Is racism systemic in America?
We can stop and think about how lucky we are to
live in this country, but we should also remember our country has had its own
issues and its own history. That's something we can stop and reflect on at
times like these. We still have a long way to go to truly reconcile with our past
and to level the field for those in disadvantage in our indigenous communities.
That work still has a ways to go
Racism is systemic, systematic,
and nowhere near gone. White America must step up not just for peace, but for
justice.
Many white Americans cannot admit that racism remains an inherent societal problem and state structures are in dire need of reform to achieve equal treatment for the citizens they purport to serve. This inability of so much of white America to come to terms with its own privilege and empathize with minorities' experiences is the single largest roadblock to progress and reconciliation.
Statistics show it, studies expand on it and videos like those of George Floyd's killing crystallize it: African Americans are disproportionately targeted by police. Still, many white Americans cannot admit that the country's criminal justice system and police culture protect and benefit them.
Will Trump win in 2020?
Will Trump win in 2020?
This is more than about George Floyd. It runs so much deeper. This is about systematic racism and inequality which remains in American society today. This is about a country where the wealth divide between black and white Americans has not changed for over six decades. This is about a country where now 40 million people are unemployed. Think about that for a moment. That's a figure that America has not seen since the Great Depression. There are more people in America's dole queue than there is in our country.
The video of an African
American man dying on camera under the weight of a
white police officer's knee on his neck is gruesome and shocking. It, too, is not
surprising we have seen videos like these before.But today's mass protests are
gripping the nation at a time when a pandemic has claimed more than 100,000
lives, with more than 30 million unemployed, sky-high wage and income
inequality and political polarization that is tearing the country apart.
Racism in the United States has existed since the colonial era, when white Americans were given legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights while these same rights were denied to other races and minorities. European Americans particularly affluent white Anglo-Saxon Protestants enjoyed exclusive privileges in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure throughout American history.
Racism
is a systematized form of oppression by one race against another. Prejudicial
attitudes existed between races for thousands of years, but systematized racial
oppression first arose in the 1600s. Before this, slaves in various cultures
were taken without racism as the basis – slaves were usually taken as a
result of military conquest. But when European traders found that their
superior technology in sailing ships and firearms gave them a tremendous
advantage in Africa, they began plundering Africa's wealth and taking slaves.
Black
Americans are more likely than white Americans to be arrested. Once arrested,
they are more likely to be convicted, and once convicted, they are more likely
to experience lengthy prison sentences.
How exactly do you go about ending police brutality and systemic racism in America?
Should protesters go home and write sternly worded
letters to their representative?
Should people patiently wait
for incremental change?