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Racism and Oppression

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In the documentary, 13th, Michelle Alexander brings up a profound realization about how racism has adapted since slavery. Alexander protests that, “So, many aspects of the old Jim Crow laws are suddenly legal again once you are branded a felon. And so it seems that in America we haven’t so much ended racial caste, but simply redesigned it.” Basically what Alexander is saying is that even though people of color have the same rights by law, people of color are not treated as equals. Racism is defined as “primarily a belief or attitude and that anyone who unfairly judges another based on race is racist.” I would argue most Americans believe racism is an issue of the past however, racism is as prevalent in society as ever. Racism and legislation are tools used exclusively by whites to oppress people of color, and to keep whites in power.
To begin, Angela Davis makes the point that, since the united states declared their independence, people of color have been treated as second class citizens. It began with slavery, which made it so African Americans had virtually no rights whatsoever. From there it progressed to Jim Crow laws, which were a way of taking power from blacks and keeping whites in power. They did it by giving them as few rights as tolerable, such as; blacks may not attend the same schools or even eat in the same restaurants as whites. Today, racism and systematic oppression are easy to get away with because most of the population doesn 't even notice that it is

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