Kirk Hum

Marcus Ramirez

Anthony Wong

Monica Au

Brian Vuong

Emily Truong

Ms. Sutton

Contemporary Themes Period 1

17 March 2015

 

Racism and Current Day Prejudice in America

 

          Ever since African American’s have lived in America, they have faced many struggles regarding their legal entitlements as well as their social responsibilities. For hundreds of years they dealt with the injustice of slavery. After the Civil War, even though the African Americans were no longer declared slaves, there is they still felt like slaves in their own country for decades past. In the 1950’s, America went through a struggling time known as the American Civil Rights Movement. This period of slow incremental progress was “solved” and ended in the 1960’s. Textbooks and teachers alike preach that history was made -- that amount of social progress has not been seen in thousands of years. We are taught that now the color of black skin receives equal treatment as the color of white skin. We are lectured on the heroic acts of black public figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr, and that thanks to them, laws were passed that correct the social injustice.  However the movement is far from over. The truth is, blacks are not even close to being treated as equally as whites. Creating laws that makes it illegal to treat blacks unfairly is not anywhere close to.  There are many more heros that need to be born, and a lot more history that needs to be made.

          There is one common flaw in all of America’s mindset that needs to be cleared up: Legislative progress does not equate to social progress. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first State to legalize gay marriage (Wikipedia 1). Even though it has been over a decade since that law has passed, there is no doubt that today there still exists much prejudice and inequality in the gay community. Similarly, even though there are laws almost 150 years old that speak for equality amongst blacks and whites, there still remains strong yet subtle hints of racism embedded in our community. Only recently has there been a rebirth of the civil and social rights that are long overdue for African Americans.

          Shortly after the Civil War ended, Amendment 13 was passed, which permanently banned slavery in the United States. The abolition of slavery was a huge achievement for social progress, but it was not the last step to equality. Instead, Amendment 13 may have been one of the first steps for the long journey that African Americans are still traveling today. In fact, it took almost 100 years for the Civil Rights Act to be passed (Wikipedia 2). This means that even though there was an Amendment to the constitution which made slavery illegal, it took almost a century for a majority of the United States to realize that African Americans should be treated just as equally as whites. And still in many areas of the country, there still exists racism that has become integrated into our methods and even in our subconscious minds.

          The civil rights movement has seen a rebirth in the past few years. It all started with the case of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The manslaughter caused an uproar in the black community that resulted in riots nationwide, gaining support from many communities and people of all ages and incomes -- from the poorest neighborhoods to A-list celebrities such as Beyonce and Macklemore. The first of many cases, it was a critical stepping stone for the entire community. For over half a year the Ferguson riots persist, resulting in many questionable actions by both the police department as well as the black community. Violence from both sides of the fight has resulted, and neither sides’ actions has made a significant change in the steps toward mutual respect.                                                                                             

          Ever since the Michael Brown shooting incident, in which the shooter, Darren Wilson, was declared innocent, there has been a gigantic rise in attention to police departments in all cities around the country. There are new propositions for police units to wear cameras that track their every movement. It seems that the public has lost sight of what is the main issue here -- racism that has become integrated in our society. The first supporters of Brown’s side of the case pleaded for social justice, saying that Darren Wilson was a racist. However their actions that followed were questionable. The shift of projected change seemed to be focused on police transparency, instead of racism. Even though the idea of police transparency is something society needs, it is merely a tangent of the real problem.

The recent push in the Civil Rights movement has again seen much progress legislatively. There are now stricter laws being passed on police surveillance. However, as stated earlier, legislative progress does not equal social progress. Even though America should be proud of their recent advancements, we still have a long ways to go. Nobody can argue that racism no longer exists, we all see discrimination in our daily lives.  There are many more heros that need to be born, and a lot more history that needs to be made.

                                                    

 

 

Works Cited

 

"Same-sex Marriage in Massachusetts." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

 

"Civil Rights Act of 1964." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

 

"Shooting of Michael Brown." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.