The Role Of Racial Inequality In The United States

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Race in the United States is a touchy subject to say the least. Many in this country would like to believe that racism is a thing of the past and that the United States is as equal as it has ever been. Sadly that is very incorrect. The United States has a dark history with race relations and the residue from centuries of inequality are found everywhere in our society. One area of racial inequality imbedded deep in societies foundations would be that of crime and punishment. The law fixes broken systemic issues, but fixing a broken system is a wrong fit for the country does no good. A new system is needed all together, one that has no history of racial inequality. Racial inequality in the American criminal justice system recently climaxed after the Michael Brown shooting. An act that may or may not have been racially motivated, but did surface deep tensions and started a national conversation.

According to Robert Patrick of Stlttoday.com, on August 9, 2014, a call went out to officer Darren Wilson to respond to an incident with a baby with breathing problems. On his
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Fuentes lists the descriptions for racial “boxes” that the government describes as races. “There are a number of relevant factors to be found in these definitions, but one aspect stands out: “black” is treated differently from all the others.” (Fuentes, 97) He goes onto say that the United States only refers to people from Africa as a racial group. Implying that black is a race, a biological sign of difference. Racism is at the core of American life whether we like it or not. It has been rooted into our countries history and laws that it has become a part of unknowing racism. Being racist without knowing that you are being racist. The Michael brown shooting is only the most recent case about race that has received media attention. Many more people suffer under a racist law everyday and go

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