it is,

today. I think I will start to find answers to my questions the more research I do. The more

perspectives I am able to find, the better.

• How does racism manifest, today?

• How does racism affect diversity?