In a nationwide poll conducted by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation nearly half of Americans believe that racism is a huge problem in today’s society.(Shoichet, E. Catherine). Racial discrimination refers to the practice of treating people differently because of their ethnicity or skin color. Racism is a particular type of oppression that stems from the discrimination against an individual based on the concept that inherited characteristics, like darker skin, make them beneath their oppressors. Studies show that Latinos and African Americans are more likely to get pulled over by cops than whites.(Chokshi) Washington, DC, Fair Employment Practices Commission has discovered that in one out of five interviews blacks face discrimination. (11
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No one seemed to see anything wrong with this statement, and surprisingly people liked and shared the crude comment. No one thought they were being hurtful and certainly did not think they were being racist. In “How to Raise a Black Son in America,” Clint Smith tells how as a child his parents made him follow strict rules in order to make him the best he can be. His parents had to limit his fun in order to ensure his safety. He tells the story of how he was in a parking lot playing with a toy super soaker gun. His father took him inside immediately, and told that he cannot play the same way his white friends can. His father had seen the consequences of young black men playing with anything resembling a gun, and was scared for his son’s life. Clint’s father taught him not to hide behind things,not to wear his hoodie when it gets dark, and to keep his hands where the police can see them at all times. So many black parents today are having these conversations with their sons and daughters. These are things that white people simply do not have to worry about. Black parents should not have to worry if their son is going to home at night because he decided to wear a hoodie that day. With the recent events that have occurred in Sanford, Florida and Ferguson, Missouri a new movement called “Black Lives Matter”(BLM) has appeared in response to police brutality. Many people believe that BLM is an anti police way of thinking. While the death of Michael Brown was caused by a police officer, BLM does not mean police are bad. Just because people are taking a stand and saying that Black lives matter they are not saying that other lives do not. They are trying to say that black lives mean just as much others. “No one can be authentically human while he prevents others from being so.” (Paulo Freire) There is only one race, the human race. People cannot choose which humans are more “human” than
No one seemed to see anything wrong with this statement, and surprisingly people liked and shared the crude comment. No one thought they were being hurtful and certainly did not think they were being racist. In “How to Raise a Black Son in America,” Clint Smith tells how as a child his parents made him follow strict rules in order to make him the best he can be. His parents had to limit his fun in order to ensure his safety. He tells the story of how he was in a parking lot playing with a toy super soaker gun. His father took him inside immediately, and told that he cannot play the same way his white friends can. His father had seen the consequences of young black men playing with anything resembling a gun, and was scared for his son’s life. Clint’s father taught him not to hide behind things,not to wear his hoodie when it gets dark, and to keep his hands where the police can see them at all times. So many black parents today are having these conversations with their sons and daughters. These are things that white people simply do not have to worry about. Black parents should not have to worry if their son is going to home at night because he decided to wear a hoodie that day. With the recent events that have occurred in Sanford, Florida and Ferguson, Missouri a new movement called “Black Lives Matter”(BLM) has appeared in response to police brutality. Many people believe that BLM is an anti police way of thinking. While the death of Michael Brown was caused by a police officer, BLM does not mean police are bad. Just because people are taking a stand and saying that Black lives matter they are not saying that other lives do not. They are trying to say that black lives mean just as much others. “No one can be authentically human while he prevents others from being so.” (Paulo Freire) There is only one race, the human race. People cannot choose which humans are more “human” than