People in Danville like to think that they are nice and that they accept people of all races into the community with open arms, but if that is the case, then why isn’t there more diversity in Danville? People think that they know what racism is, but is that really the situation? By definition racism is “The belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of their race and that some racial groups are superior to others,” according to http://www.globalissues.org/article/165/racism. The thing is, that leaves a lot of room for people to interpret the definition their way. Another definiton says “Thebelief that people’s qualities are influenced by their race and that the members of other races are not as good as the members of your own, or the resulting unfair treatment of members of other races,” according to the definition by http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/racism. It is easy to see how people can have their definition of racism changed.

When students at San Ramon Valley High School were asked if they thought that people in Danville were racist, 66 out of 100 students agreed with the assumption. In addition, 63 people said that they had reported seeing people being racist towards others.

One student that had taken the survey commented that “….we live in a white community. That is going to lead to stereotypes and racism because, quite simply we just aren’t exposed to other races often….” As well as saying “….I try my hardest to not be racist but often stereotypical thoughts cross my mind, even when I believe in race equality. For some reason I also find white people more attractive than other races (and I am white myself) even while I am a firm believer of equality….”

While another student had said “ I think that no one wants to admit that they are racist but being raised in such a predominantly white area, many students have inner racist thoughts that are not often expressed….“

While people often think that racism is something that isn’t around anymore, the sad truth as the survey shows, is that it is indeed still present. The information shows that 60% of people have seen other people doing racist things, as one student said, “They make a lot of racist jokes and remarks, especially at our school.” 20% even said that they are racist themselves. Hopefully we will be able to overcome this ongoing epidemic that should have never even started.