Today, racism is alive and perpetuated through both overt and covert means. What is racism? This essay defines racism as “a classification of a specific group of people based on uncontrollable factors such as ethnicity, religion, and physical characteristics.” It is therefore sad to know that highly developed countries like the United States, which ranks first in terms of economic and political power, are still struggling with this social problem. Logically, racism should not exist in the 21st century. So what causes racism? An essay on this problem helps to find an answer. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Everyone is responsible for the persistence of racism. The first is the leaders. Leaders, and particularly the white majority, have witnessed instances of racial discrimination, but have made little or no efforts to eliminate or curb racism. Leaders are in a better position to institute laws that limit racism and to ensure that those laws are successfully enforced. However, they showed little concern about racism. The leaders of the black population are few and therefore fail to push for such laws as they are shut down before they materialize. The citizens are also to blame. White people embrace supremacy from a young age. On the other hand, blacks have taken the law into their own hands and formed retaliatory gangs that perpetrate racially motivated crimes against whites, thus reinforcing the persistence of racism. The police are responsible for racial profiling of the minority, racially motivated killings and brutality. Courts are responsible for failing to enforce existing laws, incarcerating the minority without conclusive evidence, and dismissing cases brought by the minority without due consideration. The last one is the parent. Children learn from their parents at an early age. In places where racism is prevalent, these hateful tendencies are passed from one generation to the next and begin in the home. When children find out that their parents are discriminatory and hateful towards another race, they take it as a good thing to do. The derogatory remarks that parents make about other races in front of their children are very effective in perpetuating similar tendencies among their children. As such, children perpetuate the same in other social venues such as schools and even form groups made up of members of similar races to effectively propagate these hateful tendencies against the target race. When these children become adults, they propagate similar tendencies to their children and thus racism persists in society and becomes a deeply rooted social problem that is difficult to eliminate. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion, the causes of racism have been analyzed in this essay. It is seen that the issue of racism is very controversial in the United States. It is evident on multiple occasions and everyone is to blame. However, there are several ways through which racism can be eliminated, such as giving full support to anti-fascist organizations that help educate people on the importance of eliminating racism among other solutions. The second way to eliminate racism is to educate children on how to embrace cultural and religious differences at a young age. The third way is to support pro-immigration movements aimed at improving tolerance towards people of different races. All these are discussed in detail in the essay above. Works Cited Bonilla-Silva,.