Racial Discrimination Speeches

Superior Essays
I have recently completed reading a novel titled “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. This classic book is based way back in the 1930s and is very much about the topic of racism and how the whites thought African- Americans were “disgusting” or “different.” Since these times people of today like to believe race discrimination has come a long way, but has it? The answer is no. We have all heard the chatter about how racism has been demolished or how it is a thing of the past. It is not in the past. Sadly prejudice is not some “thing” that has been left in the 1930s, It is still very alive and well today in the year 2015. Eighty five long years later this ongoing issue has not been solved. The following information I will be providing to you will prove my opinion to be true even more. Racism has not been changed or forgotten. It has just become more silent and less accepted by the younger generations. The reason being is because there are now laws in place to protect the people of other races, which means, you can no longer publicly state your opinions on this issue if they are indeed “racist” or it could be considered a hate crime. Even so, these laws do not change the way people think towards other ethnic groups. It just changes what thoughts they can and can’t say out loud without being politically incorrect. In the film “A Time to Kill” there is an African – American male who is on trial for the murder of two young Caucasian men. The men he had shot raped and almost killed his ten year old daughter. Those tragic events that took place led up to the re-rising of the “Ku Klux Klan” This awful organization even terrorized a white man just for defending a black male in court. Although this is a fictional movie, it is a wonderful representation of modern day racism, for these events still are happening every day. (A Time to Kill) Although there a people that believe racial prejudice is completely extinguished there are still many others, such as myself who disagree. …show more content…
Racial issues go as far as the workplace even. It is known that college graduates that are black are twice as likely to have struggles finding a career. For decades now the jobless rate is doubled for blacks compared to white people. There has even been a study that has shown people whose names “sound black” have to send out fifty percent more resumes than those with “white sounding” ones. If this isn’t enough it reaches our schools as well. “Once you get to K-12, black children are three times more likely to get suspended than white children.” (Nesbit 2) A whole 40 percent of school expulsions are made up of black children. Also, two thirds of the children schools refer to the police are another race other than white, such as blacks and Hispanics. Even if you thought you were safe outside the workplace or schools you’re wrong. Racism is everywhere, especially on our streets. For instance if you take the New Jersey turnpike into consideration blacks only make up 15 percent of all drivers yet, they make up 73 percent of arrests. Another example is that in New York City you are three times as likely to be stopped and frisked if you are African-American than if you are white. With all of these statistics I believe racism is still damaging the lives of many innocent people. Also these facts disproves the belief prejudice is dead or forgotten. (Nesbit 2) Another good example to prove racism still exists is the case of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon was a 17 year old boy who went to his local Seven Eleven. He bought skittles and iced tea from this store. While Trayvon was walking home, George Zimmerman, a 28 year old neighborhood watch captain spotted him. According to the 911 call Zimmerman had said Trayvon looked “real suspicious.” He was told by the police not to pursue the boy but, like any average racist would he pursued him anyways. After the young 17 year old boy and the 28 year old man got into an argument there was a gunshot and Trayvon Martin was found dead, face down with a bullet hole in his chest. Zimmerman

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Our society is like a statue, they both need the proper structure needed in order to keep it steady, but when one piece does not fit, then they will both topple down. Although statues may not relate to the problem, racism can relate to the one piece that does not fit, and this problem is explained in the articles " Black Men In Public Spaces", by Brent Staples, and " Is Everyone A Little Bit Racist" , by Nicolas Kristof. These articles dive into the topic of how racism affects everyday lives and how detrimental it is to the society and the people within. Also, it shows the unfortunate story of a victim of racism. Unless changes are made, racism will rule supreme in communities and there will be nothing for people to stop it.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racism takes place on the streets as well, where minorities are subject to racial profiling by police. Not only do they have to face violence from criminals, but the police themselves. Minorities are extremely overrepresented in prisons, warehoused with no rights. There is no escape from the racism, which follows minorities in the United States from the start to the end of their lives. History has had a huge contribution to the racism existing today, especially through slavery.…

    • 1579 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Racism And Discrimination

    • 1928 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Racism has turned our society into one full of hate and discrimination based of skin color and cultural beliefs. Unfortunately, discrimination has done more than just separate individuals socially it has also divided them into high and low economic classes. We have created a society in which people who are born into lower classes are unable to climb the social ladder and reach an elite economic status. Our society has made it almost impossible for those who are not in power to ever reach such a position. We have created a society in which those who are suffering will continue to suffer and be looked at as a having no value or ability to contribute to the success of the economy and structure of society.…

    • 1928 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The fallowing visual diagram Are Our Children Being Pushed Into Prison (2012) showed that 70 percent of students involved “in-school” arrest or are referred to law enforcement are black and…

    • 1119 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, There is quite a bit of Discrimination and Social Inequality issues between the whites and blacks. Of course, you haven’t read the novel, so you wouldn’t know. That’s why I’m here, to give you a in-depth look into what really happens in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. We’ll cover the issues that have taken place, and mention the dramatic changes that has happened over time to overcome discrimination.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Racism “Uncle Atticus lets you run around with stray dogs that’s his business, like Grandma says, so it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family.” (118). This quote shows that even little kids had some kind of racism, even back in the 1930’s and even further back than that. Racism will always be around you, if it is against whites, blacks, Asians, or any other race. People will never change, that’s the sad thing about this world.…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racism stands for more than one thing. In this case Harper Lee expresses that the theme in “ To Kill A MocKingbird” is you should never judge or mistreat someone because of their skin color. In this book a black man was found guilty for raping a white women when he was clearly innocent, in addition he was also shot 17 times because he was black. In some cases shooting someone 17 times and is unarmed is called overkill. So, therefore, racism is still a big thing in the U.S. today Tom Robinson, an African American man found guilty for a crime he didn’t commit such as raping a white women, whose name is Mayella.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a society that once highly regarded the white race and frowned upon African Americans, it’s easy to understand why and how racism soared and still exist today. While a generation still exists in which racism was prominent and it was normal and legal to discriminate, we can understand why such issues are still alive. Previous generations remained ignorant to such issues and it was never a topic that was taught in education. That is why it’s common for traditionalists are more susceptible to obtain these racially driven beliefs, in which many of them got passed down to the next generation. In modern day society, it is now heavily talked about and explained so that we can avoid these problems in the future and for proceeding generations and it’s obvious why we must do this.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The 1960’s was a period of new mindsets. The Civil Right’s movement was occurring; people all over the country were beginning to see African Americans as humans instead of property. They were beginning to immerse into the general population. Segregation was finally coming to an end. However, some people were still unwilling to believe that African Americans should be tolerated as equally as Caucasians.…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racism has been around for many years and it is an issue that has never been fully resolved, although some may believe that it has. It is not uncommon to see crimes being mentioned everywhere but thanks to the media, we have seen the many incidents occurring recently involving white cops and black men, hence we have come to realize how racist we really are as a society and how big of an issue racism actually is even now. In the textbook Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory, we are introduced to some of the first sociologists and their theories. Two sociologists that are relevant to present issues about racism would be Emile Durkheim and W.E.B. Du Bois.…

    • 1790 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racism has existed since the early 1600s when African Americans were first brought to America against their will to work as slaves. It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Movement, beginning in 1955, that the lives of African Americans started to transform and the U.S. Supreme Court began to terminate “Jim Crow” laws and ban segregation (“Civil Rights Movement,” n.d.). The main goal of eradicating segregation was to reach what is known as “racial equality”, which is the balance between all the races making everyone equal. Since the Civil Right Movement, our country has continued to make steps of improvement including, swearing in our nation’s first black president and the fact that black people and white people are now able to go to the same school.…

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    TKAM Synthesis Essay In Harper lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird Jem and Scout grown up in the little town of maycomb deep in the south with the thoughts and actions of racist men and women all around them. Throughout the story we see through scout's eyes the injustice toward blacks and see how it affects her views on the people all around her. We see how her outlook changes on the people closest to her and how she grows from this reality.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Author: Harper Lee Title: To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Level: 8-12 (790L) Sophistication Level: 11 To Kill a Mockingbird is an American literary classic, published in 1960. The story takes place between the years of 1933 through 1935, during the Great Depression era. It takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama and tells the story of Scout Finch and her father Atticus, who is a widowed lawyer.…

    • 2009 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird Essay - Racism It doesn’t matter what race you are. In the dark we’re all the same color. In Harper Lee's book, To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many examples of racism. During this time in history racism was acceptable.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN TODAY’S SOCIETY Racial discrimination is one the provocative problems we have in our society today. Significant amount of people in our society today focus on all different racial groups of people and discuss their fairness, discrimination, and prejudice. The United States of America that is known to be one of the most diverse and freest racist countries in the world.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays