America is often described as a melting pot of cultures; a phrase mostly intended to portray the supposedly harmonious existence of people from different ethnic, cultural, and ethnic diversities. However, despite the incessant efforts to project the country in positive light, certain events as well as realities show the stark differences that exist among different racial groups. America can aptly be described as a divided nation because of the tense relationships and different socio-economic outcomes between different racial groups, especially between African American minorities and the white majorities. While the latter seem to be favored by the system in virtually all aspects, the former seem to endure a system that has been designed to place them at the periphery in many aspects.
The recent outrage following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white police officer put into light the poor relationships between police officers and the black communities. According to Ryder (2020), the murder of George Floyd shows how accountability for police treatment of black communities should be an issue to be prioritized. The death of George Floyd also all of a sudden made people reminisce over the past poor police treatment of black people. In the YouTube video titled “America Divided Season 01 Episode 01” the former superintendent of the Chicago police department surprisingly says that the police are only a tip of the iceberg. He says that the police are the most visible form of discrimination against black communities but the system ranging from prosecutors, juries, and many aspects are designed to perpetuate the discrimination.
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Effects of the coronavirus pandemic have put into clearer perspective how America is divided. According to Hayes (2020), racial minorities like the African Americans are less likely to have health insurance, but are highly susceptible to underlying health conditions, and therefore, quite vulnerable to the pandemic. Additionally, most African Americans are more likely to have low-wage jobs which also are likely to be lost because of the economic impacts of coronavirus. The gentrification system whose objective is to “upscale” neighborhoods is causing the displacement of minority groups especially as wealthier and mostly white people move into them (Tehrani et al., 2019). When wealthier people who coincidentally are mostly whites move into such neighborhoods, property prices surge, and owing to the economic situations of most African Americans, the neighborhoods become unaffordable to rent or buy. Therefore, most of them are compelled to move to other residential places which may be congested and far from their places of work.
Economic inequality especially as it relates to race can be mitigated with the appropriate policies. Horowitz et al. (2020) posit that one of the best ways of closing the economic gap between the white majority and African Americans is to invest in education and job training programs for poor people. One of the things that overburden students from minority communities, for instance, is the student loan. Owing to their economic disposition, many students from these communities have to rely on the student loan to pay for their education, but will take almost a lifetime to clear it. As a result, poverty can still be somehow be recycled in black communities because only a small proportion of people truly attain total financial freedom.
In conclusion, high rates of violence, police discrimination, homelessness, and general poverty shows how divided America is. While most white majority groups enjoy financial freedom and better prospects in many aspects, the minority groups have to endure many obstacles to live in the same country. It is essential for the federal, state, and local governments to initiate policies that address the plight of minority communities such as providing quality healthcare, investing in education, and regulating the law enforcement agencies to serve all racial groups without favor or prejudice.
References
Hayes, T.O. (2020, May 12). The outsized impact of the coronavirus pandemic on minority communities. American Action Forum . https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-outsized-impact-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-on-minority-communities/
Horowitz, M.J., Igielnik, R., & Kochhar, R. (2020, January 9). Views on reducing economic inequality. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/views-on-reducing-economic-inequality/
Kenyatta, C. (2016, October 17). America Divided Season 01 Episode 01. YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3VYbFWsznI
Ryder, M. (2020, June 11). To honour George Floyd, we must learn the lessons of the Lawrence inquiry. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/11/honour-george-floyd-learn-lessons-lawrence-inquiry
Tehrani, S. O., Wu, S. J., & Roberts, J. D. (2019). The color of health: Residential segregation, light rail transit developments, and gentrification in the United States. International journal of environmental research and public health , 16 (19), 3683. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16193683
