by Thomas Carroll

Created on: April 24, 2010

Racism is frowned upon by many. Often, when one who feels strongly about racism just realizes that his/her close friend is racist, he/she doesn't know what to do. The two most common things that are done are usually to completely ditch that friend, or to completely ignore the fact that he/she is racist. Neither of these would be the right thing to do.

What many people don't realize is that Racism is curable. When people are racist is it usually because they were taught to be racist, or they had a bad experience with a certain ethnicity and blame the whole group. This does not mean you should approach the person and have a heart-to-heart talk with them, because if you do this, it'll just end up being awkward.

First, you must confirm that this person is racist. Cracking racist jokes is much different from being racist, because some people just enjoy the humor and stereotypes of certain races and finds it funny to use them in jokes. Real racism would be expressing bias or hate specifically towards a hate group. Making a joke about a certain race does not mean they hate that certain race.

Usually if one is really racist, they would blatantly express it. It's usually obvious if someone is racist, so if you know your friend is racist, you can ask them why they don't like that particular group so much. Don't dig really deep, and keep the conversation relatively relaxed so you can segue out of the conversation really quick if needed. Once you diagnose the problem, you need to fix it, and this is the hardest part.

In some cases, ditching that friend may be the right thing to do. If the racism is severe to the point he/she is hurting people, it may be a good idea to tuck, roll, and leave. Use your instincts, because if you think that the problem is too bad to be fixed, it probably is.

If you think that its a relatively minor case, and you shouldn't touch up on it, that could be a good idea as well. Eventually the person will get over it, and although it's possible for the problem to get worse; it rarely will. If the problem is somewhere between minor and bad, it is a different story, and is very possible to grow.

A big mistake people will make is to bring this issue to an adult. This isn't a bad idea, but it rarely works, because adults, in this day of age tend to exaggerate with racist people. If the racism is so severe that the person is violent about it, then it is a different story and you should report it to a responsible adult as soon as possible.

If you honestly believe you can try to fix it, go ahead. Whenever that person makes a racist comment, don't react. Don't laugh, sort of give them the signs that it bothers you. If you think they are understanding, ask them to stop making racist comments around you, and they may do so. If you want to have a conversation with them, make sure the conversation stays at a level where you can easily exit the conversation.

But most important of all, you need to remember: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

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