Race and My Community Essay

Race and My Community

Anastasia Gallegos

ETH/125

June 26, 2011

Elizabeth McBryde

Race and My Community

I live in a peaceful neighborhood in North Knoxville Tennessee. According to the U.S. Census of 2010 Knox County has a population of 432,226. (Bloch, Carter, & McLean, 2011) The city of Knoxville has a population of 183,032. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) All of the neighbors close to me are Caucasian. I live across the street from a church which I believe has a direct influence on the lack of crime in the area. My neighborhood respects the church by doing simple things like not mowing lawns while the church is in service. I have lived in this neighborhood since December of 2010 and have only heard loud music once during Memorial Day weekend. As nice as this sounds my city also has a variety of neighborhoods of run down houses, low income housing and ghettos. One would expect for these places to be filled with African Americans or Hispanics peoples but the majority race in these areas are Caucasian. Caucasians make up 79% of all the races in Knoxville. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) Considering the percentage, it is logical that most of the slum neighborhoods in my city are occupied by Caucasians. The diversity of Knoxville can be seen best when visiting the University of Tennessee. On campus one could see several different races in a matter of minutes. Diversity is growing in my community. Knox county has seen a 213% increase in Hispanics since 2000. (Bloch, Carter, & McLean, 2011) The amount of multiracial individuals has also risen since 2000. The majority of people in my community do look similar to me. I have not been the victim of a form of prejudice. There is discrimination in my community if one pays close enough attention.

It was not until my aunt had a mixed child that my grandmother let go of her racist views about African Americans. My cousin was in no way the first mixed grandchild she had. Two of her daughters married and had children...