In a democracy, every citizen has certain basic rights that the state cannot take away from

them. These rights are internationally recognized and guaranteed. Everyone has the right
to have their own beliefs, including their religious beliefs, the expression right to say and
write what they think. Everyone has the right to seek different sources of information and
ideas. Everyone has the right to associate with other people, and to form and join
organizations of their own choice. Everyone has the right to assemble and to protest
government actions. However, citizens have an obligation to exercise these rights
peacefully, with respect for the law and for the rights of others. Despite that, are these
democratic rights really guaranteed for each person living in a democratic state?
Through the history, democracy has faced a lot of challenges. One of those challenges is
racism, which is still a very hard problem even nowadays. So, what is racism?
Racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another, which often results
in discrimination, prejudice, violence, brutality, hate, ignorance and segregation towards
people based on their race.
From the 1880s to the mid 1960s, many states in USA passed Jim Crow laws, requiring the
segregation of white and so called "colored" people. For example, all bus and train stations
must had separate waiting rooms and separate ticket windows, children of different races
had to go to different schools, white and colored people could not be served in the same
restaurant, marriage of different races was prohibited, public places like parks and
playgrounds had to be separated, even in prisons, white convicts had to be separated from
afroamerican convicts, moreover, they do not had the right to vote until 1965. Altough
nowadays racial segregation is generally outlawed, but it still exist through social norms,
for example, due to his or her race, person may not get a job or a living place where he or
she wants, moreover, people tend to mock people of other race so much, that it may lead to
violence and even murder.
Sadly, a lot of people do not see racism as a big problem. A higher proportion of white
Americans believe they have touched a ghost than those who believe black people
experience discrimination.
So, the question is - it is really democratic?
What can we do to stop racism?
 First of all, we have to be sure, that democratic possibilities such as right to vote and
right to participate in politics is ensured for all people despite their skin color.
 Moreover, we have educate ourselves and other people about different cultures and
understand, that all people all the same even if their race is different.
 Also, we have to teach children to be tolerant to other children who look different
than them, because racism is not born, it is taught. We must be kind and
supportive to help people who are feeling discomfort due to the color of their skin.

All in all, democracy and racism is two incompatible things. So, to live in a democracy as
we all want, we have to stop racism.
As Nelson Mandela said, „Racism is a blight on the human conscience“.