Right now, the rebellious protests are still strong in the streets across the whole country of the United States. People of all skin colors are infuriated by the murders of African Americans by the racist police officers, their violence and abuse of the innocent people who did nothing wrong but happened to be born with different skin color than theirs. However, considerable evidence shows that racism in the United States is not a problem of intolerant individuals, but the result of the systemic issue that lies underneath. This paper aims to analyze why institutional racism still exists in America today, based on the works of Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and James Baldwin.
Although African Americans and white Americans have equal rights, their daily life is not often the same. Even more than a century after the abolition of slavery, African Americans continue to face problems that seriously affect their position in society (Taylor). This primarily concerns economic inequality, which reflects in the lower African American average household budgets, higher poverty levels, lesser schooling and healthcare opportunities. Moreover, African Americans are several times more likely to be put in prison and be sentenced for a longer term. The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak also hit the African Americans harder, as they were more likely to lose their jobs and struggle through financial difficulties. All the above is not about particular or individual cases of racism, but more about the fact that the African American population is less integrated into American social institutions – this is often called systemic racism.
Its pervasive integration into the United States began when white Americans enslaved the African population brought to the States to do all the dirty work for their “masters.” The diminishing attitude of white Americans is reflected perfectly in James Baldwin’s essay My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation: “You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity and in as many ways as possible that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence” (7). The great author highlighted in his work the immense miseries and tortures that the black people were undergoing throughout the history of slavery in the United States. However, even after the Emancipation Act was passed, giving freedom to all slaves in the country, African Americans still suffered severe racial segregation that was deeply rooted in the society. This serves as the primary evidence to the existence of systemic racism in America that continues to a certain extent to this day.
During those times of severe racial segregation, American cities were divided into the so-called favorable and unfavorable areas. The country’s money was generously invested in the areas where the white majority lived – the infrastructure was being formed, and banks willingly gave loans to local residents. Simultaneously, in the areas where the former slaves’ descendants lived, there thrived poverty and low life expectations. Banks refused to lend money to African Americans, and property in the white areas was not available to them.
As a result, many African Americans have lived in ghetto neighborhoods for decades. Unfortunately, due to the still existing systemic racism, such areas with high poverty and crime rates, unsatisfactory education and labor opportunities exist to this day and prevent millions of African Americans from living the lives they deserve. It results in a white American’s disappointing tendency to be born and raised in a safer environment, get a better education, and a better chance of a prosperous future than their African American peer.
At last, today, there is a promising chance of diminishing racism in America once and for all. Young people of any ethnicity and race get outside and fight for the country’s equal and fair future. This time, the whole nation has come together, determined to bring change to both their local communities and the United States of America. However, considering systemic racism as a core issue that stands in the way of this extraordinary change, it is necessary to understand the issue’s wholesome and complex nature. According to Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “the quest to transform this country cannot be limited to challenging its brutal police alone. It must conquer the logic that finances police and jails at the expense of public schools and hospitals” (Taylor). Therefore, the systematicity of racism in the United States can be combated only with complex measures that imply immense governmental and administrative reforms.
To conclude, the systemic racism in the United States is debated and called into question by many. However, it does exist in the form of oppression of African Americans through the institutional inequalities and prejudices that have been deeply woven into American society since the times of slavery. Fortunately, more and more Americans understand the absurdity and unacceptability of racial discrimination, and they are ready to bring change to the country and its social structure. This will only become possible when people start demanding the complex approach to the issue and not focus on the police brutality alone.
Works Cited:
Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2013.
Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta. “How Do We Change America? The quest to transform this country cannot be limited to challenging its brutal police.” The New Yorker, 2020. Web.