Reflection on “Yali’s Question” from Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond By Cristian Nicolas Cortez

     “History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples environment, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves.” Jared Diamond. Prejudice towards people based on what they look like but should be based on their environmental surroundings and what they make of it. This is what Jared Diamond meant by his quote. Many of the people that would agree with this quote would be people living in modern day “stone age”, living off the land. The people living in suburban areas like the United States or Europe would disagree with this quote and say that people should be based on there “biological differences.” I, living in a suburban little town, have truly seen what people do to other people based on their “biological differences.”

     For our own community, this might mean that people are based on their skin color or hair or other things that the media says is “important.” I have seen it happen at school, especially in 7^th and 8^th  grade. People start to care more about what they look like instead of there personality or their schoolwork. Racism is one of the major things people make and poke fun of. In 7^th grade, some 8^th grade bullies used to go and purposely make fun of me for being Mexican, calling me bad racist names and staying away from me because I had “swine flu.”  I know first hand what Diamond means by “biological differences.” In fact, everyone in my family has experienced some sort of racist jesters, whether it be from outside groups or in side the family.

     Racism, for me, is the most opportunity giving and depriving I have ever seen. Now, as much as some one says there are not racist or biased to a specific group or race, but they are truly. It can be as simple as a cashier or as complex as teachers. My mom always says that she is a double-minority, being a women and Mexican. So the question remains as why? Why do different groups of people in the bay area have different resources and opportunities? I think the answer lies in being either basis or prejudice towards a group of people. When this happens, the unfairness of people comes out. So, even in our very own community, people tend to become prejudice toward groups of people, so some people get special treatment while others don’t. In non-suburban areas, people tend to not be as racist as others, but it still happens to some degree.

    “History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples environment, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves.” Jared Diamond. This is a strong powerful quote describing how people come to be basis and mean to others, and how the environment around us can change the way work, mentally and physically.