President Barack Obama claimed in an interview with Marc Maron : " Racism? We are not cured of it”. President Obama saw that, despite the many efforts and movements of the 70’s, for the attainment of rights and equality, American racism, still persists. It is a sad reality and sometimes we deny this fact. We can not accept that in a developed society like the USA, the shadow of racism continues to haunt us. In order to illuminate the shadow, which has been plaguing the world for hundreds of years, it is necessary to analyze some main points: bad school in poor neighborhoods, the lack of job opportunities for black people and the fatal consequences that are reflected in the behaviour of white people and policemen.
In 1964, Lyndon Johnson promulgated the “Civil Right Act” that forbade discrimination toward different ethnic and cultures, sexes or religions, which guaranteed unalienable rights to all the citizens. The racial segregation was at least ended. Nevertheless, the discrimination subsisted, especially in the American south. One year later in 1965 racial violence exploded in the city of Selma. The demonstrators were peacefully manifesting for their rights, when a group of police officers arrested many of them, beating a lot of people with clubs. All this was a consequence of the idea of the superiority of the white race over the black one. This ancestral idea , struggled over by men and women like Rosa park, Martin Luther King or Malcolm X , sadly still hasn’t been eradicated.
New technology and scientific discoveries keep going ahead, the world is rapidly expanding, but conversely, our mind is becoming more and more limited. Even if people apparently respect the diversities, and the proof is the election of a black man for president, they still keep inside a deep hate and above all a huge fear against various minorities, usually darker ones. The America’s choice of a black man as president, makes them feel like better people with strong moral principles. But sometimes this kind of person doesn’t care about what it truly means being a black young man, because it’s a distant world from theirs; but actually it happens around the corner. So they turn their heads and close their eyes to avoid seeing the reality of the isolated poor black district.
First, I can argue that most of the poverty in America is most evident in black people’s neighborhoods. They do not work their way out of the “ghetto”. This means that only a few young people have the possibility to rise up from hardship, attending good schools and find a profitable job, rather than the many who work in a fast food restaurant or in a Starbucks. In 2012, the Manhattan Institute noted that, as of yet ,” African Americans still remain, by far, the most segregated ethnic group in the country”. Because of this big issue the consequences are injurious: young teenagers living in poor isolated quarters, don’t receive an appropriate education and they often skip school at the age of sixteen to find a job and to contribute to the balance of their poor families. Most of the time they get caught up in a dangerous habit, such as being involved in drug dealing. The concentration of indigence in certain black neighborhoods increases the prejudice that all African people are poor, violent and wishing to steal your wallet. As President Obama said, when he had moved in Harlem he was shocked by the fact that only because of the color of his skin, people walking on the sidewalk crossed the street in order not to pass near to him.
Secondly I can claim that there is lot of discrimination from policeman towards minorities, especially in traffic stops, which often turns on violent encounters and sometimes innocent murders. These kinds of accidents are common in the United States presently The fear of the police caused by prejudice against minorities makes them react on impulse, like shooting or violently beating the victim. Fright is the worst danger in our societies that persecutes us as a ghost.The echo of racism resounds in American’s mind as a long lasting and deep prejudice towards the stereotype of the bad, nasty black man.
At last, I can assert that another reason, that sustains my theory, is the, so called, “first fired, last hired” policy: compared to white people, Africans Americans work hard to find a job. This phenomenon afflicts the nation’s workforce causing a big issue and a disproportion of employment opportunities for black people. The big gap in unemployment rates between Africans American and whites could be attributed to their educational attainment. 26% of black people are without a high school diploma. This is one of the big obstacles facing Africans Americans and the outcome is devastating: people without jobs are obligated to beg or in extreme to steal. this is one of the reasons why black people are labeled as subordinate or dangerous people from which we have to keep our distance. This result is a “dog chasing its tail”, it’s a vicious circle which must be immediately stopped.
Maybe Martin Luther King‘s dream hasn’t yet come true, but from 1960 to now we have made a big jump ahead and I hope that a big wind of rationality and equality will blow away this black threatening shadow hovering around Americans’ life.
