Does Racism still exist in America?
Introduction
Racism and ethnic discrimination in America has been in existence since the slavery era, the colonial era and in the post-colonial era. Racism was at its extremes between the 17th century and the 1960s. In the colonial era, racism was legally sanctioned and, therefore, the White Americans were given the rights and privileges that other residents of the United States were denied. The races that existed during the colonial and post-colonial era include the Latin Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, European Americans and the White Americans. Racial discrimination was however banned in the in the 1960s after the government considered it as barbaric, socially and morally unacceptable. This essay aims to address the question whether racism still exists in the 21st century or not. Furthermore, the paper discusses some of the ways in which modern racism in carried out and the consequences that result from this atrocity. The paper majorly focuses on racism in America and it brings out the nature, intensity, consequences and remedies that can be resorted to in eradicating ethnic discrimination.
Racism can be defined simply as the uneven distribution of resources, distribution of power, and imbalance in terms of opportunities within a given country, state or a certain jurisdiction. Racism majorly occurs in areas with multiracial culture which tend to breed differences in religion, beliefs, color and philosophy. Despite the significant progress made in eliminating racism in America, there is a clear indication that the vice still exists within its territories. As stated by Dyson, the Americans are not yet a post-racial society despite the President being black. The point to note is that racism affects people of color and not the general assumption that it affects people of different political views, economic or social influence. Therefore, the next few paragraphs broadly elaborate this point. Furthermore, the essay will give illustrations on how racism is practiced in the modern society.
First and foremost, the media has proved to be a key factor in either aggravating or eliminating racism in the United States of America. The media play a major part in terms of disseminating information to the public, carrying out polls to determine the level of racism and also airing news on the various acts of racism carried out by the public. For example, in July 2013, The Rasmussen reports carried out a poll on a number of adults and the results showed that more people think that racism is still in existence. From the estimated population of 313,914,040, 30% of the whites believed that racism is still practiced while 85% of the blacks believed so. This is a clear indication that there is stereotyping especially by the blacks in believing the existence of racism. From the explanation above, it is evident that some polls are biased while others are unbiased. Such information conveyed to the public can shape the perception of ethnic distribution in the United States.
In the recent past, the increasing number of activists of African-American identity has created an imbalance in terms of eliminating racism. The use of rap music and the Black entertainment Television (BET) shows has created outrage among other races since such entertainment channels represent disparity between races.
Secondly, the legal and justice system is an example of the extent of racial discrimination in the United States. The justice system includes the prison department, the prosecution department, the civil legal system and the general administration of justice. In 2010. The United Nations came up with the fair sentencing act which had the objective of ensuring a fair and non-discriminatory prison system. Despite this act, administration of justice especially to the African Americans worsened. In fact, they faced brutality from policy officers and inmates. A typical example is the Zimmerman trial concluded in 2013. Most blacks were against the verdict faulting the judicial system. Over 85% of blacks said that the verdict was wrong, 51% of Hispanic were in agreement with the court while 30% of whites disagreed. Furthermore, there has been a case where juveniles were sentenced without bail and these cases affected more blacks than other races.
More importantly, the civil legal system has been faulted with regard to civil rights to the minority races. Research carried out by Investigation of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) shows that civil injustices such as foreclosure, evictions, unemployment, inadequate pay rates, eviction and immigration have not been properly addressed by the government.
A more distinct and unresolved factor is the issue of racial hierarchy and structural racism. Although the end of Jim Crow has been convoyed by the decline in the white supremacy ideology, there are other beliefs that promote racism. There still exists the belief that some races are more superior to others. This situation of structural prejudice has not gone well with the African-Americans as they are considered less human by the other races. However, Structural racism is not in existence in some states due to the diversity and coexistence between different races. The United Nations Committee on Human Rights (UNCHR) came up with a number of solutions to structural racism. These recommendations include legislative changes, enactment of laws that promote equality and fair resource allocation.
A point worth mentioning is the Minority-minority racism. Racism between marginalized groups is common between the African-Americans and the Mexicans. Reports reveal that there has been discrimination of people of Mexican origin by black Americans. Furthermore, the fights between black Americans and Mexican gangs have been a matter of concern for a while. An example is the long standing rivalry between the Mexican Mafia and the Guerilla family which is an African American prison gang. This has created war and racial manslaughter on both the Mexicans and the African Americans. Recently, there has been rioting the California prison as a result of fights between the Latino gangs and the Black Americans. Therefore, such cases justify the existence of racism in the modern society.
To add on, the continued immigration of Africans and Caribbean natives has culminated hatred between them and some of the Black Americans. Such conflict is not as a result of skin color but rather a range of beliefs and cultures that these groups share. Minority conflicts have been detected between the Chinese and Japanese immigrants.
Inequality in terms of education opportunities is another indication of ethnic discrimination in the 21st century. In the United States, there are instances where the school system is segregated and thus creating a notion of superiority of one race over the other. Some students from the minority races attend single-race classrooms to avoid stigmatization. In the case of Brown v. Board of education, the verdict was delivered and it advocated for separation which meant that white American children were not equal to the Black Americans. Furthermore, inequality in educational opportunities results to different curriculums which results to deficiency in exposure and overall achievement. In the recent rankles in the Chicago schools, the closure and relocation of students affected more blacks as compared to other races. The United States Department of Education carried out a research on the treatment of children from first grade to high school. The results showed that African American children faced harsh disciplinary measures compare the other races. The above factors are a clear indication of racism in the recent past.
Contemporary racism is one of the major concerns with regard to this controversial topic. A report from Christ Arnade a reporter of the guardian states that the old legally sanctioned racism has been replaced by a subtler and uglier version. Racism is still a force to be battled with as the United States, continues to reel from ethnic turmoil after the shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager from Fergusson, Missouri. He was shot by a white police officer thus raising questions whether it was an act racial injustice.
Racial differences in terms of health care services are still in existence in the modern world. A research carried out in 2000 by the American Journal of Public health concluded that over 886,000 of African Americans would have been saved if they had received the same quality of health care as the whites. Lack of insurance, low quality services and ignorance are the major causes of deaths. Furthermore, more White Americans lack access to new and expensive technology due to financial constraints.
Lastly, politics, racial coding and anti-Semitism have contributed to racism in the 21st century. Research findings by Anti-Defamation League indicated that more Americans air the viewpoints racially. For example, most Americans blamed the Jews on the 2007 world economic recession basing their claims on the Jewish population in Wall Street. Furthermore, a report from ABC News shows that 6% of self-reported bias is from Jews, 25% by Arabs and 27% by Muslims. On the political front, leaders tend to divide their followers on racial means and use the race factor to air their concerns thereby creating multi-racial ridge.
Racism can be reduced through proper societal and political regulations, a well-defined justice and legal system especially on cases of ethnic discrimination. In addition, the education system ranging from pre-school to universities should form committees that respond to non-sanction able behavior. The school systems and curriculum should be available to all students in spite of their racial identity. Furthermore, the media should be regulated in terms of what should be aired in order to prevent racial turmoil. Racial cues create a notion of stereotyping and therefore such inconsistent and unreliable reports should not be accessible to the public. Finally, the federal System and the internal security should come up with innovative ways to counter the Mexican-Black American war.
Conclusion
In summary, racism is an atrocity that is still practiced in the United States of America. The reasons for this view have been exhausted in the essay. The election of President Barrack Obama as the first black president is an indication of a significant drop in racism but other reasons justify the existence of racism.
References
- Charles A. Gallagher, Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity, McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.
- Jr. Aguirre A, Jonathan T, American Ethnicity: The Dynamics and Consequences of Discrimination, McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print.
- Richard T. Schaefer. Race and Ethnicity in the United States, Pearson, 2012. Print
- Robert C. Lieberman. Shaping Race Policy: The United States in the Comparative Perspective. Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.
- Shayla C. Nunnally, Trust in Black America: Race, Discrimination, and Politics. University of Connecticut, 2012, Print.
