Many people claim that racism is still a big issue in the United States today. In the US there are many minorities who are claimed to be oppressed in 2017, especially african-americans. In this text I will debate if these statements really are true. This is based of an article from the Huffington Post called “Is racism still alive in America? That’s affirmative.”[1]
Crime and prison sentence
The article states that people of colour make up about 30 percent of the United States, and account for 60 percent of those imprisoned. Many times have I heard that especially african-americans are overrepresented in american prisons, and that you are 12 times more likely to be imprisoned if you are african-american. The reason is certainly not racism, but the fact that people of colour generally are more likely to commit violent crimes than caucasian people.
According to the US Department of Justice, black or african-american people accounted for 52.2 percent of murder arrests in the US in 2013. In 2011 the “National Youth Gang Survey Analysis” stated that 46 percent of gang members are hispanic, and 35 percent are african-american. On top of that, the National Crime Victimization Survey reported that in 1974 an estimated 62 percent of robbery offenders in the US were african-american.
Considering these facts it is safe to say that people of colour go to prison more often because they commit more crimes.
Reasons to why people of colour commit crimes
Early 20th century crime scholars argued that social and economical conditions were central factors that contributed to criminal behaviour. I think this statement is very true still to this day. Statistics show that people of colour averagly live under harsher conditions that the country’s majority, e.g. poor economy and violent neighbourhoods. The education system in the US, where you have to save money from the day you were born is simply not working for poor african-americans and hispanics. Living with barely enough money to feed yourself and family will almost never grant the young ones the opportunity to attend a college or university. This makes it hard for young people of colour to make a stable income. Child support is the only income of thousands of coloured families in the US. This combined with exposure to violence at a young age sets the fundaments to criminal mentality. They resort to crime just to make a living for themselves.
War on Drugs
Huffington Post furthermore states that the “War on Drugs”[2] has been waged primarily in communities of colour, where people of colour are more likely to be charged with more serious offenses and ordered to serve longer prison sentences. There are statistics that back this up as a fact. Although the majority of drug users in the US are white, blacks are the largest group being targeted as the root of the problem. These disproportionate arrests for drug-related offenses has generated a deep distrust for the government and what many call racist drug enforcement policy. The only reason as to why there are more blacks arrested than white for the same criminal offenses is the fact that blacks are more likely to commit crimes of any form, as stated earlier.
Economics
Lastly, Huffinton Post states that 42 percent of black children are educated in all high-poverty schools, while only 6 percent of white children are educated in high-poverty schools. The main reason as to why so many coloured people are far behind economically can be traced back to the age of slavery. African-americans were held as slaves for several decades. The conditions of this enslavement kept them largely uneducated and illiterate, with only basic skills. Even after the abolishment of slavery, life did not get much better for black people. They were economically exploited, systematically and legally discriminated and generally kept down in society. It is just fifty years ago since the Civil Rights Act(1968) was signed. Due to all these injustices has black families naturally struggled more economically, as education and wealth are highly correlated. When you grow in high poverty in the United States, it is difficult to attain a higher education, which again makes it hard to get a well-paying job.
Conclusion
Compiling the statements and evidence, I have concluded that racism is very much dead. Coloured people can definitively feel the effects of slavery and discrimination in today’s society, but no race is systematically oppressed. I must point out that the coloured communities need to clean up and get rid of their criminal reputation, and the US education system needs to change. It is fascinating how the United States have the highest GDP in the world, and still can not offer free education for everyone.
Sources:
[1]: Huffington Post, “Is racism still alive in America? That’s affirmative”, written by Eric Cooper(published 07.01.2016) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-cooper/is-racism-still-alive-in_b_10772754.html
[2]: Wikipedia; “War on Drugs”,(last edited March 15th 2017, 6.48 AM) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs