how race and ethnic relations are in the United States, I interviewed an Asian student on campus. His name is David Eikenberry, however he was born in South Korea and was adopted to this country as a baby. Therefore he is every bit as American as you or I, but with the exception that he isn’t Caucasian. The point of my interview was what was race and ethnicity like growing up in the United States, especially because he attended a nearly all-Caucasian high school. He stated several things that were very interesting. For one he said that he believes very much that racism is much a part of many people, especially in more rural areas. In fact his younger brother, who is also of Asian origins, was forced to leave the high school where David attended due to increased racial tensions. “People who I went to school with from kindergarten on up discriminated and insulted peoples of all races including my own until the day that I graduated and left that place. Hearing all kinds of racial slurs became common place and while I escaped more easily than my brother, physical confrontations and harassment was a way of life for him” (Eikenberry). In my views race and ethnicity in America has changed dramatically. Ethnicity in many ways has become something to be proud of in some places and race has made many strides towards equality. However in many other ways racism still exists and complete integration into a “melting pot” is still far off. I do believe though that race isn’t even the largest source of hate and discrimination today. Now that it isn’t nearly as acceptable or legal to hate a race or an ethnicity, it has become customary to hate other groups, often within one’s own race and ethnic distinction. Matthew Shepard is just one such example. “A recent survey, in fact, revealed that 69% of lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgender students report profound experiences with verbal, physical, a...
