Our society likes to believe that racism has been exterminated in the United States. It’s something that I want to believe as well. Unfortunately, racism is alive and well in our country; it may not be as mainstream as it was a few decades ago, but it’s still there. Racism can be camouflaged with politics, which is where it is most potent in the United States today. The trashing of the BLM movement, the anti-immigration administration that is now in power, and the paranoia surrounding refugees from a war-torn Middle East are all political platforms that are reeking with underlying tones of racism.
The Black Lives Matter movement started to gain traction after the trial of George Zimmerman ended in July 2013. Zimmerman, a 28-year-old mixed race
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One of Donald Trump’s campaign promises was to build a wall along the United States-Mexico border, in an effort to stop illegal immigration. His slogan “Build the wall” is his second-most notable saying, narrowly behind “Make America great again”. While I agree that immigration to this country should be regulated and done legally, his words along the campaign trail and in office have severely degraded the image of the Hispanic/Latino communities. He has been quoted numerous time saying controversial things about Mexican immigrants. He said this at his Presidential announcement speech on June 16, 2015: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” He also said this in July after his above statement: “What can be simpler or more accurately stated? The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.” (Lee 2015). Being in a leadership position, his words have a much greater impact than an average person’s opinion, and have an impact they have. Research done by the Pew Research …show more content…
Shootings and bombings like Columbine, Sandy Hook, the 2015 Paris attacks, the Las Vegas concert shooting, and the Pulse nightclub shooting strike fears and “What if?” thoughts into our heads. Terrorist groups like ISIS have gained a lot of followers and power in recent years, and they have claimed responsibility for atrocities like the 2015 San Bernardino attack, numerous car and suicide bombings, and the Pulse nightclub shooting. These perpetrators represent radical Islamic terrorist groups, which have unfortunately tainted the United States’ view on all Muslims. Hate crimes against the Muslim population have doubled in the past two years, according to a 2016 FBI report. In the last three months of 2016, during and after the most pivotal parts of the election, there was a 25% increase in hate crimes against the Muslim community (Cohen 2017). There are dozen of quotes that Donald Trump has said about Muslims and the religion of Islam, but nothing speaks louder to me than the “travel ban” from Muslim-majority countries he instituted early in his presidency. He vehemently denies that it was a Muslim ban in one interview, then openly accepts it in another. His open disdain for the Muslim community has led hate groups to come out of the shadows and into mainstream media and politics, which poisons our political
As a nation, we have made great strides at improving race relations, but this does not mean that racism is extinct. As was pointed out in the class lecture on the Civil Rights Movement, many things have improved, but the fight for civil rights should be continuing as there is still oppression in operation in our own State as was made clear on the issue of suppressing voter rights. Racism is not born into mankind, racism is taught. This shows that if hate can be taught, then love and respect for others can be taught also.
As stated before, racism is not something that people thought of in the last ten years, it is an ongoing theme that has been flowing through the story of the United States. Starting from the enslavement of black Africans, and moving along to the days of when African Americans were separated from white Americans even though they lived in the same country and walked the same streets. Racism is seen all over the world. Hitler killed close to six million Jews during World War II due to the fact that he claimed that Germans were superior. He said that Jews polluted Europe and began “cleaning” it up. “Racism serves both to discriminate against ethnic minorities and to maintain advantages and benefits for White Americans.” This is what Mark Feinberg, PhD, stated about this issue and most people would agree.
Racism can be traced back many years, and despite what many believe, it is still a prominent issue. Racism is when people discriminate others because of the color of their skin. Some people are racist on purpose, but there are times when they do it subconsciously. Everything in this world has a beginning, and racism started with the belief that people of color were inferior to those that weren’t. This belief spread throughout America as it was passed down from generation to generation. Racism seems to be a characteristic of being human. When we are introduced to a new face our mind automatically categorizes people based off of their physical appearance. When people don’t meet certain standards set by others, there becomes a divide between them
The issue of racism was a matter of life and death before the civil rights movement. But after almost sixty years, it still seems that racism has not yet been abolished in the minds of some Americans. Granted, some racial minorities have not helped their cause by becoming racial stereotypes for the purposes of humor on television and movies. Some even cry racism when not applicable, most notably the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. But not all people who cry racism are just pulling out the race card...
Despite all these accepted images of successful black people "selling" the idea that the color of a person's skin is irrelevant, racism still exists and will forever exist in America. It is a never-ending phenomenon that is ingrained in American life. Racism is America, just as America is built around the idea of racism. As the civil rights activist and scholar Derrick Bell would say, "Racism is an integral, permanent, and indestructible component of this society." He proclaims that no matter what blacks do to better their status, they are doomed to fail as long as the majority of whites do not see t...
Today there are many controversial subjects discussed throughout the media. One of the most discussed is race and the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across an article titled “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’”, written by The Editorial Board. The article was published on September 3, 2015, to the New York Times. In the article, The Editorial Board writes about what they believe African Americans are facing as challenges in society today, including the all-too-common police killings of unarmed African-Americans across the country. The Editorial Board is right that some African Americans have been treated unfairly, but all ethnicities have been. Life is a precious thing that comprises all ethnicities. This brings us to ask; why
Black lives matter is a social media movement that went of the Ferguson, Gardner cases etc. Also very rapidly it was to show as a opposition to the police and cops. Somehow when saying black lives matter it was like saying all life matter don’t matter. It’s a touchy subject due to why people view things and for most case I can understand. I feel that the person that made black life’s matter didn’t mean for it to be just all about black life but to inform others around the nation that there is a special problem that is only happening in the African American community and we have fix that issue . we as a society has to recognize this that the African American are not making this up this its not something being politicalized its real and there’s a history behind it so we have to seriously.
For the past 400 year African Americans have suffered severe forms of oppression, hatred and racism. Even though America has made great strides to eliminate the practice of hatful ideologies and discrimination the residue of inhuman treatment still resides in our society. Racial violence and institutional racism is still in full effect and receiving media coverage like never before. Controversy has arisen due to lives of many African Americans being taken by law enforcement. The African American community has been in an uproar as they feel injustice has occurred being that many of those law enforcement officers have been acquitted of all charges. Birthed from this pain was a chapter-based national organization
In the world today, racism and discrimination is one of the major issues being faced with. Racism has existed throughout the world for centuries and has been the primary reasons for wars, conflicts, and other human calamities all over the planet. It has been a part of America since the European colonization of North America beginning in the 17th century. Many people are not aware of how much racism still exist in our schools, workforces, and anywhere else that social lives are occurring. It started from slavery in America to caste partiality in India, down to the Holocaust in Europe during World War II.
"Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life." President Trump put this ban in place right after the wake of a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California thought to be by suspected ISIS sympathizers. Trump and also many americans were and still are very fearful of muslims and their next attack on our country. A article by CNN Politics called “Looking Back at 9/11”, states that “The increased concern about new attacks comes as Americans say they experience more anger and fear when they think about what happened 15 years ago on 9/11. About three-quarters say they feel anger when they look back, about on par with the share who felt angry on the fifth anniversary but significantly above the 62% who said so at the 10th anniversary. 40%, say they feel fear when they think about 9/11, but that too is up from five years ago. Then, just 30% said they felt fearful when considering the terrorist attacks, a figure that stood at 44% in 2006.” Fear accompanied by anger is around and will always be around. One has to think but why do we associate muslims with terrorist? Why do we associate someone dancing in the woods to become a
“Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a movement against police violence that is, as argued by BLM supporters, disproportionately and systematically directed at black people. The movement has highlighted incidents in which police have harassed and killed black men and women. BLM is considered one of the most visible and controversial civil rights movement of the last decades.” (Black Lives Matter. 2016) “Black Lives Matter is an American social activist organization devoted to stopping violence and injustice against African Americans. The group was founded in 2013 following the acquittal of In the sixties African Americans began a Civil Rights Movement that, to some, still continue today; hence, the Black Lives Matter movement. During the sixties, the
We have a long history of racism in America that has been structured to favor White people. Structural racism can be defined as, “a system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies the dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time”(Structural Racism, 2004,p. 11). Overt racism became illegal during The Civil Rights Movement that took place between 1954-1968 (Tuck, 2015). Although society seemed to be heading toward a more socially acceptable society, the movement enabled white people to blame the struggles black face as a character flaw. White people will believe that black people have a lot of problems because their culture is bad or they have bad values. The message they are reinforcing is that being black is inferior, and this is an example of structural racism operates. Structural racism is a system of forces that keeps people of color in a permanent second-class status, and it is the foundation of racism in our society. Society is structured in a way where the hierarchy of white people oppresses Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, etc and has
Overall, many believe that the undeviating war on racism in today’s society is fueled by police brutality and anti-police violence. Specifically, The Black Lives Matter movement which is the source of controversy regarding these topics. To summarize, this campaign is “both a hashtag and a political project that formed after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin.” (Miller). Later in the article Chelsea Fuller, senior communication associate of The Advancement project which is a multi-racial civil rights organization, states “The Black Lives Matter movement is to deal with anti-black racism, to “push for black people’s right to live with dignity and respect” and be included in the American democracy that they helped create” (Miller). In discussions of The Black Lives Matter movement, a controversial
It began as a result of George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2013. As a result, the movement has popularized and has accomplished much for the black community, yet they are still faced with many issues and controversies. Among the issues are police brutality, the act of cops over-exercising their force on suspects; and systematic or institutionalized racism, the ingraining racism into different aspects of a society, such as the court system. The controversies include the movement being coined a hate group for the police deaths that occurred in Baton Rouge and Dallas last year and the “movement” that sprouted as a response of Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter. Despite the many issues that the movement must address and the controversies that plague the movement, the movement is still going on strong and has gained plenty support over the years as non-black people march in solidarity with the
A Polish-born rabbi by the name of Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, “Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” Quite unfortunately, this nation was born upon an inkling of racism, an aura of superiority amongst a white-skinned population. This preference for utter prejudice and discrimination has held our “indestructible” nation’s hand and guided us into countless wars. As an individualistic society, America does not migrate toward collectivistic goals--goals that everybody can reap the benefits of, despite the pigment of one’s skin. Racism has been a prevalent issue since the birth of our nation, and continues to be a societal problem, though it has mutated.