With around 90,000 residents, Redding is the largest city north of Sacramento. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2010 over 86% of those living there were white, while just nine and 3% of the population was comprised of Hispanics or Latinos and Asians respectively. Photo by Sergio Ruiz/Flickr.
Racism in Redding
REDDING, Calif. ― Racism in the United States of America is still an issue in 2015 according to residents of Redding, California.
Throughout the last few years, cases of alleged racism have popped up on television screens across the country with instances such as the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin and the 2014 death of Michael Brown. Despite these claims, many Americans still question whether or not racism is really happening in their own towns and communities. Redding is no exception.
Vanessa Rico, a Latina stay-at-home mom, said that she’s experienced racism first-hand in the small NorCal town. Rico conveyed her experience with older women in Walmart, saying that they would look at her as if to say, “Why are you here?”
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Rico also noted how women who did this would not let their grandkids play with her kids. Rico also perceived racism when others assumed her children spoke Spanish.
“It’s frustrating when people do that,” Rico said.
She noted that it’s not just one side or color against another, as she has seen Latinos acting racist toward other Latinos. Rico said that racism in the States started years ago from “the whites.” Now, she said, it’s starting to resurface.
Tara Smith, a pharmacy technician, held a slightly different ideology regarding racism’s origin.
Smith said that a majority of racism stems from misunderstood fear or anger. She said people become racist because they were taught such views from an early age, whether from family or a friend. Smith also said that people who see others getting things from entitlement can become racist.
Smith believes more problems will arise if people do not get a handle on their fear.
“I think it’s gonna tear this country apart,” Smith said.
Rico said that racism will cause more problems in the States, not just for Mexicans or Latinos but for people of all colors. Smith maintained a similar attitude, saying that she never paid attention to a person’s shape or color.
“I raised my kids to see a person,” Smith said.
Andrew Seago, from Nubieber, Calif., said that up in the mountains he “always got along with just about everybody.”
“Grandma before she died taught me that we’re all the same,” Seago said.
Unlike Rico and Smith, Seago had not witnessed any racist occurrences. Still, he acknowledged that they happen. He said racism targets minorities, and he shares Smith’s view of racist mentality originating from one’s past.
“A lot of it has to do with families as they were brought up,” Seago said.
Seago said that racism is a problem toward those targeted but not for the entire country. While Rico and Smith strongly disagree, evidence remains that racism still occurs even in 21st century America.