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Racism in the American Society
The issue of systemic racism remains largely unaddressed and an issue of concern in the United States and this has been the case since the days of our founding fathers. Slavery was not resolved by the constitution or the conflict of the American civil war. Notably, the face of slavery and racism has transformed and continued to enslave the generations that follow. However, the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement has played a key role in riding society of systemic racism and unequal treatment of people of color. Although great progress has been made towards achieving an equal society we still have a long way to go to eliminate the vices. There has been an emergence of movements including the black lives matter that became popularized recently following the ruthless and publicized murders George Floyd Breonna Taylor among others. Lots of countless Americans particularly, people of color have lost their lives in the arms of their white counterparts also in the police force. Law enforcement has been accused of using excessive force while arresting civilians, shooting unarmed black men, and violence. This text talks about the issue of systemic racism in American society and my position on the matter it by focusing on stories of victims of violence including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, the little nine and the power that white people had before the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. Further, it touches on Emmett till whose grotesque murder served as a wake-up call to the effects of racism.
In the American Society for a very long time, a person’s skin color dictated a lot including the school they attended, what where they ate or drunk and the neighborhoods they lived in. There was segregation between white and black people. Before the Civil Rights Movement, black people were not allowed to vote and they always lived in fear of racial violence and lynching. Further, people of color experienced discrimination in employment until civil rights activists began challenging white supremacy. The case of Emmett till was nothing short if tragic. He was a 14-year-old black boy from Money, Mississippi who was abducted, tortured and brutally murdered in the 1950s for allegedly whistling at a white woman. At the time this was considered a threat because white people were not considered of the same social class as black people. To date the people responsible for Till’s murder have not been convicted. The all-white jury ruled them as not guilty after only 1 hour of deliberation. In rebellion, her mother decided to hold an open-casket funeral in protest of the brutal killing murder his young son. This served as a wake-up call that passed the Civil Rights Movement. The news had read widely and people started having conversations and questioning officials about it.
Further, in 1957 nine (9) black students for the first time were integrated into central high school where they learned and mixed with white children. They experienced strong resistance and rejection like never before. The president had to send troops to escort them to school. They lived in fear and received threats and comments that they would be killed. This followed a decision by the Supreme Court that declared separate schools for black and white people and constitutional. I feel that Society is wired in a way that people in different classes receive equal treatment. Social classes are directly interlinked with factors such as race which place is white people at an advantage and people of color at a disadvantage. For a long time, people of color have remained quiet about injustice but right now people have started standing up for their rights. In May 2020, a video of George Floyd pleading for his life saying he can’t breathe went viral on social media. The incident sparked global outrage about the unequal treatment of black people in America. Despite the covid-19 pandemic, people still came together to protest about police brutality and injustice. For months they protested against police brutality and murder of innocent black men. What noting the protest did not only take place in the United States but many cities across the world. Society came together for one to speak out against systemic racism.
Racism and the unequal treatment of people of color remain the biggest problem facing U.S society today. Although there have been great developments towards the elimination of the problem, we still have a long way to go as a society. Notably, recently there have been increased cases of unjust treatment of people of color including police brutality, shooting of unarmed men among others. Racial discrimination and lynching are few among the issues a person of color experienced in the 1950s and continues to experience to date.
