The world wakes up to a new, shining day. People all over America jump and slide and drag themselves out of their beds, reaching over to their nightstands to check their notifications on their phones and laptops. All of their screens are flashing with various articles about current events, but what catches their eyes are the ones about the latest police shootings. Clicking on the flashy headlines, for example, “Black Lives Matter: 11 Racist Police Killings With No Justice Served” (Vozick-Levinson), some shake their heads at the thought of these police officers getting away, going free with little to no repercussions from the law. But with everyone focusing solely on the law enforcement involved, what about the social effects of these shootings on civilians?
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During World War II, America’s monsters were the Japanese; during the Cold War, it was the Russians; ever since 2001, Americans have feared Muslims. Author David Wong writes about these perceived demons. He asserts that we as human beings have the natural desire to enact revenge upon others - in fact, he says, we want to be wronged just so that we can be able to enact that revenge: “You are a biological machine built to hate, and you got that way because your ancestors killed off everyone who wasn't” (Wong). Wong believes that humanity has an addiction to hate - and it is one that cannot be gotten rid of. This point of view definitely supports the standing reasons for the racism prevalent throughout the previous century, and it certainly explains why people seem to be so eager to hate and discriminate. But it is not just to simply say that we evolved to be like this so it must be okay, it must be right for us to discriminate against others and hold on to - and even act on, as some people do - our prejudices. This argument is merely an excuse for actions that people have
During World War II, America’s monsters were the Japanese; during the Cold War, it was the Russians; ever since 2001, Americans have feared Muslims. Author David Wong writes about these perceived demons. He asserts that we as human beings have the natural desire to enact revenge upon others - in fact, he says, we want to be wronged just so that we can be able to enact that revenge: “You are a biological machine built to hate, and you got that way because your ancestors killed off everyone who wasn't” (Wong). Wong believes that humanity has an addiction to hate - and it is one that cannot be gotten rid of. This point of view definitely supports the standing reasons for the racism prevalent throughout the previous century, and it certainly explains why people seem to be so eager to hate and discriminate. But it is not just to simply say that we evolved to be like this so it must be okay, it must be right for us to discriminate against others and hold on to - and even act on, as some people do - our prejudices. This argument is merely an excuse for actions that people have