Arguments Against Racism Today

Reconstruction was an ineffective attempt to make the nation content and equal. Racism was a gigantic problem in the 1800’s and still is today, yet in a less significant manner. Because slavery existed and Southerners supported it to such an extent, it became difficult for the Union to create equality for all of America. Even today Americans strongly suggest racism is still a relevant concern. An NBC News poll found 52% of Americans believe racism against black people is an "extremely" or "very" serious problem.

Until 1865, the enslavement of African Americans was legal in the United States (History.com Staff). Most of the nation believed that African Americans weren’t equal to Whites and could be treated as property. Even after slavery was abolished, these racist ideals were ingrained in the minds of most Southerners. In the 1930s, racial ignorance still caused society to believe that African Americans were sinful and a lesser race.

Inbalance in the Criminal Justice System Racial Disparity in the criminal justice system is when a certain ethnic group that does not represent the majority of the population is in charge or holds more power within the system than other ethnic groups. A misrepresentation of ethnicity with the Criminal Justice System. This misrepresentation can lead to the assumption that people of different ethnic backgrounds and the same crime will be treated differently within the criminal justice system.

In most places racism still occurs. In addition people in the upper classes are raced white and lower classes black – the dirty jobs are mostly done by black people. More over black people don’t get the same education as white people so they are often lazy and don’t care that much about school – they take easy classes and skip and might not have a chance to be successful in their future. Racism is a topic that affects everybody living in the USA. There is racism everywhere, at school, at work and in the neighborhoods.

These laws oppressed black people and restricted their freedom. Because of the poor treating of African Americans and the Black Codes, The Reconstruction period was a failure. Some people were very unhappy when slavery was abolished. Southerners were frustrated that their property would be taken from them and turned into citizens.

Although the law changed, people were not as quick to the change, so African American were continually mistreated until others stood up for them and put their feet down just like Thurgood Marshall did in order to let African Americans gain equality. Marshall was a strong believer in the law and that things can and would change for the better like how he suggested "The Negro who was once enslaved by law

(Lee, 224) In conclusion, throughout her book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows us how life really was at that time. Racism was causing people to think badly of others that were different from them. She experienced segregation that divided people. She also showed us that we can overcome these things by including a character like Atticus.

Discussing the difficulties that Frederick Douglass and other slaves have encountered during the first half of the 19th century. The struggles are being told in “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass. The main obstacle was learning to read and write and being stripped from that experience so African-Americans don’t become educated. Fearing the ideas of their owned slaves surpassing them in intelligence and overthrowing them. But comparing that to of “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X of the mid-20th century where slavery ended but racism is still America’s greatest threat.

Similar to the period of slavery and Reconstruction, Black people are not afforded the luxury of being “moral” or “respectable” and instead, have been stigmatized as dangerous, criminal, and savage-like, stereotypes that continue to disgrace Black folks today. This notion is depicted in The Fire Next Time when James Baldwin states, “Crime became real, for example— for the first time not as a possibility but as the possibility” (Baldwin, 2259). Baldwin’s assertion coincides with claims revealed in Slavery by Another Name because it illuminates how Black people’s intersectional identity, once again, compels them to a state of inescapable subjugation. To further emphasize this, Baldwin continues, “One could never defeat one’s circumstances by working and having one’s pennies…even the most successful Negroes proved that one needed, in order to be free, something more than a bank account” (Baldwin, 2259). In this, by illuminating how the oppression that results from being a Black American transcends class lines, meaning that true liberation for Black folks cannot be bought, Baldwin coincides with concepts found in Slavery by Another Name, mutually asserting the hopelessness and unfeasibility of the American Dream for Black

By voting and adopting these laws, the majority of the society condemn then minorities by restricting their rights, and therefore engender more convicted offenders that are part of visible minorities. This racial profiling is not necessarily voluntary. It is caused by implicit bias, which means that multiple ‘‘social judgements’’ are made in an unconscious process that is racist and judgmental. It results in the harsher sentences often seen in courts (Lynch, 2013, p.100). Racial profiling is also due to the fact that differences can be seen as a threat.

Even though the media displayed false information about the 1957 integration of Little Rock Central High School it changed peoples views on segregation. In A Mighty Long Way Little Rock, Arkansas nine African American students wanted to go to a well educated high school but they do not understand why so many people are angered that they are just getting a better education. During the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957, the media illuminated certain events and painted an inaccurate or incomplete picture of other events. The media illuminates many important events that show how racist white people are treating black people and showing people in the North who are against segregation and support integration.

Another major factor that led to the Civil war was the social status and views at the time. The North and South had very different social views. In the North, while a good amount of the people owned slaves, many of them began to see it as wrong and inhumane. They also began to believe that they no longer needed slaves to do work for them and that the slaves should have freedom, as well as their own rights. But even with the North beginning to want to change things, slaves were still not treated like human beings most of the time.

In the past racism was a big thing. Blacks were made out to seem like they were not equal to the white, they got treated very harshly, and got the short end of the stick. White folks made it clear that they thought they were above them and deserved better, like getting to sit in the front of the bus, their own bathrooms, water fountains, etc. and better schooling, houses and even jobs. Racism is one of the world’s major issues today and is one of the most common forms of discrimination. Racism is the prejudice or discrimination that is directed against individuals with different beliefs or race.

Even after the Reconstruction era, African Americans did not have equality because they were in as much physical danger as they were as slaves. They were unfairly treated and physically harmed. African Americans did not have the power or the means to stand up for them and to fight for their legal rights. Susie Taylor King, an African American who lived in 1902, spoke about how the white race was allowed to inflict torture on the black race. Although African Americans were no longer enslaved, they were still in great danger; they were being tortured, burned, and murdered.

Being Black In the Criminal Justice System Being in the criminal justice system racism, Blacks were treated differently from whites. Blacks were treated as they were convicted of crimes, and can shut them away in prison warehouse. A door is easy to repair, compared to a broken family. In calculating the human cost of our the criminal justice system.