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Commentary
In America today it is a common belief held by most of us all that everyone is treated equally. If this were a perfect world then yes everybody would be treated fairly and everyone would have equal opportunity, but the truth is that there are still people today that hold on to beliefs from the past that some people are more deserving of their rights than others. These people are the reason that racism is still alive today, but there have been some good signs of people overcoming their prejudices and changing their beliefs, for example the first African American President of the United States Barrack Obama was elected last year. This is a positive sign for America and hopefully will lead to a better country that is more accepting of different cultures.
I have truthfully never had a first hand experience of racism in my life, but I have heard of and seen statistics that reveal how much prejudice there still is in America. Some statistic that proves there is still racism is the percent of minorities on death row, in the U.S. Military 86%, in the state of Colorado 80%, in the U.S. Government 77%, in the state of Louisiana 72% and in the state of Pennsylvania 70% of people on death row are minorities. These are shocking statistics that pose a great obstacle for everyone who wishes to truly have equality in the court system.
Another example of racism today is the two African American students that decided to drop out of Hocking Tech College because of death threats focused towards African Americans that were graffitied onto a bathroom stall. When I heard this I was very surprised because I could not believe that African Americans were actually being forced to leave a school due to their safety being in jeopardy. I didn’t think that some people still had that much hatred to actually set up threat intending to scare African Americans. This is major problem for America that there are still active groups like the Klu Klux Klan, whose main plan is to intimidate and scare minorities.
Although these things were very surprising and disappointing to hear about, it shows people the facts and proves that racism is still a big problem. I’m sure that if people question the reasoning for all of it then there will be more attention paid towards it, and maybe some people will realize how stupid it is to dislike someone just because of their ethnicity or the color of their skin. So in conclusion America still has a long way to go if everyone is to truly be equal and have the same opportunities.
Malcom X praying
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