"...Everybody jumped on him, beat the hell out of him... Everybody was hitting him or kicking him. One guy was kicking at his spine. Another guy hitting on the side of the face... He was unconscious. He was bleeding. Everybody had blood on their forearms. We ran back up the hill laughing... He should have died... He lost so much blood he turned white. He got what he deserved" (Ridgeway 167.) The skinheads who performed this random act of racial violence in 1990, had no reason to brutally beat their victim other than the fact that he was Mexican. Racism is objectively defined as any practice of ethnic discrimination or segregation. Prejudice is an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. There are three basic forms of racism, open racism, violent racism, and covert racism. These basic forms of racism, although different in form, all have the same purpose, to promote racism. Open racism expresses freedom of racial thought and speech. Open racists promote their views strictly through persuasionary tactics. This form of racism is allowed in our society due to the First Amendment. Open racism is currently almost nonexistent and steadily declining, because it is considered politically incorrect and socially unacceptable. Violent racism promotes racism through violence, fear, and persuasionary tactics. This form of racism is not protected by the First Amendment because it promotes violence to express its ideas. Unfortunately many violent racial groups claim they do not promote violence, and therefore these groups are protected by the First Amendment because not enough sufficient evidence exists to prove their violent intent Covert racism expresses ideas of racism in disguised forms; sometimes the covert racist is not even aware of the fact that he is racist. "Racism, it is asserted, is no longer blatant: people are reluctant to express openly their disli...
