Introduction
Racism is the discrimination of individuals in the society based on their color and the consideration of one group’s ideas as being superior than another based on color. In essence, racism has existed in many parts of the world where, in most cases, it has been viewed as the discrimination of nonwhite or people of color and vice versa. Mainly, America has made significant strides in the alienation of racial acts. However, racism is very much existent in America, even in the present times.
Analysis
Significantly, racism has not started today in America since it existed even in the colonial era. Mostly, in the colonial period, the white members of the colony were given privileges and legally sanctioned rights, which the black population was denied. Notably, the Anglo-Saxon protestants in the Americas have enjoyed the rights to education as well as voting ( Coleman, 2016 ). These rights were privileges that black people did not enjoy. The black population was treated as slaves who were property in the cotton plantations of the white settlers, even after independence, their evident discriminations against the people of color. For instance, the setting up of sundown regions was a way to keep the nonwhite population huddled in their areas that were characterized by inadequate facilities ( Coleman, 2016 ). As it appears, racism is a form of oppression that results from the constant denial of rights and freedoms.
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However, long after the abolition of the slave trade, racism is very much a part of America’s life, though in hidden ways. For instance, American sports have been marred with racism over the years, which is still evident today. As opposed to earlier times when black athletes were denied the chance to play for the national teams, they are today allowed but have to face derogatory remarks while in the field. These remarks include insults that would, in a healthy society, be seen as being against the rights of the athletes but within the American area of sports are normalized. In American games in 2018 alone, 54 acts of racism were recorded against athletes ( Clayton, 2020) . These were black American and Asian athletes who were either insulted by fans or other athletes.
Mainly, this normalization presents the case of macroaggressions, which is a form of modern racism. Micro inequities are subtle and rarely invisible but are acts that set the stage for continued denial of rights based on color in America ( Lee, 2017 ). These micro-inequities include instances of rudeness, the micro assault, which is verbal and nonverbal, and examples of micro invalidation, especially at work and intellectual spaces.
Essentially, there is a high rate of police brutality in America, which, even in recent years, seems to be directed towards black people and Latin Americans as well as Hispanics. First, the cause of these discriminatory acts has been due to the furtherance of stereotypes that black people are violent and are most likely to be involved in gang activities. This stereotype has caused a biased approach towards the black population. For instance, in 2015, the research found out that 25% of civilians shot dead by the police were African Americans ( Clayton, 2020) . This realization is that even though African Americans only made up 12% of the population in America that year.
Further, the Latino and Hispanic populations have also had a share of racially instigated police brutality. This discrimination is a result of the furtherance of association of drug cartels with these groups causing discriminatory arrests and suspicion ( Chaney & Robertson, 2014 ). 16% of the 585 police-led killings were made up of Latinos along with a record of 30% arrests in 2016 being those of these groups ( Clayton, 2020) . These numbers raise eyebrows mainly due to the knowledge that these groups make up only 7.6% of the entire American population.
The American criminal justice system is one that clearly shows the existence of racial discrimination, even though this fact is unspoken. The criminal justice system has, for many years, been accused of furthering racism through making biased decisions in court as it appears this claim the actual truth. For example, by 2013, the black inmates made up 40% of the prison population. Bearing in mind that the black people in that year only made up a minority population of 13% leaves a lot of questions. Further, its paws recorded that only 33% of the white defendants convicted were white against 51% of black defendants ( Chaney & Robertson, 2014 ). However, with the help of stereotypes, the American criminal justice officials believe that there is fairness and that these populations get what they deserve, even terming unjust killings as being only unfortunate.
As it appears, racism is not only in the sports and criminal justice fields but also in education and employment. On average, it is a fact that most black Americans face challenges finding decent jobs and living in modest houses than the white population. In ‘essence, the lack of access to the property and good homes has since many years ago been a result of policies created to intentionally prevent nonwhites from accessing mortgages and acquiring property in white only regions ( Clayton, 2020) . The banks have, on various occasions, denied loans, especially to Latinos and black people by disproportionally targeting these lenders for subprime lending.
In conclusion, racism has been a social problem for a long time. This problem is not only faced by people of black skin as the Latinos Asians and Hispanics, as well as white people also face it. However, in America, racism is still existent, seemingly affecting African Americans and other people of color, including Asians.
References
Chaney, C., & Robertson, R. V. (2014). " Can We All Get Along?" Blacks' Historical and Contemporary (In) Justice With Law Enforcement. Western Journal of Black Studies , 38 (2).
Clayton, C. (2020). The Changing Face of Racism in America.
Coleman, M. G. (2016). At a Loss for Words: Measuring Racial Inequality in America. The Review of Black Political Economy , 43 (2), 177-192.
Lee, S. M. (2017). Student-Athletes' Experiences with Racial Microaggressions in Sport: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis.