RacialDiscrimination

RacialDiscriminationinAmerica
ElizabethEvans

HonorsEnglish11,Kwiatkowski,2ndHour

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Abstract

SincethefoundingofAmerica,racismhasalwaysbeenaresidualissueinsociety.From
slavery,tothecivilrightsmovement,tothe2015riotsinFerguson,itisquestionableiftimes
havereallychangedatall.However,ifwecompare1955tonow,significantchangesarevisible
insocietyandhowracismisviewed.Nevertheless,therewillalwaysbesomesortofdivision
betweenpeoplesincedivisionispart

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MediaRaceWar
In1955,theonlymediacoverageablackpersongotwasanegativeone,i.e.media
coverageaboutlynchingsandriots
.
But,withshowslike
TheCosbyShow
(1984),
Sister,
Sister
(1994),
Scandel
(2012),andcountlessotherallblackshows,itseasytoseetolerance
forblackpeopleinthemediahasimproveddramatically
.
However
,
onAugust9th
,
21014
,
aboy
namedMichaelBrownwasshotdownbypoliceofficer
,
DarrenWilson
.
ThoughbecauseBrown
wasan18yearoldblackmaleandWilsonwasawhitemale
,
thetownofFergusoneruptedinto
criesofmourningandinjusticefortheboywhowasshotwithoutreason
.
But,therearealways
twosidestoeverystory:Somewitnessessaytheteenagerassaultedtheofficerattheoutset
andtriedtograbhisgunotherwitnessessayWilsonwastheaggressor,reportsRachelClark
andChristopherLett(2014)
.
Wemayneverknowwhatreallyhappened,buttheoutcomeofthisincidentisimportant
.
Therewereonlytwosidestothisincident:ItwasBrownsfaultversusItwasWilsonsfault
.
Attacksliketheseleadtoracistmediacoverage
.
Whensomethingcontroversiallikethis
happens,allthatisseenintheheadlinesare:blackmanshootswhitemanorviceversa
.
Why
isitneverManshootsanotherman?Notonlyisitclickbaittogetmorepeopletoreadtheir
articles,buttokeeptheracisminAmericaalive
.
But,thatiswhereitstops.
OnFriday,July17th,2015,therewasashootinginChattanooga,Tennessee
.
CNN
reports,MohammadYoussufAbdulazeezwascarryingaround30roundmagazineswhenhe
openedfire

Abdulazeezkeptpoliceatbayforsometimewiththeamountofammunitionhe

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had

(SchoichetandTuchman,2015)
.
Nowhereinthatfirstparagraph,noranyotherplacein
thearticle,doesitmentionhisraceorhisreligionbutincaseslikeFerguson,allthatmattersis
race
.
ReverseRacism
RecentlyadatingwebsitecalledBlackPeopleMeet
.
comcameoutallowingonlyblack
peopltomatchwithotherblackpeople
.
Thisbringsuptheargumentwould
WhitePeopleMeet.combeconsideredracist?Onadebateforumaskingthisveryquestion,
DianaRestifoanswers:ItwouldntberacisttohaveWhitepeoplemeet
.
com,justirrelevant,
(Restifo,2013)
.
Wherethisisdefinitelytrueseeingasblackpeoplearetheminority,thewebsite
Whitepeoplemeet.comactuallydoesexist
.
CaitlinDeweyquotesfounderofthewebsite,Sam
Russel,saying:Itsaboutequalopportunity,Russelexplained
.
ThelastthingintheworldIam
isracist.Idatedablackwomenonce
.
Ihelpedraiseayoung,blackman...Ijustbelieveits
hypocrisytosayonegroupcandothis,butanothercant(Dewey).
Onecouldsayusingtheargument,Itsnotracist,Idatedablackwomenonce,isabit
flimsy,however,Russelsotherargument...itshypocrisytosayonegroupcandothis,but
anothercant,doesholdamorefirmground
.
Wouldntitberacistforoneracetobeallowed
onething,andtheotherracetobedeniedit?ThisisntwhatMLKdiedfor
.
MartinLutherKing
Jr,said,Wemustlearntolivetogetherasbrothersorperishtogetherasfools
.

Alongwithreverseracismcomesaccidentalsegregation
.
Accidentalsegregationis
broughtonbywebsitessuchasBlackPeopleMeet.com,butmaybeBlackHistoryMonthcould
beseenasaccidentalsegregationaswell
.
MorganFreemanoncesaid,Idontwantablack
historymonth,blackhistoryisAmericanhistory
.
Blackhistorymonthis,again,separating
blackandwhitepeoplewhenthesoulpurposeoftheCivilRightsMovementwastobringthe

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tworacestogether
.
WeasinwhiteamericansdonothaveaWhitehistorymonthbecauseit
isseenasAmericanhistorysoarewesayingblackhistoryisnotapartofAmericanhistory?If
blackAmericanswantequalrightswithwhiteAmericans
,
whyistherestillsomuchseparation
and[reverse]racism?
EqualOpportunities
Inthepast,itwashardtobelieveablackpersoncouldeverholdanytypeofauthority
.
Now,Americahasablackpresident
.
Astheyearsprogress,itismorecommontoseeablack
personinaplaceofpower
.
Therearemanyplacesinthenationwithablackpersonasapolice
officer,schoolprincipal,manager,andevenagovernorofatownorcity
.
Ithasbeensixtyone
yearssincetheCivilRightsMovementandequalityintheworkplacehasrisendramatically.
Racialdiscriminationintheworkplaceofficiallyendedin1964whenLyndonB
.
Johnsonsigned
TitleVIIstatingtheprohibitionofbiasedemploymenttowardsrace
,
color,nationalorigin,
religion,andsex
.
However,accordingtoanarticle,RuthMayhewsays,Companiesthatemploy
fewerthan15employeesarentrequiredtoadheretoTitleVII

(Mayhew).Thiscouldbeseen
asonestepforwardandonestepback

butregardless,itseasytoseetheimprovement
Americahasmadeasanationtowardsracialequalityintheworkplace
.

Discussion
Overall
,
asanationwestillhavealongwaytogobeforewearewhereweshouldbein
termsofracism
.
Thereisstillracismtowardsblackpeople,andthereisracismtowardswhite
people.Regardlessofwhothehateispointedat
,
itisclearracismcanneverfullygoaway.
Again
,
withwebsitessuchasBlackpeoplemeet.comandthingssuchasblackhistorymonth,itis
onlyhumannaturetoseperateeachother
.
Itsjustlikeintheclassroomwhenstudents

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unconsciouslyseparateeachotherformboysandgirls
,
wewillalwaysbeunconsciously
separatedbyblackandwhite
.
But,justlikeinschool,boysandgirlscancoexistinthehallways
(sometimes)peacefully
,
justlikeblackandwhitepeoplewillhopefullybeabletocoexistjusta
littlemorepeacefully
,
evenwiththeunconsciousseparationfromeachother.

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References

Clarke,Rachel,andChristopherLett."WhatHappenedWhenMichaelBrownMetOfficer

DarrenWilson."
CNN
.CableNewsNetwork,11Nov.2014.Web.19Jan.2016..

Shoichet,CatherineE.,andGarTuchman."ChattanoogaShooting:4MarineKilledin
TennesseeCNN.com."
CNN
.CableNewsNetwork,17July2015.Web.19Jan.2016.
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/16/us/tennesseenavalreserveshooting/>.
Dewey,Caitlin."FounderofWhitePeopleMeet:DontCallMeRacist,IDated
aBlackWomanOnce."
WashingtonPost
.TheWashingtonPost,n.d.Web.19Jan.2016.
"MartinLutherKing,Jr.Quote."
BrainyQuote
.Xplore,n.d.Web.19Jan.2016..

Mayhew,Ruth."FederalLawThatRequiresRacialEqualityintheWorkplace."
Work
.Chron,n.d.Web.19Jan.2016...

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